Blizzard on Diablo 3 Expansion Packs

The latest MTV multiplayer blog interviewed Mike Morhaime, the Blizzard CEO, at the Wraith of the Lich King launch.

One of the topics talked about was expansion pack models as well as how often sequels are released, specifically in regards to Activision games.

MTV Multiplayer: Activision has had success with franchises like “Call of Duty” and “Guitar Hero” by releasing games annually. Do you look at that business model at all and wonder if that would work for Blizzard? Do you think there’s more profit in hitting the annual mark? Or do you think players need the breathing room?

Morhaime: In terms of expansions, I think a little bit more frequently is probably good with sort of the goal to get closer to an annual expansion. But I think it really depends on what content you put in the expansion. I don’t think Blizzard will ever be able to do sequels of products like a “Diablo III” or “Diablo IV” on an annual basis, but we might be able to do expansions to those games close to annually.

Hmmm, is there more profit? In an ideal scenario, I think we’d probably do [expansions] a little bit more often than we’ve been able to do. But I agree — I think putting too many expansions out too frequently, you probably get to the point where people do need to start taking a little break.

Hopefully this means that we'll see much more polished games with a lot of additional content being added regularly, so the game never gets too boring.