Have they said anything about Monestization yet?

[Chimera-Lothar]

Has Blizzard said yet how they plan on making money from this game?

I'm assuming skins, like HotS, but I haven't heard anything. Have you?

[Deleted]

They didn't say a word about it so far.

[Feali]

We don't even know if the game is gonna be free.

[ThePlanckEnergy]

I'm predicting B2P with paid skins/cosmetics. I am quite convinced all the Heroes will be playable by default and not have to be bought.

The game is designed around being able to swap mid-match to counter/outplay the opponents. This REQUIRES a huge Hero pool. If you have to buy them, at the Blizzard premium price, game is DOA right off the bat.

[Archmage Alodi]

Hopefully it will be b2p with skins and stuff obtainable by playing game and money both.

[Deleted]

Probably the new trending model : sedfpbrcael

Squeeze every dollar from players by restricting content at every level.

You have to buy the game, then customization of characters can be bought as well, as well as player portaits, then release $ expansion with very little content but on a regular basis to keep people p(l)aying, and find innovative ways to charge parts of a game that are historically built-in and considered mandatory to have a good gaming experience. (remember UI action bars in swtor being charged for 5$ ?)

Basically you make a game and you cut it into 0.5% pieces, then charge 5$ for every piece. Then call that a business model.(Because it is definetly not scam by any definition)

That's my bet.

[Feali]

Probably the new trending model : sedfpbrcael

Squeeze every dollar from players by restricting content at every level.

You have to buy the game, then customization of characters can be bought as well, as well as player portaits, then release $ expansion with very little content but on a regular basis to keep people p(l)aying, and find innovative ways to charge parts of a game that are historically built-in and considered mandatory to have a good gaming experience. (remember UI action bars in swtor being charged for 5$ ?)

Basically you make a game and you cut it into 0.5% pieces, then charge 5$ for every piece. Then call that a business model.(Because it is definetly not scam by any definition)

That's my bet.

That's not really Blizzard's style though.

[Ralikon]

There'll prob be skins. I hope they have skins. Skins are fun

[Val the Moofia Boss]

No word yet. We have heard that they are interested in a skins idea, though that could be just as much as a B2P model as a F2P model.

It sounds like they are still thinking about it, and considering that they can drag out the beta for as long as they want (Read: the HotS "beta"), they have plenty of time to get it sorted out.

[SniperCT]

They said no plans for skins, but they thought the idea sounded awesome. Each hero has a unique weapon, so they can't sell new weapons or weapon skins. Selling heroes is a possibility but that would impact it's competitive ness and they've said they want it to be competitive. FPS games are very different from MOBAs. I mean CS:GO is extremely popular and competitive and you're still paying for a box. Hell they play CoD at tournaments and you still have to pay for the box.

My prediction: Box purchase plus Starter Edition that gives you access to one hero of each type (tank/healer/support/offense) and basic gameplay types for free.

They consider starcraft 2 to be a very competitive esports game and I honestly think they'll just replicate that model with Overwatch specific restrictions on a starter edition (like you can't lock out maps on an FPS, but you can lock out heroes and extra game types)

[ThePlanckEnergy]

LOL if they launched this game as B2P and you had to actually buy additional heroes... they might as well cancel it now. At least if they have any ambitions beyond milking a few diehard whales (which might be enough to make it profitable). As a widespread, competitive game? DOA

...not sure I'd put anything past Activision though.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

...not sure I'd put anything past Activision though.

Activision has absolutely nothing to do with Blizzard's policies, let alone the development and monetization of their games. Activision-Blizzard is merely a financial investiture. That is it and that is all.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

LOL if they launched this game as B2P and you had to actually buy additional heroes... they might as well cancel it now. At least if they have any ambitions beyond milking a few diehard whales (which might be enough to make it profitable). As a widespread, competitive game? DOA

...not sure I'd put anything past Activision though.

Activision really is irrelevant to Overwatch right now.

[Obsession]

I'm pretty sure I remember devs saying they don't want to restrict access to characters in game, but haven't said anything else. I'm too busy between games to find a source.

[SniperCT]

I'm pretty sure I remember devs saying they don't want to restrict access to characters in game, but haven't said anything else. I'm too busy between games to find a source.

Between that and the fact they had no plan for skins I'm pretty sure they're probably going with a starcraft 2/diablo 3 model. Limited starter edition as a permanent trial and full box/digital purchase. Still leaves room for a skin shop some day, but I don't really mind that. They could even have option to unlock skins through gameplay as well as a shop.