Look, we all pretty much knew that there would be monetization linked to the upcoming housing feature for World of Warcraft. There is practically no world in our genre and its various sub-genres where this isn’t used as a vector to extract cash from players’ wallets, and the fact that there would be cash shop furnishings was confirmed back in May. But now we’ve got the first peeks at just how that monetization is likely to work, and it appears to be through a specific cash shop currency.
Datamining of the Midnight alpha test has uncovered several icons and data strings that reference a currency known as Hearthsteel, which as the image below shows is sold in bundles much like other premium currencies in other titles, Blizzard’s included. There also appears to be a functional catalogue preview of a few of these housing items, which are described as decorative in nature instead of mechanical.
Obviously pricing for these currency bundles may not be final, so whatever is being dug up should be taken with that in mind. Regardless, it does indeed look like housing monetization is going to be powered by distinct funny money. Prepare accordingly.
