Blizzard’s next MMO may feature product placement

A new job listing is looking for someone to “work with major consumer brands to facilitate product placement and licensing within the world of Blizzard Entertainment’s next-gen MMO.”

January 23, 2012 12:30 PM24

Very little is known about Blizzard’s next MMO, currently codenamed “Titan.” Will it be free-to-play? Subscription-based?

While the world continues to speculate, it appears the World of Warcraft developer may include in-game advertising and product placement in its next MMO. A new job listing is looking for someone to “work with major consumer brands to facilitate product placement and licensing within the world of Blizzard Entertainment’s next-gen MMO.”

The “Franchise Development Producer” will be responsible for promoting Titan “outside of the gaming industry,” and will help create merchandise for the brand, including books, action figures, comics, movies, and more.

This isn’t the first time Blizzard has considered in-game marketing partnerships for one of its online games. However, the last time was an April Fool’s joke (pictured above), parodying EverQuest 2’s /pizza command, which allowed players to order delivery without leaving their computer.

Some, like Eurogamer, postulate that the ability to include advertising without breaking the in-game fiction suggests Titan “is not a fantasy game, but is set in the present day or the future – potentially a near future.” We think Blizzard may just be exploring new revenue opportunities.