Blizzard's Dustin Browder, lead designer on Starcraft 2, was asked at the recent Valencia eSports Congress whether Blizzard had considered making Starcraft 2 free-to-play. The argument, apparently, is that other eSports contenders like DOTA 2 and League of Legends are free-to-play, and even Counter Strike: Global Offensive has a tiny price tag of $14.99.
So Browder's response that Blizzard has been "looking at free-to-play as an option for the multiplayer" doesn't come as much of a surprise. The PC space has been dominated by free-to-play games lately, and even would-be heavy hitters like Star Wars: The Old Republic have gone free.
But there's one main hurdle, according to Browder: "We don’t know how we would monetize it," he reportedly said. "While it might be good fun for me to play against someone with only half the units available to them, that’s not going to be an enjoyable experience for them."
Have you paid for Starcraft 2's multiplayer? Would you play it more if it was free? How should they monetize it? What if Blizzard charged money for custom maps?
