Culture

Pro Gaming Enters World of Warcraft

1up’s Dan Dormer (yo, Dan, ‘sup?) takes an in-depth look at how corporate sponsorship of World of Warcraft guilds may change the landscape of the game. There are many bragging rights to be had by guilds that are particularly good at kicking the bejeezus out of other guilds, thus making them very attractive to organizations […]

Wowpvp
1up'sDan Dormer (yo, Dan, 'sup?) takes an in-depth look at how corporate sponsorship of World of Warcraft guilds may change the landscape of the game. There are many bragging rights to be had by guilds that are particularly good at kicking the bejeezus out of other guilds, thus making them very attractive to organizations like Team Pandemic and Check Six, who've both recently inked deals to sponsor WoW guilds.
From the story:

Team Pandemic stated that they had to consider "over 50"
possibilities before deciding on making an offer to Power Trip. Ladies and gentlemen, WoW is no longer just a game or a social phenomenon -- WoW is serious business.

Though, don't bank of seeing advertisements for AMD, Intel, Nokia,
Wal-Mart, Tide, or other big companies logos placed all over your character's armor like a NASCAR driver's suit. Blizzard still maintains complete control of what type of content actually makes it into the game. However, it wouldn't be a shocker if magazine ads started pitching high-end game peripherals to players as the "Official Graphics Card of WoW Battleground Champs."

Given the fact that WoW accounts for more than halfof the MMO subscription market, I guess it's a miracle that corporate interests took as long as they did to get involved.

How Pro Gaming Will Change World of Warcraft [1up]