Diablo 3 free for annual WoW subscribers

At BlizzCon today, Blizzard announced plans on rewarding World of Warcraft subscribers with quite an enticing bonus: a free copy of Diablo 3 when it releases.

Andrew Yoon

October 21, 2011 11:30 AM

World of Warcraft players are some of the most dedicated Blizzard fans out there. At BlizzCon today, the company announced plans on rewarding World of Warcraft subscribers with quite an enticing bonus: a free copy of Diablo III when it releases. (You will only get the regular edition, not the special edition pictured above.) Of course, there are some strings attached. To be eligible for the bonus, you must get a new 12 month "annual pass," which costs $15 a month. In addition to a free copy of Diablo 3, you'll also get guaranteed access to the next expansion pack beta, with the 12 month commitment. Finally, you'll get an exclusive mount, Tyrael's Charger, for use in WOW after patch 4.3 releases. Tyrael's Charger can be used as either a ground or flying mount.

Tyrael's Charger

Unfortunately, this promotion is for current World of Warcraft players only, and is not valid for any new subscribers. "New World of Warcraft accounts created after October 18, 2011 are not eligible to for this promotion," a Q&A further details. Our own Xav DeMatos is at BlizzCon right now. Stay tuned to Shacknews for further breaking news and updates.

Andrew Yoon

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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October 21, 2011 11:30 AM

Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Diablo 3 free with World of Warcraft annual pass.

At BlizzCon today, Blizzard announced plans on rewarding World of Warcraft subscribers with quite an enticing bonus: a free copy of Diablo 3 when it releases.
- [deleted] 1710678874
  
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  October 21, 2011 11:45 AM
  
  [deleted]
- dubiousbrick
  
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  October 21, 2011 11:48 AM
  
  Is Blizzard too ashamed to tell us how much the pass costs?
  - dubiousbrick
    
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    October 21, 2011 11:48 AM
    
    Yes. http://us.media.blizzard.com/wow/promotion/wap/en-us.html
    - proclone1
      
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      October 21, 2011 11:52 AM
      
      lol extended Q&A: nothing about price, but plenty about the mount etc "how fast is it?!?!"
  - Vincent Grayson
    
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    October 21, 2011 11:49 AM
    
    The pass is just a 12-month commitment to the $15/month rate for 12 months. They even said it's still billed monthly.
    - Lucy Labia
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:07 PM
      
      They give a discount for 3 months and 6 months, why wouldn't they discount a years subscription?
      - Vincent Grayson
        
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        October 21, 2011 12:12 PM
        
        Because now you're getting a free game and you're also not having to pay all $180 up front.
        
        Kinfet
        
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        October 21, 2011 2:01 PM
        
        not correct, i'm on a 6 month sub and it 's not changing my price
        
        Kinfet
        
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        October 21, 2011 2:01 PM
        
        it's still 12.99/mo for me
        
        Vincent Grayson
        
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        October 21, 2011 4:43 PM
        
        Yeah, I saw somewhere the explained it better, I was just confused. I guess you pay whatever rate you want (1/3/6 months @ the current price) but you're committed to doing so for one year.
  - Longgshot
    
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    October 21, 2011 9:27 PM
    
    Its the same price as the normal suscription you have.
    
    The only requisite to apply for the promotion is to have a recurring suscription active, and keep it active for 12 months.
    And i suppose that if you cancel your suscription before the 12 months they will take the items in the promotion away.
    
    And if you already paid for lets say, a 6 month suscription, the time for the 2 months starts counting at the time you apply for the promotion. If for example you have used 2 months of the 6 you paid for, you will have 4 months counting for the promotion.
    
    So basically you just have to continue paying as you were till now xD.
- valcan_s
  
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  October 21, 2011 11:57 AM
  
  180$... right... any ways I heard that Torchlight II comes out in the next month, it will be awesome.
  - mwasher
    
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    October 21, 2011 12:12 PM
    
    Meh, no interest in Torchlight 2. I'll just wait for the better game to come out.
    - [deleted] 1856106348
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:20 PM
      
      [deleted]
      - mwasher
        
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        October 21, 2011 12:24 PM
        
        FURY D8!
    - Topsiderover
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:39 PM
      
      Grim Dawn?
      - fractured_sanity
        
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        October 21, 2011 4:24 PM
        
        Beat me to it.
    - [deleted] 1271987451
      
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      October 21, 2011 5:25 PM
      
      [deleted]
  - slax0r
    
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    October 21, 2011 9:37 PM
    
    Dude, I know you're all keen on hating on D3, but it's not $180 for D3. It's just a benefit for WoW players that happen to keep their subscription for a year. It's a pretty good deal for both those players and Blizzard.
  - walker270
    
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    October 21, 2011 11:31 PM
    
    Or you could, you know, buy it normally. In a box. Without the WoW subscription.
  - dante2010
    
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    October 22, 2011 10:03 PM
    
    When you don't like something, you certainly go out of your way to bash it into the ground.
    
    Good thing you like most games!
- SlingBlaze
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:18 PM
  
  Your conclusion may be off based on what was stated.
  "Unfortunately, this promotion is for current World of Warcraft players only, and is not valid for any new subscribers."
  is not correct from
  "New World of Warcraft accounts created after October 18, 2011 are not eligible to for this promotion,"
  
  I have an account from 2005. Its not active. Therefore It would be created before October 18, 2011 but I'm not a current subscriber. Based on the quote it sounds like I would be able to get the promotion. Based on what you said that does not seem like the case.
  - aethyr
    
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    October 21, 2011 12:23 PM
    
    You can have a lapsed account, it's on Blizzard's page.
    - SlingBlaze
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:24 PM
      
      Still not getting a year worth of WoW......Just a nice thing to point out.
- CryosSR
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:32 PM
  
  "For the love of god, just give us a year's worth of money because we have literally pissed ourselves at what might happen to our subscriber base because of SW:TOR"
  
  Taking out whether or not SW:TOR will have longevity or is actually worth playing, the fact Blizzard is giving away Diablo 3, one the most eagerly awaited sequels of this past decade, shows the threat SW:TOR represents combined with WoW's stagnation and steady hemorrhage of players.
  - rtrson
    
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    October 21, 2011 12:38 PM
    
    are you complaining? its a good deal.
    - CryosSR
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:44 PM
      
      Observation, not complaint. Its a good deal if you still want to play WoW, or were on the fence about stopping your subscription.
      - CryosSR
        
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        October 21, 2011 12:49 PM
        
        Come to think of it, might be a response to Diablo 3 itself cannibalizing WoW subs in addition to the others potential factors. Somewhat amusing, "We have to give away our game so people will keep paying for our other game!"
    - Rice-Rocketeer
      
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      October 21, 2011 12:50 PM
      
      It's a good deal for Blizzard, too.
      
      They get $180 for people to maintain their subscriptions.
  - Entity
    
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    October 21, 2011 1:05 PM
    
    If you're an existing WoW player, especially a raider who's going to be around in a year to see the next endgame, it's a pretty solid deal.
  - Lucy Labia
    
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    October 21, 2011 2:46 PM
    
    I don't think they are scared of star wars. I think they just want to leverage the games they have. People might quit for SW, or to play D3 or any other reason. This guarantees money coming in over a year and even though someone might get a "free" copy of D3, they might also use the real money auction house and blizzard can make money off people that way if they were only planning to play wow for a year but now will at least try D3 because it's free. I think it's more about keeping wow numbers up though which are declining I think, partially for SW when it comes out but mostly I think lots of people are ready to move on.
  - maulla
    
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    October 21, 2011 9:30 PM
    
    they arent scared of TOR, they are scared of people just getting bored.
- InfoBiter
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:39 PM
  
  Oh jesus, I think I'm going to have to jump on this
- Cognoscenti
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:41 PM
  
  This whole promotion reminds me of that sketch from That Mitchel and Webb Look where the execs at the toothbrush company are trying to figure out their next innovation.
  
  "What if we can get people to brush their tongues as well?"
- RogerDandy
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:44 PM
  
  is that picture reguarding the collectors edition real or what?
- Schnapple
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:51 PM
  
  Which year do you have to be a subscriber for? 2012 or the year Diablo III is actually going to ship?
  - dubiousbrick
    
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    October 21, 2011 1:28 PM
    
    oh *snap*!
- jacobvandy
  
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  October 21, 2011 12:56 PM
  
  Does that picture show little boxes of Diablo 1 and 2? Seems to imply they come on that USB stick.
  - jacobvandy
    
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    October 21, 2011 1:03 PM
    
    Nevermind, apparently it's Diablo 2 and the expansion. Neat.
    - grabbie
      
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      October 21, 2011 4:34 PM
      
      http://us.battle.net/d3/en/services/collectors-edition/
  - beef2187
    
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    October 21, 2011 5:10 PM
    
    Didn't notice that! This is a great special edition/boxed set.
- beef2187
  
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  October 21, 2011 5:07 PM
  
  First special edition I may ever consider purchasing... if the flash drive was16gb it would be a sure buy.
  - beef2187
    
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    October 21, 2011 5:08 PM
    
    Oh shit, I have Diablo 2 on a flash drive it runs, would be cool as hell in the stone. maybe buying.
    - beef2187
      
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      October 21, 2011 5:11 PM
      
      Comes standard on stone. Def. buy.
- fw_rams
  
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  October 21, 2011 5:34 PM
  
  no time for wow. NO TIME. my steam list explodes and i'm somewhere in deus ex and have SO MANY games to play through - like Alpha Protocol, Alien vs. Predator, Crisys 2 (still not done), Red Faction: Armageddon, Stronghold 3,....+ the upcoming elder scrolls + ac3, driver and more more more
  
  AND NEXT WEEK IT'S BF3 TIME .. i should quit my job.
- Longgshot
  
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  October 21, 2011 9:34 PM
  
  And, if you buy the collectionist edition, and you have applied to this promotion, when you enter the code into your account, you get 4 months of wow free too :D.
- [deleted] 744961335
  
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  October 21, 2011 9:43 PM
  
  [deleted]
- Vividvoid
  
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  October 21, 2011 10:11 PM
  
  Multipass.
  - [deleted] 1911367480
    
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    October 21, 2011 11:29 PM
    
    [deleted]
- saturn96
  
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  October 22, 2011 11:40 AM
  
  I guess that's one way to make sure your Subscriber Numbers don't keep dropping.
- ManiacalMoose
  
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  October 22, 2011 11:53 AM
  
  That's a very good deal. Shame about the pandas though.
  - technotica
    
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    October 23, 2011 7:39 PM
    
    is shame