Following the rumors of World of Warcraft having an in-game cash shop, Blizzard pretty much confirmed the rumor recently on their official forum.
According to Bashiok, Community Manager of Blizzard, World of Warcraft is indeed having an in-game store when patch 5.4 comes out in a few months. However, it seems that only the Asian regions will be having the shop where items like pets, and mounts will be the items that will be on sale. For them, it would be a “convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game”
In addition to pets, Basiok also confirmed that boosting items like experience buff will also be on sale. So far, Blizzard is still finalizing their plans and it will be soon on the Public Test Realm server. For now, let’s hope that Blizzard will only sell vanity items and not something that will ruin the game, like selling raid gear and stuff.
For players who are already interested in the in-game items we offer, such as Pet Store pets and mounts, the benefits of an in-game store are pretty clear. We think everyone would appreciate the convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game, and ultimately that’s our long-term goal for the system, though there’s quite a bit of work involved in retrofitting those existing items into the new system.
Ultimately it’s still too early in the process to make any final determinations about our plans, but in the meantime, we hope you’ll check out the in-game store once it’s implemented on the PTR and let us know what you think.
To see the first set of pets that will be available for purchase, check out Blizzard’s new post that reveals several pets that are slated to come to their in-game store soon.