Blizzard: "Innovation is a mandate"

Blizzard Entertainment's VP of International has told GamesIndustry.biz that while the company may be responsible for one of the biggest-grossing, most popular online games of all time in World of Warcraft, there's no possibility that the team will stop pushing the boundaries of innovation.

"I don't think that innovation for us is necessarily a choice," said Ryder during an interview at Gamescom. "I think the way that Blizzard operates, we look at players' need, quality, gameplay... all those things that are critically important. We put those at the top of the list, and we've got some really talented people in development who are always looking for some good ideas.

"It's not just development either, it's all the services we provide - we look for things we can do to make the experience better. I think we make a big attempt to listen to what the players have to say, and suggestions they might have on areas they feel we do better on."

And he went on to outline some of the developments the company has pushed out into the mobile space recently, including account security and access to content.

"One of the innovations we've made recently is using mobile devices for access to the Armory, using mobile devices for authentication - I think that's the beginning of a trend, perhaps, where we look at using mobile devices to make it easier for players to interface with the game," he explained. "That's an area of innovation that comes naturally - the technology's there, the platform's there.

"Definitely when we're looking at creating more content, that's the thing that drives continued interest in World of Warcraft, that we continually come out with content - and it won't be compelling if it's routine, or mundane. If you don't find ways to innovate in gameplay and offer some really new creative stuff, people are going to lose interest.

"So I think innovation for us is a mandate - we have to keep doing interesting things in order to expect people to continue to enjoy the game," he added.

Blizzard announced a new expansion to World of Warcraft, entitled Cataclysm, at Blizzcon last month, while the company is also in development on Starcraft II and Diablo III.

The full interview with Michael Ryder is available on GamesIndustry.biz now.