Cataclysm Expansion 'Overhauling' Most Existing Warcraft Content

Speaking to analysts yesterday, Blizzard headman Mike Morhaime let slip a few details regarding the Cataclysm expansion pack due for World of Warcraft.

"And then lastly, just want to point out, the industry trends are still on our side with broadband penetration around the world increasing and I think the changes that we're making with the Cataclysm expansion is going to make the game more and more accessible to new players around the world so."

Going into more detail Morhaime explained, "the feature that makes this particular expansion stand out is that we are completely overhauling much of the existing content in the game and bringing it up to our constantly rising design standards."

Why the need to overhaul one of the world's most successful properties? "The issue is that much of the low level player content in World of Warcraft today remains the same as it was when we first launched in 2004. New players to the games do not in large part experience the games best content and design until they reach the end game", says Morhaime.

He continues, "Our research shows that trial players who play World of Warcraft pass level 10 are much more likely to stick with the game for a long time. Currently, only about 30% of our trial players make it past this threshold. So, anything we can do to improve the new player experience is a huge opportunity for us.

"In parallel with the development on Cataclysm, we’re continuing to create additional value-added services for our players. One of the new services we're looking forward to introducing soon is the ability for players to access the in-game auction house from outside of the game."

So, when are we going to see it? "This will also provide additional replay ability for our veterans players as well. In the long run, we hope that this effort will capture more players and drive continued growth. Development on Cataclysm is proceeding smoothly and we're making great progress due (we think 'to' Ed.) release in the back half of 2010."

You can read the full transcript over here.