Former Blizzard dev claims one WoW cosmetic made more money than all of Starcraft 2

Jason Hall, a former developer at Blizzard Entertainment, claims StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty brought in less revenue than World of Warcraft’s first “sparkle pony horse” mount.

“Sparkle pony horse,” aka Celestial Steed, was first added to Blizzard’s store in 2010 and remains available today alongside a truckload of other mounts, pets, and microtransactions. The mount used to cost $25 while the standard version of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty set RTS fans back $59.99 at the time. 

Hall, who now works for indie game developer Captain Software, worked at Blizzard for six and a half years between 2009 and 2016. He was involved in the development of Starcraft 2, working overtime for two years to get the game across the line. 

In a September Twitch stream, the developer made the startling claim that the mount made more money than the whole of Starcraft 2. “You’re wondering why these companies do microtransactions? Because dipshits keep buying all of them,” he said.

Unfortunately, Hall didn’t clarify how one single mount could bring in more profit than an entire game. I assume this could be because of the time and money invested in the development of Starcraft 2 when compared to Celestial Steed.

Developing a game is much more demanding than just designing a new mount and it takes way more manpower and money. For the mount, you could get a couple of devs, and before you know it, you have a finished product in your hands. Hall was also likely talking about the profit Celestial Steed made during his tenure at Blizzard. 

The sentiment of this is why would companies bother investing a ton of money and time into developing a new game when a few nicely colored pixels get the job done even better. In 2023, microtransactions are even more present and are considered a core part of games. At this point, it’s hard to come by a game that doesn’t feature it in one form or another. In simple terms, it’s quick and easy money, and, in the long run, it pays off way better. 

Celestial Steed released in the final phases of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, arguably the peak of WoW. According to Data for Azeroth, 40 percent of players own the mount, but this is after Celestial Steed appeared on the Trading Post for 900 Trader’s Tender.

The mount was available for purchase for basically free in the game for a full month, and all you needed to do was to complete a couple of Trading Post activities and purchase it. The mount is no longer available using this method and it’s hard to pinpoint how many people purchased it prior to it appearing on the Trading Post.