New World of Warcraft mount, Sapphire Skyblazer, available in Blizzard store

Blizzard Entertainment has released a new in-game mount for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the Sapphire Skyblazer.

The mount itself is a crossover between the models of a Hippogryph and Dread Raven, although the Sapphire Skyblazer touts an entirely new model for players to collect. The Sapphire Skyblazer is a flying mount, released just in time for players to unlock flying in the regions of the Shadowlands

The mount is available as an added bonus to players who purchase a six-month subscription to World of Warcraft. If you’re not looking to drop the money on a six-month subscription plan, though, the Sapphire Skyblazer is available at a standalone price of $25. 

The mount and subscription plan combination package strategically comes just two days after a new patch for World of Warcraft was released on live servers. Players looking to return to the game could very easily be enticed to do so by purchasing a discounted subscription plan that comes along with an added in-game mount. 

This strategy is nothing new for Blizzard either. Throughout the entirety of the last WoW expansion, Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard released mounts alongside subscription packages whenever a new content patch was released. For Patch 8.1, Blizzard released the Vulpine Familiar, and for Patch 8.2, the Sylverian Dreamer was made available in the in-game store. 

Now, with Patch 9.1 hitting live servers, Blizzard’s latest mount for World of Warcraft, the Sapphire Skyblazer, is available for purchase.