Blizzard's Michael Ryder

I don't think that innovation for us is necessarily a choice. 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.

So 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. 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.

The development team has a roadmap, and they think about what will come naturally in a patch. Of course they have to think about the time frame, and what's doable in the time they have to release a patch that comes out in a timely way, but also has lots of good stuff in it - whereas there's a more overriding long term thought process that goes into the expansion, because they have more time to get it together.

So I think it just falls out in that equation - what they feel is compelling and the time it will take to execute that. I know there's an awful lot of thought about what goes where, and at the end of the day it's going to come down to a creative process - a gut feeling on the part of the designers and producers about what can be done.

You're right - Blizzard's got a very strong culture and values that have been sustained over time, and I think part of that answer is that we never want to fail to deliver on the promise that we make to ourselves: That everything we ship is going to be up to Blizzard's standards.

So if it takes a bit of extra time to get it up there, we'll take it. It's just really important that we do that.