Blizzard has announced that its next patch for World of Warcraft will include a feature which will allow players to check their in-game mail through Google's Gmail. Using this feature, users will be able to catch up with their auctions without having to run the game.
In order to use this feature gamers will have to have a Gmail account and an add-on which Blizzard will make available. The deal is expected to benefit Google by increasing the number of its users as all WoW players don't already have Gmail accounts while Google will also gain a larger, global audience capitalizing on WoW's worldwide appeal.
Google also had to slow down its authentication process for users using this new service, we don't want users outside of the game to have an advantage over game players, said Marc Kassenbaum from Blizzard. We asked for a ten to fifteen minute delay when logging into the account with random disconnects for added realism.
The service, known as WoWMail, will be limited to reading in-game mail but Blizzard hopes to expand the service in future patches.
