World of Warcraft may come to iPad and smartphones, as game developer Blizzard reveals that it is working on mobile and tablet games.

Blizzard chief operating officer Paul Sams has also announced that the company would consider making its titles free-to-play, according to a report by GameIndustry.biz.

In an interview with GamesBest, Sams said: "We do have a group within the organization that's focussing on mobile and tablet apps. Thus far it's been around our games. But that does not mean that we won't go there in the future."

The COO believes that Blizzard still has a successful future, even if it starts to see a large decline in subscriptions to its games; a free-to-play model could then be the answer. "It certainly is possible, if we find ourselves in that circumstance, or if we come up with a game where we think that's the right business model, the most appropriate for players to experience it.

"We don't have any opposition to the concept, it's just that at this point we haven't decided to make a game where that [free-to-play] is the model. But that doesn't mean that we won't."

With mobile devices like the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 becoming more powerful and more capable of running high-end games, Blizzard and others like it will be seeing iOS and Android as the next arena for its games. WoW and Diablo III could be coming to the AppStore soon

Sams added: "Then we decide what platform is most appropriate for it. So if the answer is mobile or tablet, when we're having those conversations, we'll definitely go there."