Vice President of Marketing Fred Howard talks with us about the new in-game quest featuring actress and singer Selena Gomez, the upcoming Celestia update and the game's two-year anniversary.

ZAM: You also have the Selena Gomez quest, which launched on the live servers today. How did that whole storyline come about?

Fred: It was really fun for us to do a cross-promotion with Selena Gomez and Hollywood Records. They've been great to work with. It's been fun for us to work with Selena and have her do a voice-over for a questline in our game that we use to introduce the first underwater component in Wizard101. So it was something that helped us launch Celestia and our new content, and it helped her reach a significant audience to alert them of the launch of her new album on September 21.

ZAM: Can you tell us a little bit more about the quest?

Fred: The overall premise of the story is Selena is in her recording studio finishing up her new album when she falls asleep and wakes up behind bars in this world she doesn't recognize. As a player, you have to help her get out and get her back to launch her album. It's pretty typical for Wizard101. It's funny, it's tongue-in-cheek. She's been captured by the Crab King who wants to make her his queen. He think she's a powerful wizard when she's really a singer and actress. It has a funny ending that most players will chuckle at and enjoy.

ZAM: Will the quest be permanent or temporary?

Fred: It's temporary. We looked at this like we do some of our other special content, like our holiday events. It's specific content to launch for a short period of time to expose players to the underwater world and have fun with the Selena quest to promote her album and the launch of Celestia.

ZAM: Will the quest last until at least the launch of Celestia?

Fred: Yes.

ZAM: As you mentioned, the lead singer of Blue Oyster Cult has been in Wizard101. Now you have Selena Gomez making an appearance. Can we expect any other celebrities to show up in the game?

Fred: You never know. We certainly had fun with both of them. Eric wasn't in the game as himself, and Selena's actually the first person who has played herself in the game. Just as a point of note, that doesn't break the fantasy of our world. Earth is a world in Wizard101 and all the players are playing themselves as people from our world who have been pulled into Wizard City to start their journey. The fact that Selena falls asleep and wakes up in Wizard101 is not breaking fantasy. We try to hold true to the reality of our fantasy, if that makes sense.

ZAM: It does. So Wizard101 just celebrated its two-year anniversary. Congratulations! What's next for the game after Celestia?

Fred: A lot! I think if we look at the success we've had and the wonderful community that's been built around the game, there's a tremendous future for Wizard101. Celestia starts a whole new story arc, so you can certainly be on the lookout for a number of new worlds to come online over the next few years to continue to drive that storyline and bring new content to players.

We saw a lot of success with our new pet system that was launched in our last build. It's a very in-depth system that has both a casual feel as well as a very deep aspect for the more hardcore players. With the success of that I think you'll see other new systems in place that we'll bring online. So players can expect a combination of new worlds, a new story arc, and new functions and features.

ZAM: Sounds like players will have a lot of content to keep them busy. Thanks for sitting down with us to discuss Wizard101!

Fred: Thank you!

Darryl Gangloff, Editor-in-Chief