World of Warcraft lost approximately 1.3 million subscribers in the first quarter of calendar year 2013, Activision Blizzard said today.
The subscription count now sits at more than eight million, and Activision notes that it "remains the #1 subscription-based MMORPG in the world".
Activision boss Bobby Kotick said that the declines in the World of Warcraft business, along with other factors, "raise concerns" as the firm heads into the competitive holiday period.
"Further declines are likely," he added, with next year's player count expected to be even lower than at present.
Kotick said the firm plans to release new content more frequently, to keep players engaged and to make it easier for relapsed players to return to the game.
Comments
7 comments so far...
gunfighterii on 8 May '13 said:
only way i can see them pulling the millions lost is to pull a GW2, reboot the franchise on a new engine, new graphics etc and just start over, cant keep polishing a turd...the shine wears off sooner then later
Imaduck on 8 May '13 said:
Problem isn't the visuals, it's the Disneyfying of the series. It's the constant nerfs of anything that might be remotely hard, the linearity, the stupid nonstats for PvP, the focus on vanity and greed.
Pystoph on 8 May '13 said:
well, actually... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI
HelloLadies on 9 May '13 said:
The first 2 posters are both correct. They need to move the game over to a new engine and roll the game back to its vanilla/burning crusade basics.
Imaduck on 9 May '13 said:
New Engine may not be needed if they just improve the quality of the models and update all the old gear to better resolution and add some new flash like tessellation. Don't get me wrong, I wish WoW looked like a Warcraft 3 cinematic but it'd take a colossal amount of work. If they did it, upon completion people would probably bitch at the lack of new content, something they wouldn't have time do if they were to overhaul visuals right. Then it'd be years before another expansion. Might be leaving themselves open so to speak.
Medven on 9 May '13 said:
It's been a very popular game for the past 8 years, most MMO's attempt to emulate one or more of its mechanics and its still making a profit. They are all really positive achievements but you can't expect one game to dominate for all time. The fan-base will slowly decline, not because new people aren't interested, but because the old fans people will be looking for something new to explore.
Anyone who was interested in WoW would have tried it by now so it's just going to cater for those die-hard fans and people (like myself) who rejoin every now and then for nostalgia's sake. (Vanilla raiding ftw, amiright?)
Blizz aren't daft and banking on this game to keep them in gold-plated yachts forever. That's why they started their super-secret project: Titan. Once that's out you can bet they will be thinking about the next big thing
DemiGoth on 9 May '13 said:
I bet the massive drop is because of the Diablo III / 1-year WoW sub last year. The ones that have hopped in have now dropped out for good. Personally, my bet is that Blizzard knew their numbers would drop anyways and used the 1-year sub to lure players in. I even dare to bet that when Titan is on the horizon an other 1-year WoW sub with Titan comes along to increase WoW sub numbers again...