WoW subscription numbers

[Sealbinder]

Honestly I don't care much about the subscription numbers. All I know is that I am having fun playing this expansion, my friends are having fun playing this expansion and that is all the matters to me. Who really cares about how many other players who you will never see or interact with are playing.

[Metta World Peace]

I wouldn't call SC2 a failure completely. However outside the e-sporting community, the game is a barren wasteland. If anything SC2 had similar complaints with Diablo 3 mainly because of B.net 2.0. SC2 still didn't get criticized as harsh as D3 did.

As for the topic, honestly expecting it to go up. Not because of the game or anything but, MoP prices have been reduced already which should attract people. In addition to WoW + Cata's reduced price tag. People who were hesistant in spending $100+ to get caught up to current expansion should worry no longer.

Nothing but short term goals I say. Leave it to the marketing guys to bring people back instead of the developers.

[Immitis]

i think subs will either go down slightly or stay stable if they do increase it probably wont be much i think it wass 10.2 million last time? maybe 10.5 if it goes up.

even though in my opinion mists is the best expansion yet its not everyones cup of tea and the game is 8 years old so my optimist side tells me it will be around the same my gut says it will be down slightly probably around 9.7, 9.5 or something.

we wont know for sure until the conference call.


in my opinion the best thing for everyone is for the subs to stay the same when they go down everyone says its because people are fed up with the game and its dying, when it goes up its all chinese players. however when it stays around the same most people dont complain much and just say "meh".

---------- Post added 2012-12-18 at 10:23 PM ----------

Both SC2 and D3 FAILED badly, i'm one of the players who got D3 since release and SC2. These 2 lacks of what it made them fun back in their original formats (Diablo 2 and Starcraft 1). I hope this doesn't happen to WoW, but with MOP and it's asian theme....idk what may happen after patch 5.2.

neither of them failed at all they both mantain a nice size of players on a daily basis. they might not be game of the year or golden cows but they are far from failures

[Moradim]

they really, really need to merge low population servers.

everyone has migrated to the "uber" servers, the illidans, and so on. so you have a billion people on one server, and then servers with dozens of people on another.

CRZ is not the answer. merging low pop servers, is.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Pray tell me, what evidence do you have that "indications point to another fall in subs"? Please don't use any anecdotal evidence like "my friends stopped playing"

Some people need for this game to "do badly", all the while they praise games that are appearant failures as if they're much better and worthy than WoW...

pathetic, if you ask me.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 04:31 AM ----------

because I happen to find it fun and enjoyable.

Imagine that people wanting to play something they find fun.

Indeed, imo someone playing a game they do not enjoy simply because of the "social" bit, is a moron.

I began playing the game and then met people in the game. I'd keep playing even if they all left.

[Gambit5555]

My point is Ferrari never has a sale because they are so good people will buy them regardless or whether or not it's on sale. Saying MoP is on sale because it's doing well is the opposite.

I will try to be polite here. There is this small holiday coming up called Christmas, where hundreds of video and computer games will be going on sale. Blizzard, by putting their game in sale, will be in competition with said games. As someone who works in retail, things go on sale to increase volume and movement of items, not because business is going poorly. This model works exceptionally well for Blizzard, because they still make a sub fee off of all active accounts. So sale=more subscribers= higher profits. Glad we could have this chat.

[Deleted]

because I happen to find it fun and enjoyable.

Imagine that people wanting to play something they find fun.

You'd be happier with a single player game.

[Leslie]

Only Blizzard has a definitive subscription number, and it's the only one people in this forum will listen to. It's best just to wait for the quarterly report.

In my opinion, based on the interview of Mike Morhaime at the Blizzard World Championship, it seems Blizzard is concentrating on growth of subscription numbers in China. So, even though subs may be falling in the west, they may be increasing overall thanks to China.

That said, do subscription numbers even matter? Maybe yes, maybe no. Sure, more subscription numbers means more revenue, but as long as total revenue keeps growing, everything else is moot. Maybe.

As I see it, Blizzard's biggest competitor is their sister company Activision. I'm not a financial or gaming analyst, but it seems Blizzard is performing a bit sluggish when compared to Activision. I'm not talking about the past, even though financial records are always in the past, but the present and future, which cannot be accurately measured. Again, to me, the future looks more favorably towards Activision, and this puts pressure on Blizzard to perform on par for stockholders.

[Moradim]

I dont think blizzard has to worry much. the game will clearly last for a long time. SWTOR didnt kill it, GW2 didnt kill it, and so on.

they would have to do something truly massive to mess this up.

[Meatboll]

I will try to be polite here. There is this small holiday coming up called Christmas, where hundreds of video and computer games will be going on sale. Blizzard, by putting their game in sale, will be in competition with said games. As someone who works in retail, things go on sale to increase volume and movement of items, not because business is going poorly. This model works exceptionally well for Blizzard, because they still make a sub fee off of all active accounts. So sale=more subscribers= higher profits. Glad we could have this chat.

There's a little thing called supply and demand. If the demand is low and the supply is high, i.e. the game is not very good and sitting on store shelves, a retailer will sell the product at a discounted price. If the demand is high and the supply is low, i.e. the game is popular and selling well, the retailer will not sell the product at a discounted price as all that would do is reduce holiday profit margins. And as someone else pointed out, this is the first time in the history of WoW that a brand new expansion is being sold at a discounted price over Christmas. Gad I could talk down to you too.

[Immitis]

There's a little thing called supply and demand. If the demand is low and the supply is high, i.e. the game is not very good and sitting on store shelves, a retailer will sell the product at a discounted price. If the demand is high and the supply is low, i.e. the game is popular and selling well, the retailer will not sell the product at a discounted price as all that would do is reduce holiday profit margins. And as someone else pointed out, this is the first time in the history of WoW that a brand new expansion is being sold at a discounted price over Christmas. Gad I could talk down to you too.

ummmm i didnt know digital games lived on shelves O-O

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 01:07 AM ----------

You'd be happier with a single player game.

single player games end. wow doesnt

[MoanaLisa]

My point is Ferrari never has a sale because they are so good people will buy them regardless or whether or not it's on sale. Saying MoP is on sale because it's doing well is the opposite.

Ferrari (or Lamborghini for that matter) aren't the unit sales market leaders for the auto industry either. Not to mention that you can't pick one up at a Wal-Mart or Target. Products marketed to the masses will have sales from time to time especially during the holidays. Really, that's quite the analogy. I suppose if WoW were good enough to sell for 10X the normal market price you might have a point. An F12 Berlinetta runs around $350K U.S. so when you find a game that sells retail for about $500-$600 new, let's talk.

[rogoth]

Pray tell me, what evidence do you have that "indications point to another fall in subs"? Please don't use any anecdotal evidence like "my friends stopped playing"

the last investor call still included the 1.2M+ annual pass subscriptions, which will or have already expired for the majority if not all by now, and due to the extremely poor performance from blizzard in the develeopment team for cataclysm content (i.e they spent almost all their time updating 1-60 and not enough time with end game "activities"), and when we see the next investor call numbers, it will show a drop as i highly doubt this expansion can recover that massive chunk of annual pass holders that quit or are thinking of quitting when the thing finishes ergo: "indicators point to a drop being expected".

[Orbitus]

Good job in ignoring 90% of my post. Also saying someones argument is invalid is moronic

---------- Post added 2012-12-18 at 12:06 PM ----------



Will do <3

Well it is invalid when Blizzard didn't even sell their own box copies so of course they didn't even put it on sale for BC or Wrath. I know I have been here since closed beta. So your argument is in fact still invalid.

[xanzul]

If the game was good they wouldn't need a sale.

Blizzard has put expansions on sale each and every Christmas even when subscriptions were at their peak during the sacred and holy Wrath that can do no wrong. I love how Blizzard is greedy for not having sales and then when they do the same exact people calling them greedy then claim they are desperate. Give it a rest.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 05:40 AM ----------

God I hate fanboys...There is no reasoning with them. Good job ignoring the bc thing...The sub numbers fluctuated up with mop coming out and from the looks of it they will fluctuate down. But the Blizzard cult of fanboys will keep cheer leading

---------- Post added 2012-12-17 at 08:06 PM ----------



:O where?

/10char

I like how if anyone disagrees with those who hate Wow they are automatically fanboys.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 05:43 AM ----------

Main problem I seen is a group of people that attack anyone who says anything bad about blizzard or criticism about blizzard

Because going on the attack whenever anyone says anything positive about Blizzard is so much better.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 05:49 AM ----------

No one said WoW has never been on sale. But it's never been on sale in December, which is telling the game isn't doing well. Which is the point of this thread.

No the point of this thread is for a bunch of Blizzard haters to gather around and fling insults at anyone daring to have an opinion of their own. These threads serve no purpose and it is shameful that the mods let them continue.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 06:08 AM ----------

Less subs = less money and could very easy lead to less content and less development.

Also a decline in subs would usually be followed by in game changes to keep subs for declining

And yet EQ1 who has never hit 1 million subscribers and probably has around 250k now is on its 18th expansion after 13 years with no end in sight so it is complete and utter bullshit to claim subscription numbers affect development. If a game is profitable which Wow is and will continue to be for many years, developers will still make new content.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 06:14 AM ----------

You know people get so mad when you call them fanboys and say "anyone who disagrees with you is called a fanboy" But they turn around and call people haters ""anyone who disagrees with you is called a hater"

No anyone who calls someone a fanboy is a hater because they have made it crystal clear they have no interest in discussion or allowing for the possibility that their opinions aren't fact and that it is ok for others to disagree.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 06:28 AM ----------

That isn't exactly correct, and doesn't make the point less valid. At the end of 2008, the financial crisis was starting, but most people hadn't felt the effects yet. In 2009, the economy was pretty bad, but if you hadn't lost your job, again, you were still okay. Four years later, many people are still out of work. Bonuses are down, salaries are down, and the economic indicators showing improvement largely don't reflect increased wealth, just the need to spend based on pent up demand.

If anything, discretionary income is lower now than it was back then, when people had no idea how bad things would get.

Also let's keep in mind that for a while people's savings and retirement plans was cushioning the effects of a bad economy and as those savings were depleted people started cutting back on unnecessary expenses. The effects of an economy on a downturn are rarely instant and can be felt for many years after.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 06:32 AM ----------

If you ask me, there is like 6 million players active. (3mio from EU and US, and 3mio from Asia).
Not even close to 10 millions.

Blizzard isn't going to risk a SEC investigation just to pump up their numbers.

---------- Post added 2012-12-19 at 06:35 AM ----------

Activity declines on tracking sites are suggestive, albeit not conclusive, evidence that subs will also decline.

And what are you going to do if subscriptions stay the same in Q4? What of your holy and sacred Xfire? Will you finally admit you are wrong about how accurate it is or will you come up with another idiotic excuse?

[Gambit5555]

There's a little thing called supply and demand. If the demand is low and the supply is high, i.e. the game is not very good and sitting on store shelves, a retailer will sell the product at a discounted price. If the demand is high and the supply is low, i.e. the game is popular and selling well, the retailer will not sell the product at a discounted price as all that would do is reduce holiday profit margins. And as someone else pointed out, this is the first time in the history of WoW that a brand new expansion is being sold at a discounted price over Christmas. Gad I could talk down to you too.

As someone else pointed out, I'm pretty sure Blizzard's digital copies aren't sitting on shelves in any stores. On the other hand, they make their money off of subscription fees, which they increase by having sales at Christmas, they did the same thing with WOTLK at Christmas a few years back. Ignoring the fact that Blizzard increases profit from having more people playing the game just shows how completely and utterly desperate you are to try to grasp for some proof that WOW is somehow failing. Also, when attempting to talk down to people, try to be correct next time. It helps

[Lazuli]

What are you talking about? In my guild, I've seen only one player quit the game, and it's not because he was unhappy with it, it's because he got a job.

What a loser!

Mod Edit: If you're going to engage in sarcasm, please make it obvious. - ML

[wow2011]

Both SC2 and D3 FAILED badly, i'm one of the players who got D3 since release and SC2. These 2 lacks of what it made them fun back in their original formats (Diablo 2 and Starcraft 1). I hope this doesn't happen to WoW, but with MOP and it's asian theme....idk what may happen after patch 5.2.

This is the kind of thought process that makes forum hard to read at times. Combo "I didn't like ABC" with "I see sub # going down! I must be right! This game truely sucks!" just make it that much worse.

SC2 and D3 did not fail badly. Just because you didn't find those 2 fun doesn't mean other people didn't like them. There is always a hype stage and the number of people playing will tail off leaving a smaller group of players continuing to play them. And as far as I know, D3 has over a thousand pub games open still (I have no way to gauge SC2). A game doesn't have to be extremely massive to be a success and a game certainly don't have to be the most popular to not be labeled a failure.

WoW will still be a very successful MMO at 1 million people playing on 20 different servers. Maybe even more enjoyable than now when all the irrationals disappear.

[mikencarly]

LOL at people thinking next calling will be a dip in subs no it wont be not at all it will be a increase im 100% sure if you ask me how i know its rather simple blizzard already had over 11 million subs its just those extra 1million were not part of the calling because blizzard sub term doesnt include people with the annaul pass by next calling it will be a sub increase after that no clue depends if they keep pumping out badass content like landfall patch. p.s. most annaul pass people will resub if you think not your living in a dream world.

[Darsithis]

LOL at people thinking next calling will be a dip in subs no it wont be not at all it will be a increase im 100% sure if you ask me how i know its rather simple blizzard already had over 11 million subs its just those extra 1million were not part of the calling because blizzard sub term doesnt include people with the annaul pass by next calling it will be a sub increase after that no clue depends if they keep pumping out badass content like landfall patch. p.s. most annaul pass people will resub if you think not your living in a dream world.

I don't remember Blizzard saying Annual Pass subscribers don't count...I only remember them saying that MoP sales, not including annual pass subs, was XXX amount. We still count. And annual pass people don't have to resub. We're already subbed even when it expires. We'd have to take direct action to end our sub after the AP ends.