ActiBlizzard making more money than ever from Wow?

[cFortyfive]

How do people feel about this?

Obviously bad. But there is no stopping microtransactions, dlcs and what not. People are just too retarded and companies realize they can make millions on 1000 buck investments.

[korruna]

I never understood how Blizzard's model of triple dipping their customers while simultaneously providing a widely criticized content drought is something to praise as a consumer. Let me bold that: As a consumer. It doesn't surprise me that Blizzards is getting more money out of people with the cash shop and micro-transactions, plus the higher price for Warlords of Draenor.

As a consumer, you should instead be concerned; not elated. Money talks - nothing else. Unless for whatever reason you enjoyed the long span of no content!

[Deleted]

I feel great that they are getting more money, good for them! I really want to see Blizzard stay successful.

Theres a difference in being successful and being fleeced.

Do u really think its right that Blizzard are squeezing their players more now than they ever have?

Personally i think after 10 years Blizzard should be rewarding longterm players loyalty, not designing more and more ways to suck cash out of them.

[Trickname]

You kind of answered your own question. Sub fees haven't gone up so ofc extra money is coming from store transactions that isn't hard to figure out. To answer your second to last question, no i'm not happy paying more for wow and luckily I'm not, a select portion of the player base are choosing to spend extra money on additional services. If I need additional services not included in the monthly fee I'll happily pay additional money.

[Deleted]

They made less money than ever from Wow, though, so I don't know..
Their other products did well - and for Blizzard, they had a nice a bump from Hearthstone card sales (digital online channels)

"For the three months ended June 30, 2014, revenues through digital online channels increased by $89 million, as compared to the same period in 2013, and represented 49% of our total consolidated net revenues, as compared to 37% for the same period in 2013"

[Low Hanging Fruit]

They just got smart. Honestly I am sure they have known for years the subs were going to drop. That less new people were to be coming to WoW. Only a real novice would think otherwise once the game hit about 6 to 7 years old a few years back. So they shifted their money model from maximizing subs to maximizing dollars per person that still subs.

You do this with more service options like race change. Server transfer. Faction transfers. A in game shop that will grow. More and more things will continue to grow in this direction. For one it will make WoW more profitable than ever by getting more money per person but it will also have to deal with less and less people as well. This means not needing as many servers, less storage, less bandwidth, he'll even less people to manage the game itself saving tons of money that once again makes the game even more profitable.

End of the day subs is where they want you to think your power and influence lay. But in fact they are so deep in so many wallets that for the most part they shrug off most losses.

[Deleted]

They made less money than ever from Wow, though, so I don't know..

The Conference Call report doesnt say that, it clearly says they r making more money from Wow now than at any other time... read the report.

[Shinra1]

wow has jumped the shark.

[Amerissis]

"Revenues up Year on Year
Subscriber decline in Q2 similar to last expansion cycle
Beta testing has begun for Warlords of Draenor"
(...) ActiBlizzard are making more money from Wow now than they did when sub numbers were at their peak back in Wrath in 2009/10.

It doesn't say that it's the highest ever. Without a time frame, it means it's higher then in the same period last year. If you want to explain it like you do, it should say 'year-over-year since launch' or some other time frame that includes 2009.

So this effectively means they earned more money in Q2 2014 then in Q2 2013, even though subnumbers have declined. Not so spectacular, is it?

How do people feel about this?

I don't care how much money they make, nor if it's more or less than before. The only time I care, is when their profit dips so low that it will affect WoW.

Is everyone happy to pay more for Wow now than in the past?

I'm not paying more then before for WoW. I could be spending more on additional services (which I don't), but that still doesn't mean WoW is more expensive now then before.

How are Blizzard raising so much more cash from Wow at this time?

Uhm, you don't know about their paid services (tranfers, name/race changes, etc.) and their cash shop? How odd.

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

The statement on the Conference Call is talking specifically about Wow and not about any other Blizzard game... Hearthstone has a seperate section in the report.

They make more money from Wow now than at any other time.

I see. Then I guess it's because of the ingame store and services.

[Pull My Finger]

Probably because they want to defend Blizzard and in order to do that in this thread they've to claim that the game is cheaper than ever.

That only makes sense if you assume that any investition in WoW is painful and terribly regrettable for everyone by default. Which is only true in your own fantasy.

[Deleted]

It doesn't say that it's the highest ever. Without a time frame, it means it's higher then in the same period last year. If you want to explain it like you do, it should say 'year-over-year since launch' or some other time frame that includes 2009.

Errrm nope it definitely doesnt read that its just compared to last year... the language used clearly says year on year, which means every year since inception.

Im guessing your first language isnt English right.

If it was simply comparing to last year then they would say that. "Revenues up on last year" There u go thats the language they wouldve used... they didnt say that, they said "Year on Year" which is an ongoing statement.

[Pann]

The statement on the Conference Call is talking specifically about Wow and not about any other Blizzard game... Hearthstone has a seperate section in the report.

They make more money from Wow now than at any other time.

It does not say that at all it says revenues are up year on year and for non-GAAP revenue this is true being $7million higher than the previous year although it is important to remember that this includes roughly half a million WOD pre-orders. GAAP revenue is 16% down on the previous year at $195million which is a far cry from Q2 2011 total of $359million.

Whilst undoubtedly the average revenue per account is growing as the low revenue Chinese market shrinks and the cash shop expands WOW is not even close to making more money than it has in the past.

[Deleted]

It does not say that at all it says revenues are up year on year and for non-GAAP revenue this is true being $7million higher than the previous year although it is important to remember that this includes roughly half a million WOD pre-orders. GAAP revenue is 16% down on the previous year at $195million which is a far cry from Q2 2011 total of $359million.

Whilst undoubtedly the average revenue per account is growing as the low revenue Chinese market shrinks and the cash shop expands WOW is not even close to making more money than it has in the past.

Dude your figures r from all Blizzard games... Blizzard never list how much they get per game.

The statement i quoted is specifically for Wow.

[Noctifer616]

Whilst undoubtedly the average revenue per account is growing as the low revenue Chinese market shrinks and the cash shop expands WOW is not even close to making more money than it has in the past.

Revenue is down 6 million this quarter over last. However, they sold 0.5 million more copies of WoD last quarter. That means that they got more revenue from somewhere else. Is it actually possible that there was a very little drop in western subs and increase in other services? We are talking about 25 million less revenue due to less WoD sales.

[Zkal]

Errrm nope it definitely doesnt read that its just compared to last year... the language used clearly says year on year, which means every year since inception.

Im guessing your first language isnt English right.

If it was simply comparing to last year then they would say that. "Revenues up on last year" There u go thats the language they wouldve used... they didnt say that, they said "Year on Year" which is an ongoing statement.

Year over year means current year compared to previous year in financial reporting. They can't compare it to some random year they feel like, there are regulations for that (or else all companies would compare it to the year the company was formed to make the figures look extra awesome).

[Pann]

Dude your figures r from all Blizzard games... Blizzard never list how much they get per game.

The statement i quoted is specifically for Wow.

No they are not, they are taken directly from the online subscription line which is explained as "Revenues from online consists of revenues from all
World of Warcraft products, including subscriptions, boxed products, expansion packs, licensing royalties, and value-added services." as you can see it no longer includes the defunct COD elite sub income an is all WOW.

[sajin0084]

Probably because they want to defend Blizzard and in order to do that in this thread they've to claim that the game is cheaper than ever.

So how much was a realm transfer 9 years ago?

[Durandro]

Is everyone happy to pay more for Wow now than in the past?

Considering the sub price hasn't risen and inflation has made that money worth less then it was, this is a silly question to even ask.

- - - Updated - - -

So how much was a realm transfer 9 years ago?

Same price. If it was even available back then, and I'm not entirely sure it was.

They probably make more money now because of reduced costs and less advertising.

[Deja Thoris]

Errrm nope it definitely doesnt read that its just compared to last year... the language used clearly says year on year, which means every year since inception.

Im guessing your first language isnt English right.

If it was simply comparing to last year then they would say that. "Revenues up on last year" There u go thats the language they wouldve used... they didnt say that, they said "Year on Year" which is an ongoing statement.

Year on year means this year compared to last. Yes my first language is English and I'm qualified in the finance field. This isn't something thats up for debate or interpretation, you're incorrect.

And Edit: Never thought I'd say this but Pann's points are important :P Non-GAAP revenue vs. GAAP revenue is an important distinction. It basically means they are massaging current figures a lot by including pre-orders in non-GAAP revenue and making a song and dance about this even though they haven't "earned" that money yet. GAAP revenue is the figure to pay attention to because it offers a fair comparison (and thats down).

With that in mind I'm not really sure they are getting *that much* more revenue per subscriber.
Loss of eastern subs means less total revenue but more per subscriber and the value added services like xfers / mounts can only add to that too.