WoW Down to 6.8 Million Subscribers

[Deleted]

As opposed to the unspoiled players who want a large majority to pay for a game aimed at their small minority,

Yup, absolutely no sign there of being "spoiled". Nosiree.

Kids = majority of playerbase in every videogame. It's been like that since forever and as gaming company you want most of your playerbase statisfied. You get it now, right? You probably didn't even read my whole post, LOL.

BTW wow will never die. Even if blizzard goes bankrupt there will always be pirated servers

[Osmeric]

Kids = majority of playerbase in every videogame.

I don't believe that's the case, and particularly not the case for WoW.

[riptal]

amazing, ppl here still claim that wow isnt dying dont they understand the graph?
no its not dying right away or next year but it will die , wow is at almost half the subs at wrath.

Wow! Thanks for the lesson! So if I listen to you, Wow is gonna die one day? Not now, not next year, but one day! What a surprise! Thanks alot!

What a revelation... I'm in shock right now!

- - - Updated - - -

I don't believe that's the case, and particularly not the case for WoW.

Exactly! Video games cost alot of money. Wow also have a subscription fee so I dont think the majority are kids! Dont forget that the real first generation of gamers are in th mid40 right now. So the player base is alot more large today than 10-15 years ago. Also a game like Wow attract alot more mature players than Call of Duty!

[Gray_Matter]

Only thing that could change the overall trend of that curve is to dramatically change the marketing model, for example; make it Free to Play. Which I predict to happen in 2016.

2016 would be too late if they want to change the model. They are losing 500k subs per quarter on average. At some point that is likely to accelerate (quitting because none of my friends are playing type of thing) unless they can get new players into the game. They will need to go B2P (I think it would be a better model for them than F2P and ties in nicely with Diablo) before they drop below 5 million subs. End of Q3 of next year would be the latest IMHO and even that would be cutting it fine. The problem is that there are more and more alternatives. Not just MMO's, but all games. If you look at cata as an example, only 1/3 of the people who quit are returning and they don't stay that long. It's far better to have a busy world with lots of players than to slowly waste away. It's tough for them though as giving up $70 million a quarter is not easy.

- - - Updated - - -

Also keep in mind that revenues are up. How is that possible in a game that just lost 800k subs and continues to lose them over time? Simple, you spend less money on administering and developing the game. They are spending less money to create content for the game, another tell-tale sign things are not going well and the game is in maintenance/management/decline mode and not growth mode.

Revenue <> Profit

The revenue is up because it includes $80+ million on WoD presales.

[Crovyn]

I came full circle. I started in Feb 2006 wehen they had around 6 mio subs and stopped now that they are down that number again. I had fun in Vanilla, even more fun in BC and even more fun in Wrath. Then the fun stopped. I can't put my finger on it. In part its because people I played with are gone, but it's not just that. Wrath had, beside the largely too easy 5 mans (the last 3 were perfect though), teh perfect balance of everything.

I loved the skill trees even if there were cookie cutter specs. It was nice to experiment, esp. in PVP. However I can't put my finger on it why I don't have fun anymore. It's not because I have "grown up", I was grown up when I started and I still enjoy other games.

I think it's a huge mistake to just take abilities away without giving every class some really exciting new stuff. That's one HUGE part of what kept the game exciting!! It's just not exciting anymore for me.

I wish I knew exactly why bc I want to like it but I simply don't anymore :/

[pfbe]

Looking forward to many more years of "[x million players] still makes WoW a profitable game, stop whining".
Also can't wait for all those "storytelling scripted events" and "no-flying" subs come WoD to bump the game back to its former glory. And new models too, because the one thing you notice when your toon is loaded in armor is the texture detail on your tauren's chest, or all those hair bones hidden under the helm.

top kek, Blizzard, bur/10. Quarterly reports have become WoW's greatest undocumented feature.

[Osmeric]

Revenue <> Profit

The revenue is up because it includes $80+ million on WoD presales.

Also, be sure to not confuse GAAP revenue and non-GAAP revenue. They give both in separate tables.

Basically, under GAAP accounting, certain revenue is deferred and can only be booked later. WoD presales, for example, would not be counted now (or not mostly counted) under GAAP rules. Non-GAAP would count all those sales fully the moment they occurred.

[Deleted]

The reason for the decline is very simple. Crappy storytelling.

The game reached the top by the end of WOTLK because everyone was curious about the fate of Arthas. After that, it all spiraled down. Deathwing is a boring one dimensional bad guy. Garrosh is better, but there was no real interaction with him. We haven't seen any other sides of him other then the angry side.

Without a captivating story all there is left is the game itself, and everything in the game was done before. It started in WOTLK, but the story kept many people going.

Exactly. The writing for garrosh's story was so fucking bad. And WoDs story isnt going to be any better. They should have moved the story on the most obvious direction and went with Queen Azshara and N'zoth as the focus of the Next xpac.

[ripped]

Icecrown Citadel, wich was the final major release for WOTLK (RS doesn't really count) was released on December 8 2009
Cata released on December 7 2010.

A full year with no real new content except for RS which is a pretty small edition. Yet, no one left the game. The chart doesn't lie. Come Cata, and just a few months into the releases the game started to bleed subscribers.

And if no gives a damn about storytelling then why there's this small bump of subscribers at the middle of WOTLK? seems to me pretty much related to ICC and the fate of Arthas as the timing is right

And while the story doesn't interest you, it does matter to many others. These are probably the people left the game in the last few years. So many storylines since Cata were pretty much boring.

Why was there a small bump in subs? Because the game was in the middle of growing. It hit a peak and then started with horrible decision making. The game started to cater to casuals hard in Wrath. Cata they went totally against that and the casuals started leaving because the content was too hard and unreachable to them. Continuous bad decisions and other MMO's coming out that are free to play as well as WoW is old is playing a huge part. There is not 1 main reason for the sub bleeding. There are MANY MANY factors but the year off of no new content surely is the biggest factor.

[Frozen Death Knight]

A subscriber decline at the end of an expansion (in a huge content drought no less) with a predictable downward trend since WoW peaked between late 2010 and early 2011? Why am I not surprised.

[Reveries1]

Adding a comment to the masses that will be read by none or very few. #twitter.

Anyway

Personally I think subscription drops are based off a few things.

1. The amount of players who have played the game and stopped. Whether its for another game real life or whatever. It is no longer new and to get someone to start playing wow at this point when they never have before is pretty hard I imagine.

2. To fix point 1 they have done things that make some new players less likely to continue to play. new player plays with a friend with RAF and doesnt get absorbed into the game. They end up spamming dungeons or even quests and dont get to play threw the game like players who have been playing the full time have.

3. The simple player created concept that has destroyed most MMO's that ties into point 2. "The game doesn't start tell max level" The idea that the game doesnt start tell max level is probably the worst thing to happen to wow. Blizzard trying to help new players quickly catch up to friends again breaks the players experience.

I've played in the beta for Vanilla wow and about 75% of the time since. I did not reach 60 in original release I did not hit 70 in BC I did not seriously raid or pvp in wrath. In Cataclysm I ended up raiding pvping and leveling alts. MOP I now have 12 90's and another 6 50's on alliance. I dont think wow will be gone any time soon but I imagine it will one day hit a floor where the subs will stop dropping. I though that was here but 1 year of little to no content is killing a lot of subs.

/rant

[Shockzalot]

I don't think it matters if WoD is fun and successful, the sub count will continue to dwindle. Blizzard won't become alarmed until they start losing out on their micro transactions, server xfers, name changes, etc. The MMO market is dwindling down, interest in FPS and Battle Arena games is on the rise.

[caninepawprints]

It's no surprise that WoW was in its glory days during Wrath of the Lich King. It was easily the best time any player had with their characters. Cataclysm is where the decline came in because everything was overtuned in an effort to appeal to "hardcore" players. Imagine Blizzard's surprise (and quick response in hot fixes and patches) when even the most hardcore players complained about the difficulty of dungeons. I stopped playing my Druid because quest mobs were way overtuned and I had to stop and heal from 10% health after every kill. It was unpleasant and took all the fun out of playing the game.

I really enjoyed healing in Wrath of the Lich King. I haven't played a healer since the changes to healing in Cataclysm. The new style sucked, and it hasn't gotten any better. WOD is finally seeing some improvement with it, but having fast mana regen just isn't enough. The heals need to be more powerful, like they were during Wrath's days. I've healed on every class that has that capability on the beta, and it sucks. Even though mana isn't really an issue anymore, the heals aren't strong enough to keep people alive. In every dungeon I did, if there was high damage, I could spam my most powerful and/or fastest heals without a break, and nobody's health went up. I was helpless and could do nothing more than watch as everybody's health slowly dwindled to zero. This is with the 660 gear they provide for us on the beta (which is the same item level as heroic mode raid gear, I think). Perhaps they haven't done a pass over the healing numbers, and I sincerely hope that is the case. Otherwise, it's going to be the game killer everyone has been predicting. It isn't fun when the entire group dies because the healer just isn't strong enough to keep people up. If I can't do it with the high item level gear they provide for us at level 100, people in blues are really going to suffer.

[Gray_Matter]

It was easily the best time any player had with their characters. Cataclysm is where the decline came in because everything was overtuned in an effort to appeal to "hardcore" players.

I think this part hits the nail on the head regarding the start of the decline. By the time Firelands had hit, all but 3 people in my guild had quit. We were a super casual guild.

[unholyness]

It's no surprise that WoW was in its glory days during Wrath of the Lich King. It was easily the best time any player had with their characters. Cataclysm is where the decline came in because everything was overtuned in an effort to appeal to "hardcore" players. Imagine Blizzard's surprise (and quick response in hot fixes and patches) when even the most hardcore players complained about the difficulty of dungeons. I stopped playing my Druid because quest mobs were way overtuned and I had to stop and heal from 10% health after every kill. It was unpleasant and took all the fun out of playing the game.

I really enjoyed healing in Wrath of the Lich King. I haven't played a healer since the changes to healing in Cataclysm. The new style sucked, and it hasn't gotten any better. WOD is finally seeing some improvement with it, but having fast mana regen just isn't enough. The heals need to be more powerful, like they were during Wrath's days. I've healed on every class that has that capability on the beta, and it sucks. Even though mana isn't really an issue anymore, the heals aren't strong enough to keep people alive. In every dungeon I did, if there was high damage, I could spam my most powerful and/or fastest heals without a break, and nobody's health went up. I was helpless and could do nothing more than watch as everybody's health slowly dwindled to zero. This is with the 660 gear they provide for us on the beta (which is the same item level as heroic mode raid gear, I think). Perhaps they haven't done a pass over the healing numbers, and I sincerely hope that is the case. Otherwise, it's going to be the game killer everyone has been predicting. It isn't fun when the entire group dies because the healer just isn't strong enough to keep people up. If I can't do it with the high item level gear they provide for us at level 100, people in blues are really going to suffer.

Hard cores didn't complain about Cata, quit fucking lying, maybe bad casuals who think they were "hardcore" because they cleared nerfed content but no one else. We were clearing in blues/greens while people were still crying the game was too hard. I have been running Beta and good healer's are having no problem in raids,especially 5-man's lol. They are losing sub's because of the catering to casuals, they are making the game easier and easier, and the subs keep dropping, real easy to see, good players leave, baddies stay.

- - - Updated - - -

As opposed to the unspoiled players who want a large majority to pay for a game aimed at their small minority,

Yup, absolutely no sign there of being "spoiled". Nosiree.

Baddie still crying about the game being too hard, go practice, hell if you practiced as much as you cry/whine on here you might not be bad, well, not as bad.

[krihan]

Hard cores didn't complain about Cata, quit fucking lying, maybe bad casuals who think they were "hardcore" because they cleared nerfed content but no one else. We were clearing in blues/greens while people were still crying the game was too hard. I have been running Beta and good healer's are having no problem in raids,especially 5-man's lol. They are losing sub's because of the catering to casuals, they are making the game easier and easier, and the subs keep dropping, real easy to see, good players leave, baddies stay.

- - - Updated - - -

Baddie still crying about the game being too hard, go practice, hell if you practiced as much as you cry/whine on here you might not be bad, well, not as bad.

i dont get it. it allways us casual players fault that the game has declined for the past 4 years, and that the game has become "easier". we are allways "complaining" and ruining for like 1% of the playerbase that is hardcore raiders or whatnot that want hard content. according to you guys us "casual" players dont deserve to see end game content because we dont put in "enough" effort into it....

[Salech]

Hard cores didn't complain about Cata, quit fucking lying, maybe bad casuals who think they were "hardcore" because they cleared nerfed content but no one else. We were clearing in blues/greens while people were still crying the game was too hard. I have been running Beta and good healer's are having no problem in raids,especially 5-man's lol. They are losing sub's because of the catering to casuals, they are making the game easier and easier, and the subs keep dropping, real easy to see, good players leave, baddies stay.

- - - Updated - - -

Baddie still crying about the game being too hard, go practice, hell if you practiced as much as you cry/whine on here you might not be bad, well, not as bad.

I am fairly casual when it comes to games but i enjoy hard content quite a bit and did not find Cata heroics or anything hard, the only hard part was getting a decent healer but that could be fixed by being one myself, I run Beta as well and most healers are so fucking bad because they can't accomodate to the no skills, however you are being quite unreasonable here, it's not "only" good players leaving, it's both for various reasons really.

They made WOTLK way easier than TBC and gained subscribers, so why is it dropping now because of easier content?

Why are you on the forum responding to "whiners" ? on the same note, calling some one a "baddie" usually means you are either an elitist or not really good but pretend to be so, if you practiced as much as your elitist/rambling then you might not be so bad interacting with people.

[twothe]

i dont get it. it allways us casual players fault that the game has declined for the past 4 years, and that the game has become "easier". we are allways "complaining" and ruining for like 1% of the playerbase that is hardcore raiders or whatnot that want hard content. according to you guys us "casual" players dont deserve to see end game content because we dont put in "enough" effort into it....

It is the fault of stupid players, not casual players, that bring down games - and not only WoW. Players that do not try the slightest to understand the game, but expect that even without any effort at all they should be able to beat those games in the first try and receive all items they could possibly wear.

And I am certainly not expecting other players to play perfectly, it would be absolutely ok, if they just read their abilities, think about those for a few seconds, or at least ask others on how to play a certain char. I remember when MoP was released and I was playing my Hunter for the first time, having no clue what I was doing. So I read the abilities. A pewpew spell, a dot, some CDs. I put those buttons in order on my hotbar, then smashed the first one and every 15 seconds button 2, and when ready those cooldowns. Any professional Hunter player would have laughed at my primitive way of playing this class, yet I was doing almost twice as much DPS as everyone else in random dungeons in green/blue gear. The only conclusion I could come up with at that point was that the other players didn't even read their spells and were just randomly smashing the keyboard with their fist, trying to hit at least some spells in the process. Is it too much to ask to at least read the spells and try to understand them?

Those players force the designers to either dumb down the game to a point, where it does no longer matter what you do, you'll win anyways (MoP "Heros", LFR). But without a challenge a game is dull and boring. Those who love a game, and spend hours understanding and perfecting their play-style are suddenly in a situation, where a once stimulating experience is suddenly nothing more than a simple, mindless button smasher. And those who do not care about a game will eventually leave, leaving behind nothing but a ruin of what was once an entertaining and fun game. Those players are called MMO-hoppers (see locust swarms, insects that invade areas, consume everything, then leave) and I have seen so many good games dieing to them. And that's why I hate those players: they ruin my entertainment with their ignorance.

[Lil]

Any professional Hunter player would have laughed at my primitive way of playing this class, yet I was doing almost twice as much DPS as everyone else in random dungeons in green/blue gear. The only conclusion I could come up with at that point was that the other players didn't even read their spells and were just randomly smashing the keyboard with their fist, trying to hit at least some spells in the process. Is it too much to ask to at least read the spells and try to understand them?

Hunters have strong, targeted AoE (= no problem when the tank moves the mobs around a lot), lots of instants, close to no ramp-up time (trash groups? spam multi shot and use trap/L90 talent when off cooldown), small cooldowns, misdirection (= they can start nuking before everybody else) and an execute which pretty much guarantees them the #1 spot on DPS meters in 5 mans. They don't need mana, they don't need to stand still do do damage, they are also doing very well without gear, but don't scale as well as other classes with it. It's the perfect class for "AoE everything!" 5 mans.

TL;DR: Wow, you did well as a Hunter in 5 mans? Who would have thought?

[Deleted]

Id like to see an accurate graph of all mmos above 250k subs to see what kind of trends they have had over the last 5 years. Is it wows fault that its shrinking, or is it the mmo genre.

I'd like to see WoW's NA and Euro subs separated out.

They're always quick to say the losses are in Asia but less forthcoming about the gains.