WoW Loses 1.1 Million Subscribers, Down to 9.1 Million

[chaud]

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WoW Loses 1.1M Subscribers, Down to 9.1M
Activision Blizzard latest earning call revealed that World of Warcraft lost another 1,100,000 subscribers last quarter, bringing us down to 9.1 million players. Some things they made note of on the call are below.

Notes

• 16.9 million Battle.net users, up from 10 million just 3 months ago.
• 10 million D3 copies sold, with 1.2 million of those from the Annual Pass.
• Most of the WoW Subscription losses were from the East.
• Losses are from people playing Diablo 3 and leaving until the new expansion.
• 4.7 million people watched the event at MLG for Heart of the Swarm.
• Mists of Pandaria will utilize TV and online ads leading up to the launch.
• The China launch Mists of Pandaria will launch as soon as possible, not likely in Q3.

Slides

Previous Subscription Losses

• Q1 2011 - 600,000 subscribers lost
• Q2 2011 - 300,000 subscribers lost
• Q3 2011 - 800,000 subscribers lost
• Q4 2011 - 100,000 subscribers lost.
• Q1 2012 - 0 subscribers lost.
• Q2 2012 - 1,100,000 subscribers lost.

At June 30, 2012, the worldwide subscriber base for World of Warcraft was 9.1 million, compared to a subscriber base of 10.2 million at March 31, 2012, and 11.1 million at June 30, 2011, with a greater loss of subscribers in the East than in the West for both the 3-month and 12-month periods (in which the “East” includes China, Taiwan, and Korea, and the “West” includes the regions of North America and Europe).

Contributing factors to the lower subscribers were likely the launch of Diablo III in the quarter, which provided consumers with an alternative gaming experience to World of Warcraft (although Diablo III has not yet launched in China), as well as the lack of new content patches in all geographies resulting in less overall game play. Looking forward, Blizzard Entertainment expects to release World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria™ on September 25, 2012, which will deliver new game content in all regions that is expected to further appeal to the gaming community (with availability in mainland China to be announced at a later date).

[Frozenbeef]

ouch...prob expected due to no content in like 7 months

[Mystile]

Not surprising, nothing new for content, everyone is PvPed out and beyond tired of Dragon Soul. The number is staggering, but I'd be willing to bet a fair amount that nearly all of them will be coming back for 5.0.

[Wishblade]

Welcome to the "End of Expansion"-phase, the number will go back up when MoP comes around I bet.

[Smartacus]

It's the end of the World... of Warcraft.

[Karei]

More expected due to lackluster content than lack of content.
ICC kept us busy for over a year and didn't see such a huge drop in numbers

[lokithor]

Damn. That was a hell of a lot more than I figured. I have a feeling it's going to be really bad when The AP wears off.

[ryuke09]

Thats...still kind of a big lose regardless of the lack of content...had there ever been a 1mill+ sub loss before this one?

[scvd]

9.1 million, probably 6 million in Asia without Subs and a lower cost overall.
Wheyyy, keep that number out and proud.

[klaps_05]

nothing unexpected, better wait for the next quarter report after MOP hits. end of expansion, hence the numbers are expected to be lower.

[enchanted]

Yeah, all my friends quit... They wont come back till MoP so expected that to see coming since its the end of the xpac

[kosmosu]

More expected due to lackluster content than lack of content.
ICC kept us busy for over a year and didn't see such a huge drop in numbers

this is likely it. LFR is also a likely contributor. As much as I love LFR it would not surprise me that it burned people out much much faster.

[Mystile]

Damn. That was a hell of a lot more than I figured. I have a feeling it's going to be really bad when The AP wears off.

Annual Pass ends ~1 month after MoP comes out, there will not be much, if any, drop in subs at that time. At least for the people who got the pass right away.

[Sarac]

I'd say that's pretty normal considering people left every end of expension. I only just came back myself to prepare for MoP.

[Flimsy]

Shit storm from WoW haters incoming!

[Sills]

ouch...prob expected due to no content in like 7 months

Exactly. Theres no way this couldve been a surprise to them. No new content plus summer time = lost subs. WoW will zip back above 10 million once Mists comes out. Its a little bit steeper than I thought but not unexpected. Im sure its dropped below 9 million since Q3 began.

[Xelk]

It'll be way up in a month or two anyway, depending on when the pre expansion patch comes out.

[Japskidin]

:O I was expecting like 400k but wow was i wrong

[Dundebuns]

Will bump up for MoP, but I suppose it will drop again when annual passes run out, if they haven't already?

[Wapetufo]

Lack of content, the content we got sucked (DS), and LFR made us get fed up with it quicker. 1 million subs deservingly lost imo, albeit they will likely be back in September.