How many subs are needed for WoW to remain viable?

[kaikoraimi]

Just curious: how many active subs do you think are necessary for WoW to remain viable?
Personally, I think the number is in the 500k - 1 million range.

Edit: viable primarily in terms of a sufficient pool of players, but also in terms of revenue for Blizzard.

[Super Kami Dende]

about 1-2 million for current content speed.

[zealo]

It can sustain itself in the range of 500k - 1 million players but at the loss of less content updates.

[Frozenbeef]

500k, any competing mmo is lucky to have 500k constant subs >.<

[Tehterokkar]

500k, any competing mmo is lucky to have 500k constant subs >.<

I don't know of any Monthly-payment MMO with 500k+ subs currently(apart from WoW obv.).

[Deleted]

I doubt it will get anywhere near that low anytime soon.

[NoRest4Wicked]

I don't know of any Monthly-payment MMO with 500k+ subs currently(apart from WoW obv.).

EVE

/10chars

[Darsithis]

As many as Blizzard feels they need.

[Deja Thoris]

EVE

/10chars

It's got 200k, not 500k.

[McNeil]

1.5M - 2M is my best guess, will take a while when it gets there

[Locruid]

Last I looked Dark Age of Camelot only had about 3k active subs and they been that way for last 3-5 years. Game is like 13 yrs old now?

[thebigman1212]

Once blizzard gets down to about 5million subs, that's when they'll start to say "O fuck we gotta make some cuts"

And at about 2million, you will see a new game announcement and focus shift away from WoW

[McNeil]

Once blizzard gets down to about 5million subs, that's when they'll start to say "O fuck we gotta make some cuts"

At that point they'll probably go nuts with their store, selling even more fancy gear, pets and mounts that look 4x better than the regular ones you can farm.

[nekobaka]

It can sustain itself in the range of 500k - 1 million players but at the loss of less content updates.

While that would have been true at launch the team has been growing and gained 40% going into MoP and another 40% going into WoD. A lot of non-developer staff was cut from Blizzard which also impacts the numbers. To think though what if Cata had 40% more developers or even WotLK. That lack of content issue might not have been as big of a problem.

[NoRest4Wicked]

It's got 200k, not 500k.

Odd, I see they hit 500k in Feb - http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02...second-decade/

I guess I missed their massive dip. Sorry.

[zealo]

While that would have been true at launch the team has been growing and gained 40% going into MoP and another 40% going into WoD. A lot of non-developer staff was cut from Blizzard which also impacts the numbers. To think though what if Cata had 40% more developers or even WotLK. That lack of content issue might not have been as big of a problem.

If the subs ever dip that low there would be new cuts in the support and developer teams though, it still is true if the leadership handle the problem properly instead of doing nothing.

[Darsithis]

While that would have been true at launch the team has been growing and gained 40% going into MoP and another 40% going into WoD. A lot of non-developer staff was cut from Blizzard which also impacts the numbers. To think though what if Cata had 40% more developers or even WotLK. That lack of content issue might not have been as big of a problem.

Throwing more people at it doesn't make it better or faster.

[Hypasonic]

bout 73

Think you under estimate how much dollah they make from this game.

[ComputerNerd]

While that would have been true at launch the team has been growing and gained 40% going into MoP and another 40% going into WoD. A lot of non-developer staff was cut from Blizzard which also impacts the numbers. To think though what if Cata had 40% more developers or even WotLK. That lack of content issue might not have been as big of a problem.

Throwing lots of people at something which NEEDS to be a collaborative effort does not translate directly into results.
Lots of things an individual can create are not going to stand on their own, and might impact on the work of others.
Art might be safe in many cases, but code rarely will be.

As the expression goes, "Too many cooks spoil the broth".

[Pathfinder1126]

Last I looked Dark Age of Camelot only had about 3k active subs and they been that way for last 3-5 years. Game is like 13 yrs old now?

But, are they releasing new content at a speed WoW players would want? I think Blizz will have to do some major changes if they fall within the 5 mil range, and attempt to shift away from it if it falls below 3 mil.