The Q2 2014 Conference Call has just been released and i notice something very interesting...
CLICKY - Slideshow Presentation
Sub numbers are now down to 6.8million, other threads can discuss this, but ActiBlizzard make a very interesting statement on page 6 of the Slideshow. It refers to Wow and reads:-
"Revenues up Year on Year
Subscriber decline in Q2 similar to last expansion cycle
Beta testing has begun for Warlords of Draenor"
So basically, even though sub numbers have declined they have managed to increase their revenues from Wow. To put into a broader context for everyone to understand, ActiBlizzard are making more money from Wow now than they did when sub numbers were at their peak back in Wrath in 2009/10. That means that on average they make more money out of each subscriber that they currently have now than the subscribers they had back in Wrath. Basically, the players left now are paying more money to Blizzard than the players back in Wrath.
This effectively means that the Wow playerbase are paying more money for the game at this time than they ever have done in the past. Considering the fact that the actual sub fee has never gone up does this mean that this extra income is from being taken by the extra services and the online store?
How do people feel about this?
Is everyone happy to pay more for Wow now than in the past?
How are Blizzard raising so much more cash from Wow at this time?
EDIT: this statement has nothing to do with any other Blizzard game. Other Blizzard games are listed seperately in the report. This statement is specifically about Wow income only.