Earnings Call, Feb 9 Hotfixes, Dev Communication Improvements, Blue Posts, WowCraft

[Deleted]

World of Warcraft MAUs grew 10% in 2016 and over 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter on the back of the successful third-quarter launch of Legion.

Means Legion is dead as well, if its only grown 10% from over WoD levels and looking at how many dead servers there is combined with the always on Cross Realm Zones being forced it's clear that WoW is at or under WoD levels for player numbers. And the main focus on Overwatch and the fact that WoW only made 20% of the overall profit for Blizzard isn't a good sign. ( 60% from Non World of Warcraft and 20% from non PC ) holy shit that is bad news. I think WoW is under WoD levels of player numbers.

Looks like Overwatch is the new cash cow for Blizzard, no wonder why all of a sudden the WoW team is trying to start up communication on their own forums. Too little too late.

So at first you know it and then you just think it? Anyway, as other people pointed out, played time is the highest since MoP ToT, so not dead at all. Also I'd suggest to read about the sharding tech they implied and why, you'll be surprised (one of the reasons legion had the smoothest launch)

[Pantalaimon]

Unless you're some jaded player who doesn't play anymore, yet can't stop from visiting fansites about the game, it really shouldn't be that big of a deal about subs no longer being shown or if the game was or wasn't as popular than <insert random expansion here>. In the end if you enjoy the game and it fits your gamer interests then you should be playing for the entertainment sake, not the game does or does not attract a particular amount of people to the game.

If you need something to be popular, or always ask the permission of your friends, in order engage in an activity then I feel sorry for your hobby/personal life.

[luckydan79]

World of Warcraft MAUs grew 10% in 2016 and over 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter on the back of the successful third-quarter launch of Legion.

Means Legion is dead as well, if its only grown 10% from over WoD levels and looking at how many dead servers there is combined with the always on Cross Realm Zones being forced it's clear that WoW is at or under WoD levels for player numbers. And the main focus on Overwatch and the fact that WoW only made 20% of the overall profit for Blizzard isn't a good sign. ( 60% from Non World of Warcraft and 20% from non PC ) holy shit that is bad news. I think WoW is under WoD levels of player numbers.

Looks like Overwatch is the new cash cow for Blizzard, no wonder why all of a sudden the WoW team is trying to start up communication on their own forums. Too little too late.

It's not dead, it's just not as popular as it's once been and just been normalized 1 - 2 million players is very healthy for an MMORPG you don't want too many but your correct Overwatch is the new cash cow for Blizzard.

So at first you know it and then you just think it? Anyway, as other people pointed out, played time is the highest since MoP ToT, so not dead at all. Also I'd suggest to read about the sharding tech they implied and why, you'll be surprised (one of the reasons legion had the smoothest launch)

No, this is a launch quarter of 2nd launch quarter just because Legion has been released just outside of the previous quarter (for cunning and not so cunning reasons) in Q3 (which was their target) to show that 4th quarter has massive success. I don't particular like the game now because it's now official became a job but all that really matters that the game is making money.

Unless you're some jaded player who doesn't play anymore, yet can't stop from visiting fansites about the game, it really shouldn't be that big of a deal about subs no longer being shown or if the game was or wasn't as popular than <insert random expansion here>. In the end if you enjoy the game and it fits your gamer interests then you should be playing for the entertainment sake, not the game does or does not attract a particular amount of people to the game.

If you need something to be popular, or always ask the permission of your friends, in order engage in an activity then I feel sorry for your hobby/personal life.

To some people it matters especially census people, the ones who want to come back and since this is MMORPG it's heavily relied upon as most of the excellent content is reserved for the end game which requires a huge amount of subs. To many people it's dodging the bullet, how come they hastily revealed the exact numbers of Overwatch but used percentages to gauge the activity of WOW, it might to some people say "wow has become really popular" and come back only to be disappointed as the game is normalized back to a 1 - 2 million unique players consistently which is a lot but not enough for the enormous amount of servers (which is why raid finder, dungeon finder and so forth were really needed as cross over helps people to play with each other on dead servers which in turns has its ups and downs).

To me like many people WOW has become an ex-gf who went crazy

[ComputerNerd]

Nobody cares about Earnings Call for WoW. Token and Cash shop / level boost pad earnings.

No subscription data = no fucks given.

As far as playtime numbers: There has never been more mandatory repeatable grind before in any expansion (TotC patch was pretty bad, but not entirely mandatory). There has also never been such repeatable access to high-level gear thanks to mythic+/keystones. You can play as long as there are keys.

Also devs lying about stealth patch/notes is laughable. Does anyone actually believe them anymore?

And we saw what happened with sub numbers.
Blizzard were accused of lying whenever they didn't go down.
And they were "proof" of whatever the latest gripe was when they did.

People like you are why we don't have those numbers.
Because you have made up your mind already, that blizzard are lying to you.

[Pantalaimon]

To some people it matters especially census people, the ones who want to come back and since this is MMORPG it's heavily relied upon as most of the excellent content is reserved for the end game which requires a huge amount of subs. To many people it's dodging the bullet, how come they hastily revealed the exact numbers of Overwatch but used percentages to gauge the activity of WOW, it might to some people say "wow has become really popular" and come back only to be disappointed as the game is normalized back to a 1 - 2 million unique players consistently which is a lot but not enough for the enormous amount of servers (which is why raid finder, dungeon finder and so forth were really needed as cross over helps people to play with each other on dead servers which in turns has its ups and downs).

To me like many people WOW has become an ex-gf who went crazy

And most people stay away from crazy ex-girlfriends or boyfriends. Guess some people are just obsessed with chasing crazy, am I right?

They don't release sub numbers because regardless of any change the game is never going back to the highest statistical popularity the game had (which can be debated for a variety of objective & subjective reasons), but that doesn't mean the game is not popular anymore & certainly not the argument vomited ad nauseam that the game is dead. If the game was really dead the business model would no longer be profitable as not enough players would be putting forth the time and paycheck towards it. However, if Blizzard released sub numbers again all you would see is the forums flooded with face palming "The sky is falling!" posts because the game is no longer at 10 million+ subs. The game is better off not posting subs just for that reason alone. I'd rather have players that are clearly over the game to stay away as opposed to sticking around to just to qq over sub numbers. The game needs less toxicity in the community, not more.

In the end, the game will still function in a group environment without 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12 million subs. Dungeon ques won't spontaneously rocket to 3 hour wait times, raid finder will still work, you will still see groups for current and previous content pop up for raids and dungeons, and people will still pvp (though maybe not so much in arena so long as high end brackets are plagued with cheaters and kick bots). Group content isn't breaking down anytime soon.

[Not A Cat]

Whenever the servers go down for good I guarantee there are going to be so many people who will claim they "called it" after prophesizing the end every year since their favorite expansion ended. It's like all of those trickshot videos where they don't show the probably hundreds of takes and only the show the one that made it.

This data is vague as hell and really only states that Blizzard made a fuckton of money yet people are coming up with these crazy theories out of it like they actually have a clue. I feel like I'm watching a kid try to shove a cube into a circle slot.

[longevity]

yeah the subs have been going down since legion release alarmingly quick

they just boosted for the 1st time with the nighthold LFR unlock

prior to nighthold they were equal or lower than WoD

i'm not trying to insult wow or say it sucks. I'm AM trying to say that the Legion design direction, which involves quite a few grind an reward reboots, is not retaining players or bringing big numbers back to wow.

WoW does not have the A team anymore. They all quit bliz or went to other bliz projects. WoW is a firm B or C team nowadays. Salty veterans are generally the complete burnouts who get no joy from wow and are phoning it in. Doesn't make them bad people. Hardly anyone can do wow dev for 10+ years without some form of burnout and fading of passion.

The passionate ones have no desire to get on the old ship. They want to be on the new dreadnought.

[luckydan79]

In the end, the game will still function in a group environment without 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12 million subs. Dungeon ques won't spontaneously rocket to 3 hour wait times, raid finder will still work, you will still see groups for current and previous content pop up for raids and dungeons, and people will still pvp (though maybe not so much in arena so long as high end brackets are plagued with cheaters and kick bots). Group content isn't breaking down anytime soon.

I'm gonna say this and many people gonna hate me for this but the Dungeon Queues, Raid Finder and any help in search for group even though it broke down the social aspect of the game actually saved it from going under, the support and option to play solo or multi-player in the MMORPG is the one of the best aspects of WOW, everything else not so especially the story !!

And most people stay away from crazy ex-girlfriends or boyfriends. Guess some people are just obsessed with chasing crazy, am I right?

But our new gf Hearthstone has some of the best aspect of our old crazy gf and just reminds how good and fun the game was back then !!.

[Roar-Powah]

So at first you know it and then you just think it? Anyway, as other people pointed out, played time is the highest since MoP ToT, so not dead at all. Also I'd suggest to read about the sharding tech they implied and why, you'll be surprised (one of the reasons legion had the smoothest launch)

You can have half of the number of people putting in 2 times the amount of timed play. It's not hard to see that with how much grind there is in the game now. AP and Mythic + would be the main source of time played.

Why Blizzard implemented it is not for the reasons they claim, it was their intention all a long to force people into CRZ and Sharding is just the same tech that creates new CRZ zones ( and a poorly designed one at that as it doesn't take faction, server type and world location into account). Please, if you believe anything that comes out of Blizzard mouth please stop, they lie on all things and will continue to do so. I don't disagree that Sharding works for the Launch of an expansion but CRZ and Sharding need to be turned off afterwards, and it's one the main reasons why i stopped playing.

[Deleted]

World of Warcraft MAUs grew 10% in 2016 and over 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter on the back of the successful third-quarter launch of Legion.

Means Legion is dead as well, if its only grown 10% from over WoD levels and looking at how many dead servers there is combined with the always on Cross Realm Zones being forced it's clear that WoW is at or under WoD levels for player numbers. And the main focus on Overwatch and the fact that WoW only made 20% of the overall profit for Blizzard isn't a good sign. ( 60% from Non World of Warcraft and 20% from non PC ) holy shit that is bad news. I think WoW is under WoD levels of player numbers.

Looks like Overwatch is the new cash cow for Blizzard, no wonder why all of a sudden the WoW team is trying to start up communication on their own forums. Too little too late.

No, it actually just means you do not read the numbers correctly.
Most part of 2016 was the tail of WoD, not Legion. The numbers show that that after Legion was released the MAU rised so much that it could compensate for the low numbers from January to August 2016 and still grow 10% on an annual basis. 10% is the overall rise of 2016 over 2015, not the rise of Legion over WoD, as you mistakenly say. In fact, 4th quarter of 2016 is 20% higher than 4th quarter of 2015 (which was WoD during a phase that was more active than the first half of 2016).

[TheFailadin]

So I take it we'll be seeing a return to WW2 genre for Call of Duty sometime later this year?

[Deleted]

You can have half of the number of people putting in 2 times the amount of timed play. It's not hard to see that with how much grind there is in the game now. AP and Mythic + would be the main source of time played.

Why Blizzard implemented it is not for the reasons they claim, it was their intention all a long to force people into CRZ and Sharding is just the same tech that creates new CRZ zones ( and a poorly designed one at that as it doesn't take faction, server type and world location into account). Please, if you believe anything that comes out of Blizzard mouth please stop, they lie on all things and will continue to do so. I don't disagree that Sharding works for the Launch of an expansion but CRZ and Sharding need to be turned off afterwards, and it's one the main reasons why i stopped playing.

As I said, go look up how and why sharding exists and works the way it works. If you have any proof of blizzard lying, please share.

[luckydan79]

No, it actually just means you do not read the numbers correctly.
Most part of 2016 was the tail of WoD, not Legion. The numbers show that that after Legion was released the MAU rised so much that it could compensate for the low numbers from January to August 2016 and still grow 10% on an annual basis. 10% is the overall rise of 2016 over 2015, not the rise of Legion over WoD, as you mistakenly say. In fact, 4th quarter of 2016 is 20% higher than 4th quarter of 2015 (which was WoD during a phase that was more active than the first half of 2016).

4th quarter of 2016 is the launch QUARTER for LEGION. Legion came out the end of August in 2016 30th of August, which is one month away from the end of the 3rd quarter which they were aiming for.

It's just to show that WOW expansions still have life in them but outside of the launch Quarter which the 4th quarter is regardless of how you will justify it isn't (3rd quarter is July August September ( legion came out in 30th of August start of September source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft:_Legion) and the 4th quarter is October November and December) So Legion was just outside the 4th quarter but still QUALIFIES as a launch quarter as 3 months count So SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER)

It's a lot of fudging the figures on Blizzard part to show that WOW is still a viable product but the ends justifies the means that WOW is still profitable even though it isn't doing as well as they say it should and they don't mention anything else besides the rise in MAUs which was generated from other products who wanted to try the flagship franchise.

No one is talking about WOW now, unfortunate but I think the whole the series need a reboot and a reset and it's long overdue and it seems that way with experimenting Diablo III abilities in Legion right now.

[GunnyL]

"World of Warcraft MAUs grew 10% in 2016 and over 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter on the back of the successful third-quarter launch of Legion."

All this really says is that they averaged MAUs over the year in 2016. Any time they average in subs from a launch the numbers are going to look great. No kidding.

The game isn't dying, but at a personal level all my friends have stopped playing, raid guilds on my server are struggling to keep their ranks filled, and queue times are through the roof for everything. That tells me that at least on my server the game isn't healthy. It's inevitable for a game this old. People rush back for an expansion hoping to recapture that old feeling and then realize it simply isn't there. WoW stays on top because people are invested in their toons, friends, and guilds.

[Karnige]

I think raiding is starting to die. not even slowly it seems pretty fast this expansion. so many guilds looking for help. I think people that used to raid don't have the time and patience anymore. I raided on and off for 10 years. I can't do it anymore. just isn't interesting now. lfr is fine. see the content but I don't care about gear anymore.

[Tarx]

Blizzard you worth the money because you provide awesome content and funny times with your games !!

[Tx20]

Meanwhile at the Activision side of things:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited...034241602.html

Activision's November release, call of duty infinite warfare, is a high-quality, innovative game that paired with modern warfare remastered offers a tremendous amount of value and game play variety. However, sales underperformed our expectations, and it is clear that for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn't resonate. We had a passionate, experienced studio deeply committed to this direction, and despite the risks we saw, we believe it is important to consider the passions of our game teams in deciding what content to create. While it wasn't the success we planned, it allows us to protect a core tenet of our culture that Bobby discussed. [...] In 2017, Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots, and traditional combat will once again take center stage.

[Grevie]

as a wowfanboy will always says: "someday wow will be at 12millions subs again" ... meanwhile actual subs numbers are not braging numbers anymore. 2-3 millions maybe? or maybe less at this point?

[luckydan79]

as a wowfanboy will always says: "someday wow will be at 12millions subs again" ... meanwhile actual subs numbers are not braging numbers anymore. 2-3 millions maybe? or maybe less at this point?

Less, FFXIV:ARR reborn is beating it due to being lorewise and classwise respectable to it's roots, where as WOW is not. It's a hodgepodge mess that needed to be cleaned up.

They missed that chance in Cataclysm and the game is suffering because of it.

- - - Updated - - -

as a wowfanboy will always says: "someday wow will be at 12millions subs again" ... meanwhile actual subs numbers are not braging numbers anymore. 2-3 millions maybe? or maybe less at this point?

Less, FFXIV:ARR reborn is beating it due to being lorewise and classwise respectable to it's roots, where as WOW is not. It's a hodgepodge mess that needed to be cleaned up.

They missed that chance in Cataclysm and the game is suffering because of it.