How many people play World of Warcraft?

[Deleted]

Wrong. there are 11.4 million accounts. Not people.

Some have estimated that roughly 8-8.5 million individual people play this game. Many having multiple accounts.

This is correct

[CrunkJuice5]

this game could have 20 million people,what does it matter when the majority isnt active enough for it to matter

[skyrider55]

The title pretty much says it all. I am started to play WoW again after the release of Cataclysm, and i was wondering about how many people play WoW on a rough estimate if anybody knows.

There are less today than there were yesterday. (Repeat Daily)

[tekoix]

Don't forget that number also includes those gold farming houses where there's about 50-100 computers botting 24/7.

[unholytestament]

"Some" is a great source. "Some" represents a small to large sample size of unidentified individuals who may or may not be biased as to the result of an inquiry. Being ambiguous in nature, statistically have a 50% change of giving a truthful or false answer. 50% are pretty good odds. Presidencies are won with less than 50% vote.

They might be biased, so they're no better than anyone else. They are unidentified, meaning they fear no backlash for being wrong.

And you finish off with made up statistics and a comparison to a system that requires identification.

[Tasix]

I am actually relieved to hear this, because i thought WoW was dieing down quiet a bit since Cataclysm, but i guess that was just lack of knowledge thanks all. ^.^

[Liara]

Wrong. there are 11.4 million accounts. Not people.

Some have estimated that roughly 8-8.5 million individual people play this game. Many having multiple accounts.

Right. So "crapload" still applies

[Sw3d3n]

I am actually relieved to hear this, because i thought WoW was dieing down quiet a bit since Cataclysm, but i guess that was just lack of knowledge thanks all. ^.^

Uh.. how has it not? 600k was lost in Q1, and nobody has official proof that it has been raising, the only time we will know for sure is the Q2 quarterly report.

[unholytestament]

Uh.. how has it not?

The fact that even after losing 600k it still has more than twice as many subscriptions as the next leading competitor.

If WoW is dying then no other MMO has ever truly lived.

[Liara]

Uh.. how has it not? 600k was lost in Q1, and nobody has official proof that it has been raising, the only time we will know for sure is the Q2 quarterly report.

Even if 600k subs go every quarter now, the game still has a good 2 years to run.

[Sw3d3n]

The fact that even after losing 600k it still has more than twice as many subscriptions as the next leading competitor.

If WoW is dying then no other MMO has ever truly lived.

WoW is only the leading competitor for sub based MMO's, there are other mmo's that earn far more income.

[Sw3d3n]

I think only like 6 million actively play.
Then again, more than 50% of all players are in asia

You are correct, no matter how people look at it, it was a HUGE loss for NA/EU realms.

[unholytestament]

WoW is only the leading competitor for sub based MMO's, there are other mmo's that earn far more income.

And? Do you want WoW to be like them? Free-to-play but pay-to-win?

[Sw3d3n]

And? Do you want WoW to be like them? Free-to-play but pay-to-win?

No, just dont call WoW the leading competitor

---------- Post added 2011-06-08 at 05:31 PM ----------

I think only like 6 million actively play.
Then again, more than 50% of all players are in asia

Ok, to make more sense out of this:

Before the loss

Overall there were 12million subs.

Asian WoW = 50% 6 million

EU WoW = 25% 3 million

US WoW = 25% 3 million

The Quarterly report said that NA was the one that lost 600k, which is US.

So that means after the loss US realms only had 2.4million, and we dont know how much its gone up or down since then, we will only know once the next report comes.


That being said, really brings things into perspective on how many people actually play in your area

[unholytestament]

No, just dont call WoW the leading competitor

Free to play MMOs and subscription MMOs are fundamentally different. You may as well be saying that a movie at the theater isn't number one in the country because there's a primetime TV show with more viewers.

[Sw3d3n]

Free to play MMOs and subscription MMOs are fundamentally different. You may as well be saying that a movie at the theater isn't number one in the country because there's a primetime TV show with more viewers.

They are still fundamentally MMO's

[Tastyfish]

No. At the time the number was taken that was active accounts.

World of Warcraft’s Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company...es.html?081121

FACTS? We don't need no stinking facts!
Like it was said before: A crap load, thats all you need to know ^_^

[Niter]

Well, we still do not know how Asian market like Cataclysm, right? They got Wrath Of the Lich King by the end of 2010, in Taiwan, if I am not mistaken.

If Cataclysm is the problem, a drop in subscriptions there could be huge. It is not guaranteed, but we will see.

[HadleyX]

Probably ~3mio in EU+NA(2m in NA/1m in EU). In Asia there are no permanent subs, it's all time-based - so you can't take that in.

[unholytestament]

They are still fundamentally MMO's

Movies and TV programs are still fundamentally visual media.

Hell, so are video games. So I guess we should compare WoW to whatever is kicking ass at the box office or sweeping up viewership on TV anyway!

The important thing is that not only are their business models radically different, but your access to content as a player is radically different. I've lost count how many free to play MMOs don't even let you reach the maximum level for free, and then there's all the dungeons you have to pay for, extra classes that are just plain better than the ones available for free, and so on.

Free-to-play is not comparable to a subscription based MMO. Period.