WoW made 213 million dollars in 2013 from microtransactions!

[Mosotti]

As much as I'd very much prefer avoiding the game going F2P. I'm sure they already have a low subscriber threshold that, when reached, they consider going F2P

Yeah, 10 years from now they will go f2p, I think that too, but for now and many years to come, you better have 15 bucks ready, and many more if you like fancy staff that apparently are too awesome to be included in the subscription

[Doktor Faustus]

Why should they go F2P and suffer the quality loss just because they make good money from services, pets, and mounts? That's like saying to someone that once they reach a certain level of income they should stop getting paid.

Once subs hit a certain threshold, it will go F2P.

Also, 'loss of quality'? What? Guild Wars 2 and many others don't seem to suffer.

They are clearly gearing up for F2P, bringing in such harbingers as the In-Game Store and increasing to products available from their.

The question is, when will the subs be low enough? My guess is within the next six months or perhaps after the surge of people coming back for WoD tails off (whicever is later).

[Deleted]

Wow looking at this and considering other mmo are making less with micro-transactions you can tell that blizzard would even be fine if they went free to play with a few more micro transaction options, dam.

Also this is a bit scary considering they've got a forced subscription model and than making so much of micro as well. Kind of makes you wonder in which direction wow will go that will influence gameplay (lvl 90 boos thats where its going /facepalm :P)

[Doktor Faustus]

I just looked up what CrossFire is, and srsly u tell me they made the most money?
Srsly that game looks 20 years old o.o

Graphics Vs Gameplay chestnut, eh?

Really?

I don't mind an awesome playing game that looks like 'dogshit'!

[Keosen]

Earning so much through microtransactions that don't break the game (like the most games do) while keeping a solid player base and quality of the service is really as much as a game company could ask for.
Role model for sure.

[Deleted]

Remember every time somebody says Free to Play, consider all the trolls in other free games and then put them in wow.
It simply wont be enjoyable. There is already to many as it is!

[Aredyl]

They'll keep running the sub + micro as long as its more profitable than their projections for any other alternatives.

[loki504]

Because i think they could make more money by going ftp, and instead of 7 mill active accounts we would have 20+ mill.

and you know this how? and how much money would the 20+mil players bring? and ofc how much do they cost to keep wow running.

[Dormie]

I'm sure this thready is full of fanboys, but hopefully it sinks in that they 'don't have enough resources' because they're hoarding them all.

[Nocturnes]

Most people who buy things like mounts, pets, etc...are people with credit cards = adults. Once they go on in their life...and the subs go down to 5million, another book will open. Don't worry, i'm a mature adult who played since start....i'm starting to think i had it by now...and i'm certainly not alone. Cheerios!

[loki504]

Once subs hit a certain threshold, it will go F2P.

Also, 'loss of quality'? What? Guild Wars 2 and many others don't seem to suffer.

They are clearly gearing up for F2P, bringing in such harbingers as the In-Game Store and increasing to products available from their.

The question is, when will the subs be low enough? My guess is within the next six months or perhaps after the surge of people coming back for WoD tails off (whicever is later).

i would say if it hits 500/600k per region. because yo need around 100k sub fee per month to keep a mmo running(this inc staff and upgrades)
and you can't just say he other mmo doesn't have that problem so why should wow have that problem.
well because they don't use the same code? thats like saying so to instal a new engine in my ferrari will take the same amount of time/money as it will for my fiat panda.

- - - Updated - - -

Wow looking at this and considering other mmo are making less with micro-transactions you can tell that blizzard would even be fine if they went free to play with a few more micro transaction options, dam.

Also this is a bit scary considering they've got a forced subscription model and than making so much of micro as well. Kind of makes you wonder in which direction wow will go that will influence gameplay (lvl 90 boos thats where its going /facepalm :P)

you really think that 213m on a yearly base is alot of a company like blizzard? sure for most people its alot but remember that around 15-20% is tax. and the work they put in and keep it running 213m is nothing

[Santoryu]

And certain people on this forum like to argue how making hard end game content is financially unviable. Take a look at this.

[arcaneshot]

And certain people on this forum like to argue how making hard end game content is financially unviable. Take a look at this.

If you're suggesting this refutes their argument, I think you're looking at this sideways.

[Hubbl3]

Basic math tell me just over a billion. Wait... Wat. One sec, that doesn't look right...

15 * 8 = 120. So, 120 million$ * 12 = 1440 million. 1.4 billion!? jesus fuck.

Let's consider only EU and US, let's say 3 million (because everybody will tell you that not everybody pays 15 dollar, bla bla).

[Pann]

And certain people on this forum like to argue how making hard end game content is financially unviable. Take a look at this.

Until they stick a $35 charge on hard end game content your comment is completely unrelated to the subject of micro transactions.

[Blarglord69]

Ha ha ha ca ching

[Adamas102]

There's no reason for WoW to go F2P because people are still willing to pay the sub fee (and really $15 a month is chump-change anyway).

There was a point in time when I used to think this was a good argument. It's still $180 a year for a single game. If you've been playing since release, you've dropped over $1,600 (which doesn't include the $200 for buying the game and each expansion on release, non-collector's editions of course)...

Seeing it in terms of a monthly fee is only half the story. I found it pretty depressing when I realized I had downed over $1,300 to play WoW. Just something to consider when you try to rationalize your spending .

[Dolus]

Why would they do that? They're already making more off microtransactions than SWTOR which is primarily focused on microtransactions! Consider subscription revenues: 6.8 million subscribers * $12 per month * 12 months per year = $972 million per year on top of what they made off microtransactions. Why would they throw away almost 90% of their revenue to capitalize on just 10% of it?

Agreed. Their goal is not to breakeven. Their goal is maximize their profit(s). I do not foresee WoW going F2P anytime soon.

[Santoryu]

If you're suggesting this refutes their argument, I think you're looking at this sideways.

Of course it does. How much do you think designing a raid instance actually costs? I don't know either, but nowhere near 213 million dollars. Add to that the money they make from subscriptions every month - Blizzard makes more money than god.

Until they stick a $35 charge on hard end game content your comment is completely unrelated to the subject of micro transactions.

Part of the hard end game charge is contained within the 15 dollars a month we pay.

[Elite Peon]

Why should they go F2P and suffer the quality loss just because they make good money from services, pets, and mounts? That's like saying to someone that once they reach a certain level of income they should stop getting paid.

If they went free to play they would gain millions of players especially kids who don't have parents willing to sign up there debit cards ...but I would hate that since the community is already over run with kids who are sociopaths