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World of Warcraft numbers are dropping

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World of Warcraft is still the most popular subscription-based MMO on the planet – but it’s going to have to do something big to keep the status quo. According to Activision-Blizzard’s latest financial reports, subscriptions for the fantasy online RPG are in steady decline.

Subscriber numbers have dropped year-on-year by nearly a million – from 7.7 million last year to 6.8 in 2014. Blizzard is hoping that the upcoming expansion, Warlords of Draenor, will help turn that around.

“As expected, we did see a decline in subscribers, which mostly came out of the East. This pattern is right in line, percentage wise, with the drop that we saw at the end of Cataclysm’s cycle in Q2 2012,” said Morhaime. “That drop in 2012 was followed by an uptake in subscribers just ahead of Myst of Pandaria’s launch.

“We’re hoping to see players return once we draw closer to the release of Warlords of Draenor later this year,” he added.

Warlords of Draenor increases the game’s level cap to 100. While it will indeed see an uptick in subscribers, I think it’s time the core of World of Warcraft was given a substantial overhaul or upgrade. I think the game has become fundamentally boring  – and no amount of extra content is really going to change that. Mayhaps it’s time for World of Warcraft 2 – or that mysterious MMO Titan that’s been in development for just about ever.

When it comes to MMO’s, I think more and more people will move over to free-to-play, particularly in Asia where grinding for hours on end is not only the norm, but something people there seem to actually enjoy.

Last Updated: August 6, 2014

64 Comments

  1. HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

    August 6, 2014 at 13:36

  2. Admiral Chief Dovahkiin

    August 6, 2014 at 13:36

    Mooooo

    Reply

    • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

      August 6, 2014 at 13:53

      No dude, the cow race is in the *next* expansion!

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        August 6, 2014 at 13:55

        Can’t wait…

        Reply

      • Unavengedavo

        August 6, 2014 at 13:56

        Tauren? They have been there since the beginning O_o

        Reply

        • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

          August 6, 2014 at 13:57

          No, not *buffalo* – cow! 😉

          Reply

  3. HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

    August 6, 2014 at 13:36

  4. Admiral Chief Dovahkiin

    August 6, 2014 at 13:36

    Mooooo

    Reply

    • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

      August 6, 2014 at 13:53

      No dude, the cow race is in the *next* expansion!

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        August 6, 2014 at 13:55

        Can’t wait…

        Reply

      • Unavengedavo

        August 6, 2014 at 13:56

        Tauren? They have been there since the beginning O_o

        Reply

        • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

          August 6, 2014 at 13:57

          No, not *buffalo* – cow! 😉

          Reply

  5. Ryanza

    August 6, 2014 at 13:41

    I never played World of Warcraft. I saw I needed to pay every month to play and I was like fuck that.

    Reply

    • HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

      August 6, 2014 at 13:44

      I thought I was the only one. Well I did play it twice on a friend’s account and PC.

      Reply

      • Ryanza

        August 6, 2014 at 13:47

        I played Warcraft 1, 2, 3 a lot and then they just lost me.

        Reply

        • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

          August 6, 2014 at 13:52

          Um, different game type altogether though.

          Reply

          • Ryanza

            August 6, 2014 at 13:52

            hence why they lost me

    • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

      August 6, 2014 at 13:51

      It’s free for the first month and up to level 20.

      Reply

      • MichaelMatusowsky

        August 7, 2014 at 01:47

        which is pretty much nothing since the game only begins at max level. Kappa.

        Reply

    • Sith JJ

      August 6, 2014 at 14:33

      I actually had this discussion with someone the other day (can’t remember who it was). But we came to the conclusion that most WoW players get more per hour value for money than you do from a AAA title.
      I don’t support monthly subscriptions any more than the next guy, but if I’ve paid R300 for a game and spent 12 or even 14 hours on it that’s R21 an hour. That’s hells expensive. WoW players spend maybe 2k for 800 hours (estimating here). That’s R2.50 an hour.
      Regardless, I won’t buy a game with monthly subscriptions myself, but if it’s good and worth spending all that time on (unlike TESO) then it works for some people.

      Reply

      • Tarisma

        August 6, 2014 at 15:33

        Well lets look at it like this, I pay at the moment about R200 for my Wildstar subscription. Thats R6.66 a day lets be conservative and say I get to play an hour and a half a day that’s R4.44 an hour, that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

        Reply

      • Joe Black

        August 7, 2014 at 01:04

        I have to object. I fully support monthly subscriptions for MMOs. I was a fairly content Rift player until they went free to play and then the game was just ruined. You could buy every single thing which before counted as a reward for an achievement (some of them epically difficult, but often surprisingly satisfying). And I mean then just what is the damned point? LIke artifact hunting for example. That was practically an art. It was actually a cool hobby which led you to intimately know the lay of the land. All you really had to look forward to was a rather shitty unique mount and hats and pets and crap, but you could only get them there. It meant something to ride around on that zombie turtle… After F2P the only uber rewards you got were for loyalty as defined mostly by how much you were willing to spend on the ingame store – Mostly, much, much more than what you would have spent on subscription money.

        Reply

        • Sith JJ

          August 7, 2014 at 10:07

          I’d rather pay for a monthly subscription to a decent game than waste my time on these (mostly half-assed) F2P games.
          Like I said, it makes sense, I just don’t spend enough time per month per game to justify it for myself.
          Though I have never played WoW, so I don’t know how addictive it can be.
          And I’m starting more and more to see how monthly subscriptions aren’t actually as bad as many people say.

          Reply

  6. Ryanza

    August 6, 2014 at 13:41

    I never played World of Warcraft. I saw I needed to pay every month to play and I was like fuck that.

    Reply

    • HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

      August 6, 2014 at 13:44

      I thought I was the only one. Well I did play it twice on a friend’s account and PC.

      Reply

      • Ryanza

        August 6, 2014 at 13:47

        I played Warcraft 1, 2, 3 a lot and then they just lost me.

        Reply

        • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

          August 6, 2014 at 13:52

          Um, different game type altogether though.

          Reply

          • Ryanza

            August 6, 2014 at 13:52

            hence why they lost me

    • Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

      August 6, 2014 at 13:51

      It’s free for the first month and up to level 20.

      Reply

      • MichaelMatusowsky

        August 7, 2014 at 01:47

        which is pretty much nothing since the game only begins at max level. Kappa.

        Reply

    • Sith JJ

      August 6, 2014 at 14:33

      I actually had this discussion with someone the other day (can’t remember who it was). But we came to the conclusion that most WoW players get more per hour value for money than you do from a AAA title.
      I don’t support monthly subscriptions any more than the next guy, but if I’ve paid R300 for a game and spent 12 or even 14 hours on it that’s R21 an hour. That’s hells expensive. WoW players spend maybe 2k for 800 hours (estimating here). That’s R2.50 an hour.
      Regardless, I won’t buy a game with monthly subscriptions myself, but if it’s good and worth spending all that time on (unlike TESO) then it works for some people.

      Reply

      • Tarisma

        August 6, 2014 at 15:33

        Well lets look at it like this, I pay at the moment about R200 for my Wildstar subscription. Thats R6.66 a day lets be conservative and say I get to play an hour and a half a day that’s R4.44 an hour, that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

        Reply

      • Joe Black

        August 7, 2014 at 01:04

        I have to object. I fully support monthly subscriptions for MMOs. I was a fairly content Rift player until they went free to play and then the game was just ruined. You could buy every single thing which before counted as a reward for an achievement (some of them epically difficult, but often surprisingly satisfying). And I mean then just what is the damned point? LIke artifact hunting for example. That was practically an art. It was actually a cool hobby which led you to intimately know the lay of the land. All you really had to look forward to was a rather shitty unique mount and hats and pets and crap, but you could only get them there. It meant something to ride around on that zombie turtle… After F2P the only uber rewards you got were for loyalty as defined mostly by how much you were willing to spend on the ingame store – Mostly, much, much more than what you would have spent on subscription money.

        Reply

        • Sith JJ

          August 7, 2014 at 10:07

          I’d rather pay for a monthly subscription to a decent game than waste my time on these (mostly half-assed) F2P games.
          I’m just saying I won’t do it myself. Like I said, it makes sense, I just don’t spend enough time per month per game to justify it for myself.
          Though I have never played WoW, so I don’t know how addictive it can be.
          And I’m starting more and more to see how monthly subscriptions aren’t actually as bad as many people say.

          Reply

  7. VampyreSquirrel

    August 6, 2014 at 13:50

    The WoW figures drop every year, they drop before every expansion, they drop if the next expansion is taking too long, etc, etc, etc.

    It’s something that happens, but it’s also the subscription, some people have found F2P or cheaper MMO’s to play… or they’ve gone to use their “YOUR MOM” lines in COD rather than WoW.

    Reply

  8. VampyreSquirrel

    August 6, 2014 at 13:50

    The WoW figures drop every year, they drop before every expansion, they drop if the next expansion is taking too long, etc, etc, etc.

    It’s something that happens, but it’s also the subscription, some people have found F2P or cheaper MMO’s to play… or they’ve gone to use their “YOUR MOM” lines in COD rather than WoW.

    Reply

  9. Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

    August 6, 2014 at 13:55

    It’s still quite interesting that it’s *dropped* to 6.8 MILLION subscribers. All things considered, that’s still a heck of a lot of cash rolling in each month!

    Reply

  10. Gareth L (That eXCheez Guy)

    August 6, 2014 at 13:55

    It’s still quite interesting that it’s *dropped* to 6.8 MILLION subscribers. All things considered, that’s still a heck of a lot of cash rolling in each month!

    Reply

  11. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    August 6, 2014 at 14:20

    Let’s put it in context, most recently released MMO devs would beg for 6.8 million subs. Of course, dropping from it’s hey-day of over 10 million to 6.8 million should leave Blizzard sweating.

    Reply

    • Archzion

      August 6, 2014 at 14:25

      Considering that Blizzard is also Activision… they have no worry of not having enough funds.

      Reply

    • Sageville

      August 6, 2014 at 15:29

      I wonder if it’s a decline in the genre popularity or just the game itself… are MMOs heading the way of the Space Sim?

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        August 6, 2014 at 18:25

        I hope so. I enjoyed the odd mmo over the years, but to be honest they’ve all been pretty shallow, gameplay wise and narratively.

        Reply

      • MichaelMatusowsky

        August 7, 2014 at 01:45

        Paid for monthly sub MMO’s are heading the way of Space Sim.

        Reply

  12. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    August 6, 2014 at 14:20

    Let’s put it in context, most recently released MMO devs would beg for 6.8 million subs. Of course, dropping from it’s hey-day of over 10 million to 6.8 million should leave Blizzard sweating.

    Reply

    • Archzion

      August 6, 2014 at 14:25

      Considering that Blizzard is also Activision… they have no worry of not having enough funds.

      Reply

    • Sageville

      August 6, 2014 at 15:29

      I wonder if it’s a decline in the genre popularity or just the game itself… are MMOs heading the way of the Space Sim?

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        August 6, 2014 at 18:25

        I hope so. I enjoyed the odd mmo over the years, but to be honest they’ve all been pretty shallow, gameplay wise and narratively.

        Reply

      • MichaelMatusowsky

        August 7, 2014 at 01:45

        Paid for monthly sub MMO’s are heading the way of Space Sim.

        Reply

  13. Sith JJ

    August 6, 2014 at 14:30

    Probably too late to start now.

    Reply

    • Sageville

      August 6, 2014 at 15:27

      If you’ve played any recent games you will be very disappointed in the graphics.

      I’d love to know how many of those 6.8 million are diehards (i.e. those who started before the first expansion)

      Reply

  14. Sith JJ

    August 6, 2014 at 14:30

    Probably too late to start now.

    Reply

    • Sageville

      August 6, 2014 at 15:27

      If you’ve played any recent games you will be very disappointed in the graphics.

      I’d love to know how many of those 6.8 million are diehards (i.e. those who started before the first expansion)

      Reply

  15. Sminty

    August 6, 2014 at 14:42

    I agree the core needs an overhaul but it would be silly to do that with over 6 million people still playing. The forums are not full of people asking for better graphics or physics and other games with both these elements have not managed to attract nearly as many players even on free platforms. Even though the numbers are declining this is still a winning formula and messing with it could tip the balance the wrong way entirely.

    Reply

  16. Sminty

    August 6, 2014 at 14:42

    I agree the core needs an overhaul but it would be silly to do that with over 6 million people still playing. The forums are not full of people asking for better graphics or physics and other games with both these elements have not managed to attract nearly as many players even on free platforms. Even though the numbers are declining this is still a winning formula and messing with it could tip the balance the wrong way entirely.

    Reply

  17. SlagywaG

    August 6, 2014 at 15:07

    The subscriptions dropped because of Raid Finder being too easy. Many would just join a raid finder… Walk over all the bosses… See all the content in one week and then get bored.

    Back in WotLK it took over two months to be geared and skilled enough to progress to the end boss in a raid, which then took 2-4 weeks to kill.

    That was the largest reason players were leaving…

    Reply

    • MichaelMatusowsky

      August 7, 2014 at 01:44

      Raid finder is for people to see the content. If they want a challenge they can always upgrade to Flex/Normal and if they’re feeling ballsy, Heroic.

      The reason subs are dropping cannot be placed on one thing only. To put it into perspective: The last major patch came out last year September. It’s been almost a year since ANY content whatsoever was released… I’d quit my sub a month right after too if I’m not getting anything new.

      Blizzard needs to plan out patches in such a way that we only wait 2-3 months at most for an expansion… Better yet, stop making people pay for expansions.

      Reply

  18. SlagywaG

    August 6, 2014 at 15:07

    The subscriptions dropped because of Raid Finder being too easy. Many would just join a raid finder… Walk over all the bosses… See all the content in one week and then get bored.

    Back in WotLK it took over two months to be geared and skilled enough to progress to the end boss in a raid, which then took 2-4 weeks to kill.

    That was the largest reason players were leaving…

    Reply

    • MichaelMatusowsky

      August 7, 2014 at 01:44

      Raid finder is for people to see the content. If they want a challenge they can always upgrade to Flex/Normal and if they’re feeling ballsy, Heroic.

      The reason subs are dropping cannot be placed on one thing only. To put it into perspective: The last major patch came out last year September. It’s been almost a year since ANY content whatsoever was released… I’d quit my sub a month right after too if I’m not getting anything new.

      Blizzard needs to plan out patches in such a way that we only wait 2-3 months at most for an expansion… Better yet, stop making people pay for expansions.

      Reply

  19. Fleeced_Again

    August 6, 2014 at 17:59

    The content is old and I think the match/group making is done by a monkey with an abacus. Finding a guild that is in your age range and doing progression is a pain. Having to pay $25 per toon to transfer to a server with a healthy mix of guilds is BS.

    Reply

  20. Fleeced_Again

    August 6, 2014 at 17:59

    The content is old and I think the match/group making is done by a monkey with an abacus. Finding a guild that is in your age range and doing progression is a pain. Having to pay $25 per toon to transfer to a server with a healthy mix of guilds is BS.

    Reply

  21. CypherGate

    August 6, 2014 at 19:34

    I have absolutely no interest in World of Warcraft. Nothing about it interests me as a game, but when i look it from a movie perspective or series then id jump on that!

    Reply

  22. CypherGate

    August 6, 2014 at 19:34

    I have absolutely no interest in World of Warcraft. Nothing about it interests me as a game, but when i look it from a movie perspective or series then id jump on that!

    Reply

  23. Joe Black

    August 7, 2014 at 01:35

    I believe the next really big subscription MMO will be one where the grind, achievements and exploration is combined and integrated into the skills tree. Screw experience, you must work for those skills and stats – It must be quantifiable. Study and battle flame imps for hours to learn the fireball skill, get high respect levels from every barbarian tribe in the desert wastes before they teach you their battle cry. Things like that. As in the only way you get skills. Not from just picking up and delivering granma murloc’s shopping from town [gratz! you’ve levelled up – you can now assign a point to a skill]. Nah… That first healing, charm, armour buff or dash skill should be a reward for battling a thousand rabid swamp pixies on the way there and back.

    Screw experience and levels.

    Deep crafting and imbuement system for items. Maybe some randomized item stats for proven crafting skill Only crafting material drops from mobs. Face it when you’ve just been hacking at the dread death knight of ultimate dastardliness for 10 minutes his armour is not going to look so good – Nothing but scraps and bits of like… liver – albeit dark and dastardly liver. And killing a possessed mutant daisy should not drop a unique mount by any expectation.

    And for my money costume items are silly. People must look at you and know what you’ve been through to look as gnarly as you do. Nothing more annoying than a noob walking around in shiny costume when you know they’ve probably never even gotten near an elite mob.

    Arenas should be as per a league system. Actual championships and the like.

    Ultimately the thing people want most out of MMOs is a fair chance and a bit of damned recognition. You should damned well walk by with your dragon scale shield and have noobs creaming themselves knowing you A: Killed a mess of dragons B: meticulously crafted it (silver, gold, gem, mithril, obsidian ,etc, etc coating each scale individually for extra armor and resistance and imbued it with ectoplams from a throng of phantom porcupines for a distinct thorns aura). You must learn how to do any single crafting skill the same way as battle/survival or any other skill.

    [disclaimer: natural critters should never, ever drop anything and killing them should actually mess up your karma]

    Right?.. Right.

    And don’t get me started on pets. If pets are a thing I want to subdue a dragon and have it light my freaking cigars when I snap my fingers.

    Reply

  24. Joe Black

    August 7, 2014 at 01:35

    I believe the next really big subscription MMO will be one where the grind, achievements and exploration is combined and integrated into the skills tree. Screw experience, you must work for those skills and stats – It must be quantifiable. Study and battle flame imps for hours to learn the fireball skill, get high respect levels from every barbarian tribe in the desert wastes before they teach you their battle cry. Things like that. As in the only way you get skills. Not from just picking up and delivering granma murloc’s shopping from town [gratz! you’ve levelled up – you can now assign a point to a skill]. Nah… That first healing, charm, armour buff or dash skill should be a reward for battling a thousand rabid swamp pixies on the way there and back.

    Deep crafting and imbuement system for items. Maybe some randomized item stats for proven crafting skill Only crafting material drops from mobs. Face it when you’ve just been hacking at the dread death knight of ultimate dastardliness for 10 minutes his armour is not going to look so good – Nothing but scraps and bits of like… liver – albeit dark and dastardly liver. And killing a possessed mutant daisy should not drop a unique mount by any expectation.

    And for my money costume items are silly. People must look at you and know what you’ve been through to look as gnarly as you do. Nothing more annoying than a noob walking around in shiny costume when you know they’ve probably never even gotten near an elite mob.

    Arenas should be as per a league system. Actual championships and the like.

    Ultimately the thing people want most out of MMOs is a fair chance and a bit of damned recognition. You should damned well walk by with your dragon scale shield and have noobs creaming themselves knowing you A: Killed a mess of dragons B: meticulously crafted it (silver, gold, gem, mithril, obsidian ,etc, etc coating each scale individually for extra armor and resistance and imbued it with ectoplams from a throng of phantom porcupines for a distinct thorns aura)

    [disclaimer: natural critters should never, ever drop anything and killing them should actually mess up your karma]

    Right?.. Right.

    And don’t get me started on pets. If pets are a thing I want to subdue a dragon and have it light my freaking cigars when I snap my fingers.

    Reply

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