'World of Warcraft' Costs Just $200 Million

[MH2007]

I thought this was an interesting article. Sorry if this is a repost, didn't see it anywhere.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/200...NY6JDsBJc7Z5ZtKoFk24cA

Kris Pigna - PC Magazine
Tue Sep 16, 11:21 AM ET



Everyone always talks about how monumental a money generator World of Warcraft has been for Blizzard, but here's a figure you don't hear much about: How much does WoW actually cost Blizzard to maintain? According to Kotaku's report, Blizzard stated during their Analyst Day conference call yesterday that the price has been over $200 million since the game launched in 2004.

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That's $200 million for the total cost of upkeep since the game's November, 2004 release (presumably not including the initial cost to develop the game). This includes payroll for the entire staff, hardware support, and -- apparently the biggest infrastructure cost -- customer service.


We don't have figures for exactly how much revenue World of Warcraft has generated since its launch, but we can at least do a little arithmetic (and some loose estimation) to try to put this in perspective. Most recently, Blizzard put the total number of WoW subscribers at over 10 million. According to Gamasutra, this number includes those "who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card...as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access." It does not, however, include expired subscriptions and prepaid cards, or promotional subscriptions.


Okay, so let's do a conservative estimate, and say even 1 million of these counted subscribers are still in their free month. That leaves 9 million paying subscribers who, at the $15 fee, are generating $135 million every month. Hell, even if you adjust that to, say, $120 million (since many subscribers may be paying for slightly discounted 3- or 6-month subscriptions), that still means Blizzard more than recouped their entire upkeep costs over a four-year period in just two months. We believe the words you are looking for are "hot damn."

 

[lupi]

yikes, on a conservative estimate they're taking in close to $300mil a year for US subscribers alone.

 

[Schfifty Five]

It's no shock to me how much money blizzard is making from WoW.

When are they going to go public =P

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
It's no shock to me how much money blizzard is making from WoW.

When are they going to go public =P

It's already been bought. It's now Activision Blizzard, ATVI.

 

[Xavier434]

Heeeelllllooooo job security!

 

[KeithTalent]

Well they don`t spend a lot on graphics, we know that much.

KT

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Well they don`t spend a lot on graphics, we know that much.

KT

Why do you think WoW is so popular? It's because everyone's computer can run it. Then again, I wouldn't mind some upwards scalability..

And this article forgot to take into account that the 10 million subcriber count includes foreign subscriptions, who apparently pay quite a bit less, depending on country.

It still debunks the old myth of the fee going only to operating costs though.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Well they don`t spend a lot on graphics, we know that much.

KT

Why do you think WoW is so popular? It's because everyone's computer can run it. Then again, I wouldn't mind some upwards scalability..

And this article forgot to take into account that the 10 million subcriber count includes foreign subscriptions, who apparently pay quite a bit less, depending on country.

It still debunks the old myth of the fee going only to operating costs though.

I understand that and I too wish there was some scalability. I'd like to actually be a little scared or intimidated by the trolls and demons I'm fighting, rather than laughing at them because they look like the drawings I did on the cover of my 8th grade notebook.

KT

 

[MikeyLSU]

maybe that will quite some of the people always defending the high cost per month.

I won't play MMORPG because of this. Just not worth the money and it is obvious they don't charge because they have to.

But cudos to them for making a fortune.

 

[Maximilian]

I love WoW and i dont even play it Its probably funds from that which are helping along SCII and DIII development, and maybe behind the scenes WC IV which they havent announced yet.

 

[invidia]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
maybe that will quite some of the people always defending the high cost per month.

I won't play MMORPG because of this. Just not worth the money and it is obvious they don't charge because they have to.

But cudos to them for making a fortune.

I wouldn't be that quick to generalize all MMOs like that. WoW is just so far up there on subscriptions, what they make a month is comparable what some MMOs make a whole year.

Does anyone know if some of that money goes into production and development of their other games?

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
I love WoW and i dont even play it Its probably funds from that which are helping along SCII and DIII development, and maybe behind the scenes WC IV which they havent announced yet.

Yeah I hope so, let's hope the flow of cash equates to making SC2 and D3 the best they can be.

 

[Vehemence]

Considering WoW in Asian territories don't use a monthly subscription service, and a huge chunk of subscriber numbers originate from there, saying 9million x $15/month is way, way off, even including the article's little subtraction of monthly package discounts in the US/UK areas. I'm not saying they aren't making ridiculous bank (they are, check Vivendi's financial reports for that), but it's certainly not $120 million a month.

 

[Newbian]

I would like to know how much they also spent on the development since that was a time of 0 profit during this process.