WoW revenue down 54% in seven months

[Markbnj]

Interesting...

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/world-of-warcraft-revenues-drop-54-in-seven-months/

 

[CrackRabbit]

Interesting...

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/world-of-warcraft-revenues-drop-54-in-seven-months/

Not that interesting, considering WoW is approaching 10 years old. The gameplay has become stale and people are growing fatigued and moving on to other things.
10 really successful years is an awesome run for any MMO, and WoW will probably live on at least another 5 once going FTP.

 

[JTsyo]

Not that interesting, considering WoW is approaching 10 years old. The gameplay has become stale and people are growing fatigued and moving on to other things.
10 really successful years is an awesome run for any MMO, and WoW will probably live on at least another 5 once going FTP.

agree that's a huge run. For people that played 10 years at $15 a month, that's $1800. Pretty good pull for Blizzard when you consider how many people played it.

 

[PowerYoga]

not surprised. Casualfication of endgame makes it easy for everyone to get anything they want and there's no attachment to your character since everything can be gotten so easily.

 

[robvp]

will probably see a rise in profits if they go f2p, with storebought end game and pvp gear and fees to join the arena seasons, plus fees for doing hardcore raids

 

[Rhezuss]

Well, like many other things in life, WoW grew and adapted to the majority's reality. Kids, families, getting older...WoW players have less time to sit and play than they had 10 years ago and Blizz followed that trend.

 

[KaOTiK]

Funny how the article is like oh it needs to go F2P now. Still pulling it what like 92m a month? lol

The game is aging, and badly at that imo. Blizzard is not quick with putting content out and it really needs to to keep its player base interested. Every 2 years for an expansion is just to long.

 

[smackababy]

Funny how the article is like oh it needs to go F2P now. Still pulling it what like 92m a month? lol

The game is aging, and badly at that imo. Blizzard is not quick with putting content out and it really needs to to keep its player base interested. Every 2 years for an expansion is just to long.

The problem is those expansions bring a lot of content and changes. You couldn't have that scope of development from a vastly quicker cycle. Perhaps a yearly cycle: one major expansion (that increases level cap) and one minor expansion (that adds new raids / instances / gear) on a biyearly cycle for each would work.

The problem is WoW is really old now. The engine hasn't been significantly changed much and it is still basically the same game with better gear and new instances as it was in the beginning.

Going F2P won't solve that problem. It is just not that huge thing it used to be. They need to either make a WoW 2 (not meant to run on a computer you bought from RadioShack in 1985) or significantly fracture the playerbase with a real, meaningful engine update.

 

[SunnyD]

So, when can we get rid of the stupid sticky that's been loitering at the top of the forum then?

 

[lupi]

Lot of vague statements in the originating article and almost as many uninformed ones in this thread.

 

[Markbnj]

I think the interesting part, if it's accurate, is the delta over the last seven months. Everyone knows WoW is long in the tooth, but it has always kept chugging along. The question now is whether it's reached some sort of market tipping point. I think that's what the authors were trying to address.

 

[BergeLSU]

They still have 2 more expansions planned, right? The level cap is 90?

I remember seeing someone leaking the plan for the future of WoW and it has been incredibly accurate so far.

I played from the start of Wrath until they released Cataclysm. I really got my fill of the game in there. I got to be part of a Realm First 25-man Lich King, and Realm First 10/25 Heroic Lich King. I felt like that was "beating" the game for me, so I got out when I could. I was trapped for a few months, because I didn't want to leave my guild without a reliable Tank. Telling them months ahead of time that I wouldn't buy the expansion was the perfect way to leave.

They still find me on Steam and tell me they want a DK Tank. I don't know why it was so hard for them to replace me.

 

[JTsyo]

I think the interesting part, if it's accurate, is the delta over the last seven months. Everyone knows WoW is long in the tooth, but it has always kept chugging along. The question now is whether it's reached some sort of market tipping point. I think that's what the authors were trying to address.

I think it also depends on what other MMORPGs are available. The FF games didn't pull enough players but the next Everquest might.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Last week Blizzard *mailed* me a free copy of the Panda expansion with a week of play time to reactivate. I was all like, lol nope. They're getting desperate.

 

[styrafoam]

Analysts should stay away from attempting to write articles about video games, this one is almost as bad as most of the ones saying that gaming on cell phones will kill the pc/console market.

"Despite major declines in total revenues between September 2012 and April 2013, the game has seen an increasing conversion rate for the its current, add-on, extra-game store, and its microtransaction revenues have held pat overall. What it tells us is that dedicated WoW players are interested in—and will spend money on—microtransactions. By bringing this system into the game, and allowing for powerups and performance-based microtransactions, WoW hopes to further entice players to spend."

It held pat because the same people who buy pets and mounts continue to buy pets and mounts as they are released. Gear would be an entirely new situation. If wow was to go pay to win they would probably lose about half of the paying subscriptions over night. If they dropped subscriptions completely and went microtransactions it would be such a giant upheaval that they would never catch up. There is no way to entice every player to spend more than what they were already paying, and there is no way to balance it enough that you don't anger people by forcing them to pay more in fees than they were paying for their sub.

 

[PowerYoga]

has wow ever needed to merge servers due to low pop?

 

[mmntech]

I'm actually surprised people are still playing WoW. The game feels like it's been out forever. Blizzard has pretty much milked every dime out of it they possibly could.

I never did get on the MMORPG bandwagon or really online multiplayer in general.

 

[BoberFett]

I played until just before BC, my daughter and I started playing a few months ago. We're having fun, regardless of how old the game is. They've made massive changes of the years. The graphics haven't changed much, but it's barely the same game it was at launch.

 

[PowerYoga]

Blizzard has pretty much milked every dime out of it they possibly could.

and completely destroyed warcraft lore while they're at it. There's only so long you can run with a story before everything starts looking forced and terribly contrived and stupid.

 

[Joeydubbs]

I've been playing since the beginning and only recently pulled the plug. I put way more time into this game than I'd care to admit but man did I have some good times. The game peaked for me in WotLK. Great story, northrend was awesome, population was booming, and was fortunate to be in a great guild.

The game is getting really old though. While the "cartoony" look was charming, now its downright old and ugly. Fire up Skyrim after playing WoW and you will see just how old this game has become (and Skyrim is a couple years old!)

Ultimately, the community is what kept this game afloat for so long and people are leaving/have left in droves. They are essentially merging servers under a different name to save face to try to combat this problem...
My guild used to be one of the largest but has become a ghost town and it didn't help that blizz killed guild raiding with LFR...

Blizzard will anounce some new x-pac at blizz con but for the first time ever, I don't know if I care...

 

[smackababy]

has wow ever needed to merge servers due to low pop?

They've offered server transfers for free in the past, but it was usually from high population servers to new or low population ones.

 

[exdeath]

Activision happened.

 

[crunkzilla]

I wouldn't mind playing it again, but the $40 expansion pack price tells me to pass

 

[Balt]

Activision happened.

Pandas happened.


Seriously, though. Pretty bad news for Blizzard-Activision. I doubt they initially expected WoW to have so much success and for the success to last as long as it did, but I also doubt they expected its playerbase to decline so quickly.

Even worse, if Titan has been significantly delayed for an overhaul they won't have anything to replace it with in the near future. They're also facing an MMO market that is much more competitive. Now that people have finally started to leave WoW, I doubt any game will recapture ALL of those players with all of the other games out there now.

 

[Saylick]

Pandas happened.


Seriously, though. Pretty bad news for Blizzard-Activision. I doubt they initially expected WoW to have so much success and for the success to last as long as it did, but I also doubt they expected its playerbase to decline so quickly.

Even worse, if Titan has been significantly delayed for an overhaul they won't have anything to replace it with in the new future. They're also facing an MMO market that is much more competitive. Now that people have finally started to leave WoW, I doubt any game will recapture ALL of those players with all of the other games out there now.

WoW set the bar pretty damn high for MMORPGs, and I think the hardest part for Blizzard now is trying to create something that will not only live up to legacy that is WoW but to also create something that is refreshingly new and innovative. In other words, unless Titan can do what WoW did for MMOs in 2004, I doubt it will have as much success and popularity. To be frank, I believe Blizzard is a shadow of it's former self; the games they release may look better than ever before, but there's still an air of staleness that has lingered for years. They are in serious need of new IP. The Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo franchises are all showing signs of age.

Lastly, I am really hoping their merger isn't making a lasting impact on the quality of their games. Blizzard has stated numerously that they will continue to operate independently even though they are a part of Activision, but knowing the business practices of Mr. Kotick, it would seem wise to think otherwise.