General Discussion

They also estimate that over 11 million people are paying subscription fees on a monthly basis, either for MMO's, or for gaming websites like Gametap:

www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/online-subscriptions-exceed-1-billion-a-year-says-npd

On the MMO front, I'm amazed at how many folks are playing Runescape, but that's just me. And the fact that Final Fantasy XI is in the top 5 in this country is something I never expected either, but that's what the NPD is saying.

Here's their top 5 MMO's in terms of subscription numbers:

1. World of Warcraft

2. Runescape

3. Lord of the Rings Online

4. Final Fantasy XI

5. City of Heroes

I'd love to see the hard numbers. I'm curious how many players each game has here in the States.

Check out

http://www.mmogchart.com/analysis-and-conclusions/

Some data on this site.

Originally posted by Lidane

1. World of Warcraft

2. Runescape

3. Lord of the Rings Online

4. Final Fantasy XI

5. City of Heroes

I'd love to see the hard numbers. I'm curious how many players each game has here in the States.

 

 Thats Why America is the best

Originally posted by ianonmmorpg

Check out

http://www.mmogchart.com/analysis-and-conclusions/

Some data on this site.

That's all well and good, and I've looked at that site before, but what I'd like to see are the NPD numbers, since they not only use actual sales and distribution numbers provided by retailers, but their own consumer tracking and research as well. They're one of the top marketing research groups in the world for a reason, and their numbers would be really interesting to see, IMO.

Unfortunately, you have to buy the full reports from them, and let's just say there's no price quotes or easy online store on their site. It's a safe bet that their data doesn't come cheap, particularly since they do their research for businesses that have a vested interest in seeing it.

Originally posted by Torak

 

Originally posted by Lidane

1. World of Warcraft

2. Runescape

3. Lord of the Rings Online

4. Final Fantasy XI

5. City of Heroes

I'd love to see the hard numbers. I'm curious how many players each game has here in the States.

 

The only one that surprised me was City of Heroes. I know its a popular game but didn't think it was in the top revenue earners.

 

 

Well, when you look down the list on the left side of the forums, it really doesn't seem that surprising.  But keep in mind, the  sub ratio for these 5 is probably (using representational numbers) along the lines of:

1)  WOW - 10

2)  Runescape - 7

3)  LoTRO - 3

4)  Final Fantasy  -  2

5)  COH - 1

and all the rest fall into a category less than 1.

BTW, no, I didn't do the research, but then again,  most sub numbers are estimated values anyway.

and to paraphrase an excellent Dilbert yesterday  -surveys have shown that using made up numbers is just as effective as using real numbers.  How many surveys?  87!  

Originally posted by ianonmmorpg

Check out

http://www.mmogchart.com/analysis-and-conclusions/

Some data on this site.

(That might explain why Turbine was able to secure 50 million more investment capital for a new project)

Originally posted by Cabe2323

 

Originally posted by ianonmmorpg

Check out

http://www.mmogchart.com/analysis-and-conclusions/

Some data on this site.

The NPD data shows how wrong his information is.  He has LOTRO with less marketshare then EQ1 or EQ2 on his site.  But according to NPD LOTRO is the 3rd most played game in America.  Which means that it definitely has a higher subscription number then EQ1 or EQ2.  The NPD data also wouldn't include Europe since their research was for America only.  I think that LOTRO is probably doing a lot better then people have thought previously. 

 

(That might explain why Turbine was able to secure 50 million more investment capital for a new project)

I bet subscriptions work the same way,,,,??

Turbine secures 40 Million

:) pooorn

Square has confirmed on many occasions that FFXI has well over 500k subs monthly!