I am sorry to inform all those people who love preaching about the end of the WoW that the game's subscription numbers seem to have stabalised at 10.2M.

So no, WoW has not dropped to 5-8m subs and it is definitely not bleeding subs badly.

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3312965596 - Original source 

http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=647732 - Report

Just like WoW Insider, you're casting aspersions.

WoWs subscriber numbers have NOT stabalised. Over the last 3 months, a further 100,000 subscribers have been lost. That's not stablising. That's a decline. It may only be a 1% decline, but in terms of earnings... that's around $5 million less per quarter. 

If in the next quarterly they confirm no decline from 10.2, then the figures will have stabalised.

World of Warcraft is still suffering a steady decline. The decline may have slowed but it's very much a decline. The interesting numbers will come with the next quarterly. That's when we'll see what the long term outlook for WoW is.

Personally I'm expecting a further decline. I don't think it's going to be as fast and deep as most, but I don't think there is much Blizzard can do to WoW at this point in time. I don't think their efforts to market MoP at potential new players is likely to work, and I think the next quarterly will vindicate the perspective that WoW has "had its day" at peak.

We'll have to wait and see though.

Originally posted by dotdotdash

Just like WoW Insider, you're casting aspersions.

WoWs subscriber numbers have NOT stabalised. Over the last 3 months, a further 100,000 subscribers have been lost. That's not stablising. That's a decline. It may only be a 1% decline, but in terms of earnings... that's around $5 million less per quarter. 

If in the next quarterly they confirm no decline from 10.2, then the figures will have stabalised.

World of Warcraft is still suffering a steady decline. The decline may have slowed but it's very much a decline. The interesting numbers will come with the next quarterly. That's when we'll see what the long term outlook for WoW is.

Personally I'm expecting a further decline. I don't think it's going to be as fast and deep as most, but I don't think there is much Blizzard can do to WoW at this point in time. I don't think their efforts to market MoP at potential new players is likely to work, and I think the next quarterly will vindicate the perspective that WoW has "had its day" at peak.

We'll have to wait and see though.

Dont worry! I'm sure SWTOR can take the throne!!

/suicide 

Actually with the launch of TOR I would suspect folks thought it would be much larger.  I know I expected to see a number around 9 - 9.5.  Not bad actually.

Originally posted by parrotpholk

Actually with the launch of TOR I would suspect folks thought it would be much larger.  I know I expected to see a number around 9 - 9.5.  Not bad actually.

It's because WoWclones will ALWAYS fail.

If anything, all SWTOR did was show how polished and hashed out WoW is compared to SWTOR. SWTOR will probably end up being good for WoW just like WAR ended up attacting more people

Actually instead of making a new thread, I'll make this comment here as well:

Morhaime announced - with glee - that the Annual Pass has been picked up by 1,000,000 customers. I don't know if I missed it, but I didn't hear him say that was an increase on standard 1-year subscriptions prior to the Annual Pass being released. It'd be very interesting to know whether the 1,000,000 Annual Pass subscribers are newly generated, or whether the bulk are customers who moved over from 1-year subscriptions.

If the former is the case - if the 1 mil is mostly new customers to the long term subscription plan - then that is surely good news for Blizzard. If the latter is true - if the 1 mil is merely those that have "switched over" - then it means very little. In fact... it simply means Blizzard have gained little in the way of additional income, or guaranteed income.

Of course... I'm sure investors will likely see this as a boon, and it will have a positive effect on Activision Blizzard's share price, regardless of the actuality behind those numbers.

Originally posted by dotdotdash

 I don't know if I missed it, but I didn't hear him say that was an increase on standard 1-year subscriptions prior to the Annual Pass being released. It'd be very interesting to know whether the 1,000,000 Annual Pass subscribers are newly generated, or whether the bulk are customers who moved over from 1-year subscriptions.

blizzard does not offer 1 year subs - so theres no standard

longest sub blizzard available is 6 months

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/subscription-options

Originally posted by parrotpholk

Actually with the launch of TOR I would suspect folks thought it would be much larger.  I know I expected to see a number around 9 - 9.5.  Not bad actually.

What people have to realise is that no game previously has managed to effect WoWs subscription numbers negatively. If the decline is due to Star Wars The Old Republic - which I personally don't think it is - then it's a big boon for Bioware, and EA.

As I said... I think the decline has little to do with Star Wars The Old Republic. People presume that in order for an MMO to succeed it must steal players from World of Warcraft. This is a misguided presumption at best. It is entirely possible for a new release to generate new players to the MMO market.

Then of course there are the "former" WoW players that haven't played the game in months or years. They're certainly a hell of a lot of them.

Originally posted by Nadia

Originally posted by dotdotdash

 I don't know if I missed it, but I didn't hear him say that was an increase on standard 1-year subscriptions prior to the Annual Pass being released. It'd be very interesting to know whether the 1,000,000 Annual Pass subscribers are newly generated, or whether the bulk are customers who moved over from 1-year subscriptions.

blizzard does not offer 1 year subs - so theres no standard

longest sub blizzard available is 6 months

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/subscription-options

 

So were the 6 month subs down, or up?

Originally posted by dotdotdash

What people have to realise is that no game previously has managed to effect WoWs subscription numbers negatively. If the decline is due to Star Wars The Old Republic - which I personally don't think it is - then it's a big boon for Bioware, and EA.

Blizzard has said WOW has stopped growing for the last 3 years  (since late 2008)

http://www.vg247.com/2010/02/10/morhaime-confirms-the-unthinkable-wows-stopped-growing/

Originally posted by dotdotdash

So were the 6 month subs down, or up?

its hard to quantify

to be eligible for the 1 year plan - you dont have to pay in advance

you only have to declare intent to pay for the next year   (monthly, quarterly, etc)

if you have a lapse in your payments, you are removed from the "annual pass" agreement and lose your goodies

related thread

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/338806/Annual-pass-no-money-taken.html

Originally posted by fivoroth

I am sorry to inform all those people who love preaching about the end of the WoW that the game's subscription numbers seem to have stabalised at 10.2M.

So no, WoW has not dropped to 5-8m subs and it is definitely not bleeding subs badly.

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3312965596 - Original source 

http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=647732 - Report

Playing SWTOR for a month made me want to resubscribe to WoW after 6 months break.................I just wanted to play a well made Themepark

Originally posted by Nadia

Originally posted by dotdotdash

What people have to realise is that no game previously has managed to effect WoWs subscription numbers negatively. If the decline is due to Star Wars The Old Republic - which I personally don't think it is - then it's a big boon for Bioware, and EA.

Blizzard has said WOW has stopped growing for the last 3 years  (since late 2008)

http://www.vg247.com/2010/02/10/morhaime-confirms-the-unthinkable-wows-stopped-growing/

 

That... I don't get what your point is. If you have one, make it...

my point is no game is having an effect on wow

WOW was not growing and losing  subs -- long before TOR launched

10.2 million.   So, basically that means 2.2 million people on NA/EU servers.   There may be a lot of life in the old girl yet! 

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Originally posted by dotdotdash

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Originally posted by Nadia

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Originally posted by dotdotdash
What people have to realise is that no game previously has managed to effect WoWs subscription numbers negatively. If the decline is due to Star Wars The Old Republic - which I personally don't think it is - then it's a big boon for Bioware, and EA.

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Blizzard has said WOW has stopped growing for the last 3 years  (since late 2008)
http://www.vg247.com/2010/02/10/morhaime-confirms-the-unthinkable-wows-stopped-growing/
 

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That... I don't get what your point is. If you have one, make it...

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His point seems to be that everyone knows Blizzard is still losing subs, but only forum trolls seem to -know- that wow is dieing, or "bleeding subs" .. which makes me wonder .. what was your point in this thread exactly?

If Rift and SWTOR can manage even medium Pop servers, WoW must have lost something...

These aren't players just pulled out of the ass of nowhere.. I think the fans of the industry have stabilized, and what you see is more than likely what you get..

Of course WoW still has the most, but with Rift and SWTOR being down the same alley as WoW, the players that honestly stopped playing WoW (which people don't even if they say they are) are playing one of those..

Basically, in order for the newer MMO's to have populations, WoW has to lose some.. Just how it works..

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Originally posted by Vyeth
If Rift and SWTOR can manage even medium Pop servers, WoW must have lost something...
These aren't players just pulled out of the ass of nowhere.. I think the fans of the industry have stabilized, and what you see is more than likely what you get..
Of course WoW still has the most, but with Rift and SWTOR being down the same alley as WoW, the players that honestly stopped playing WoW (which people don't even if they say they are) are playing one of those..
 
Basically, in order for the newer MMO's to have populations, WoW has to lose some.. Just how it works..

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Theres no way the overall mmo player base has stabalized. Most people were 20-30, when wow expanded the market. Which means most of them are still here .. in theory .. and every day a new set of kids meets that age where games like MMOs become accessible.

The other reason wow doesn't have to lose a bunch of new customers for other games to find markets is because they already have lost a bunch of customers over the years. Those customers have probably been biding their time with things like Eden Eternal or some crap .. until "the next big thing"

Originally posted by azmundai

 

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Originally posted by Vyeth
If Rift and SWTOR can manage even medium Pop servers, WoW must have lost something...
These aren't players just pulled out of the ass of nowhere.. I think the fans of the industry have stabilized, and what you see is more than likely what you get..
Of course WoW still has the most, but with Rift and SWTOR being down the same alley as WoW, the players that honestly stopped playing WoW (which people don't even if they say they are) are playing one of those..
 
Basically, in order for the newer MMO's to have populations, WoW has to lose some.. Just how it works..

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Those customers have probably been biding their time with things like Eden Eternal or some crap .. until "the next big thing"

We could grasp straws all day trying to figure out "where" these customers have gone, but from my experiences in both Rift and SWTOR, a good majority of them have been previous (and steady) WoW players.. They always make it a point to let you know that through chat.. In every game during the post WoW-era..

well the only other logical conclusion I can come up with is that they are paying for 2 games at the same time.