Originally posted by GameOvr

Q3 GAAP Net Revenues by Segment/Platform Mix

Activision and Blizzard:

Online subscriptions (wow subs and sales)

for 3 months $336 mil

Q4 same line which now also includes Call of duty elite memberships

$268 mil

Awesome, somehow they made $68 million less in Q4 wow sales and subs, and that includes holiday sales and COD elite memberships, than they did in Q3 and lost only 100k subs which is $4.5 mil in revenue?

 

________________________

 

Between Q2 and Q3 they lost 800,000 subs, and wow revenue declined by $23 million.

Between Q3 and Q4 they lost 100,000 subs, and wow revenue declined by $68 million.

They lost 2.95 times more income with losing 1/8 of the subs that they did in Q3. That's pretty amazing.

What seems more likely, is they lost a ton of high income US/EU subs and gained 100,000 less low income asia subs.

Hey look! We only lost 100,000 subs!

 

 

http://investor.activision.com/results.cfm
 

Not Asia. Most certainly the peak of the long hyped and much advertized Portugese-language/Brazilian client release with cheaper subscription model for WoW over there. Its funny however how some fanbois try to fall back on selective reading, pretend the loss of 100.000 would equal the loss of any player who left to SWToR, plus people quitting since 2nd last quarter and spin this into "positive" news. As if everyone who left for SWToR especially those million annual pass subscriber incentivized not to unsubscribe to gain their benefits all instantly had/have an inactive account the second they played SWToR.

I mean its like: "Hey everything is going down significantly enough to be undeniable now, even official records, could you guys stop pretending your game is untouchable and almost everlasting and stop comming over to every other games forum and run after their player and pretend its a clone of your favorite game and its going down for no good reasons and plain ignorant assumptions?" "NOOO LOOK THEY JUST ANNOUNCED SOMETHING GOD/BETTER THAN EXPECTED/POSITIVE/PLEASANT" "Wait, thats not good news" "HURR STOP HATING! THE FACTS SAY IT EVETHING IS FINE!" "No they ...just don't..."

Reality:

-Wow portugese version was released with much hype and ads just in December 2011.  WoW fanbois are fast to assume a drop of SWToR fuelling a "reflux" for this quarter, an actual regrowth of player, which likey havent mostly even been accounted yet to the loss, a grasp for straws because subs dont instantly go inactive the second they touch SWToR, especially when you can save much money and get otherwise expensive goodies, if you subs a few months longer. Unlike that, any newly attracted portugese-speaking/Brazilian player are all non-hyptothetical subscriber the second they played WoW in Q4 and even at this moment many new subscriber still are in their honeymoon phase which will only fade from here on. This should have increased both revenues and subs again.

-Deathwing update: WoW released the much promoted and hyped "Deathwing" content, the focus of the whole expansion. This should have increased both revenues and subs again.

-winter season during Q4, where "normal" means slight peak in revenues and gameractivity if you take out fluctations due to content releaseschedules or other factors like foreign client releases. This should have increased both revenues again.

The unpleasant results:

3. Player still went down by 100k vs Q3 quarter, despite an expectable temporay peak should easily have compensated for any loses or adding to a stable number, after the release of new language client in a new region, major content patches and seasonal trends.

2. Revenues went down QoQrev (-24 M Non-GAAP). Non-GAAP revenues (aka the revenues which do not account the last scratches of the Cataclysm sales from two years ago) went down to 250 Million from 274 M. 268M are GAAP revenues, which still include 18M defered revenues they made in earlier quarters, mostly from the overhyped dissapointment Cataclysm which was followed by drops even below pre-Cata phase. Even despite the release of the Portugese client mainly aimed at Brazil in that quarter they went down. Even despite the fact they're now throwing CoD membership revenues into account, to cover up the continued losses of WoW. Despite the fact Q4 includes the winter season.

1. Reported revenues reached a record low over the last 4 years and since ever Blizzard went publicy traded.

Blizzard made 279 Million (GAAP) in Q4 2007 from WoW - In 2007 WoW just hit the 8 Million subscriber mark at that time.

Blizzard made 268 Million (GAAP) in Q4 2011 from WoW+CoD Elite membership fees.

Even now with CoD fees included this is the lowest ever recorded GAAP and also the lowest ever recorded NON-GAAP revenues since BLizzard went publicy traded.

You could say, effectively Blizzard just earned 4% LESS, from 27,5% MORE active accounts compared to 4 years ago in a regular 4th quarter . We all know the reasons their "subscriber" are generating less revenues each. The game has bloated itself up for PR, by forcing itself with cheap prices (even for local standards) and huge incentives into population rich foreign markets to cover up continued losses in the West with new "record" announcements.

Very astutue points have already been brought up.

Between the marketing gimmick of the annual pass, and opening of Brazilian servers, they still had a net loss.  That is not stabilizing by any means.  They are wounded, but the bleeding has slowed down, but it has not been stopped.

In other words, the next quarter, where they are not opening up new servers or have an annual pass may see a larger net loss.