Most thought it would never happen, but now there is definitive proof that World of Warcraft is slowly becoming obsolete. The granddaddy of MMO’s seems to be losing its stride as Activision Blizzard reports that the game saw a 10% drop in subscribers since May, starting at 11.4 million players and trickling down to 10.3 million. This means over 1 million people have stopped playing in the last 6 months. That’s quite a dent in World of Warcraft’s seemingly epic quality armor.
If this indicates an imminent expiration date for the series, the company doesn’t seem to be fazed. The forth expansion, Mists of Pandaria was recently announced and promises plenty of new content. Regardless of expansions, the series has done little to update itself to current standards in gaming, especially graphically. While the colorful, whimsical style of the game is a trademark of the series; it can be overshadowed by next-gen MMOs such as Rift.
Blizzard generally scoffs at competition, but the variety of MMOs has steadily increased since WoW took Everquest’s spot as leader in the genre. Updates and expansions might be too few and far between to keep the interest of current gamers who can simply move on to a competitor when WoW becomes stale. With the influx of free to play games, including recent converts like DC Universe Online, those not wanting to pay monthly fees might be more easily coaxed of their time.
At this point, it might be in Blizzard’s best interest to start again from scratch instead of continually resuscitating a 7-year-old game — and that might be just what they’re doing. Blizzard has a new MMO in the works that they believe will be bigger than WoW, meaning they intend to be their own competition. They clearly have no desire to let anyone else lead, or even attempt to lead, in the MMO market. That’s a helluva business strategy and somewhat grim.
What do you think, readers? Is it time for World of Warcraft to hang up its war banners and move on? What game do you think, or hope, will replace WoW?
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Source: Massively [via Kotaku]
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Man, how will they pay they bills with only 10 million subs? They might have to use smaller buckets to hold their money.
Finally. Though I have nothing against WOW specifically, it will always be the RTS killer in my mind. Maybe now they’ll make a real Warcraft game. One that’s fun, preferably… not another tailored for e-sports only game.
Wait until Guild wars 2 and the Old Republic are released.
I’m eagerly awaiting the release of The Old Republic I pre-ordered the collectors edition with all the goodies
Been a player of WoW since the beginning. While it will always hold a place in my heart, i’ve moved on. It’s just become too stale, and boring for my taste… Yea they add new features, but its all just polished chrome, it wears out after a short while. Moving on to SWTOR and SKYRIM, even though the latter is not an MMO, The two will occupy most of my time =)
Heck yeah! I am going to play skyrim like crazy tomorrow.
Bout time this game gets ended. or at the very least free to play. WoW is a game that has been going on(in my mind) way to long. it should have stopped after WotLK.
I say good riddance! I don’t like MMO’s. Now bring on Skyrim! Where I get to be the hero of my own world and feed my endless ego without having to crap in a sock to stay powerful!
Could you please explain how exactly you crapped in a sock whilst playing WoW?
well…im torn. i love world of warcraft (ive played for quite some time) but since i dont have any time to play, i cant raid, and it does get very boring just doing auctions and whatnot….my biggest issue is needing such a large chunk of time to get anywhere in end-content raiding. but only 10 million subscribers…gasp. i wonder how theyll even make ends meat at 15 a month from each of them….
no aun no tiene que terminar, pero tendrían que sacar una mejorada al máximo, con algunos server gratuitos, claro que sea limitado en el sentido de que un ejemplo se puedan crear solo un millón de cuentas gratis en el mundo y luego de pasar el millón hacer que los otros usuarios que se vallan registrando tengan que ser de pago, así aumentaría el nivel de uso y de las ventas de cuentas ya que muchos querrán ser los primeros en tenerlo para tener cuenta gratis de porvida
If you have played enough MMOs you realize they are all the same and pretty much doomed to become stale. For me the whole genre of MMOs has become stale. I will Give The Old Republic a try seeing that is Bioware and that the will be an attempt to make story a central character of the game. Really the only MMO that had it right and that could have lasted was Asheron’s Call. It’s monthly updates and it’s changing world kept it fresh for years even when the game play was mediocre at best.
Couple of things this author got wrong.
WoW never actually had 12 million active subscriptions. It only ever had a maximum of 6 million active subscriptions at any given time. Even Vivendi and Blizzard employees admitted that the numbers ARE heavily “fluffed” to attract players because hey if everyone else is doing it… Believing a Blizzard official statement now is like believing that a politician is always truthful. Been that way for at least a decade now in matters such as subscription numbers and other things.
And WoW is certainly NOT the granddaddy of all mmorpgs lmao. That’s like saying that Arnold the Terminator is the granddaddy of all actors, but we all know that he’s a terrible actor and he will never be considered the granddaddy despite his popularity. Justin Bieber is pretty popular, but his music blows – food for thought. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s good and vise-verse. Sorry ladies and gents, these are simply the facts. Not my facts, the facts. If you want to know who the granddady of mmorpgs is, then refer to Everquest, Runescape, Ultima Online, and Asheron’s Call.
@uttaus
You are correct, sir.
I recently quit playing WoW and started on League of Legends while I wait for SWTOR to come out. It’s very stale indeed. Cata was too disappointing imo.
There’s a reason Rift is five dollars and the battle chest is still twenty.
I’ve always been interested to see how they will transition from WoW to whatever their next MMO is.
Being a WOW widow I am not surprised they are working on a new expansion and a new game. It will drive nails in more marriages. It doesn’t encourage socialization outside the home. Boo me if you must but you know it’s true. Kids are being neglected by many also.