WORLD OF WARCRAFT Loses 2 Million Subscribers in 2011
Subscriber numbers have fallen from 12 million to 10.3 million and in the summer months between July and September, a whopping 800,000 players left World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft have lost 2 million subscribers this year, according to a recent Blizzard conference call. In 2011, subscriber numbers has fallen from 12 million to 10.3 million and in the summer months between July and September, a whopping 800,000 players left World of Warcraft. Could it be blamed on the weather, the Western economic climate or a decline of interest? Probably a little of all three, though the decline mostly came from the East. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaine claims WOW remains "one of the most popular online games in China, and by far the most popular subscription-based MMO in the world." It's been something of a worrying decline in numbers for Blizzard. Just October of last year Blizzard reached the 12 million peak and it's hoped adding new content to the game via the recently announced expansion pack Mists of Pandaria can bring some of the users they have lost back into the game. Morhaine writes that the expansion pack is "not intended to go out and drive new user acquisition, that's a whole other strategy. But it does drive engagement with the game, and so that will impact churn if we do it successfully, and will eventually drive winback, as players tell each other about the content they're enjoying." Are you one of the two million that have left World of Warcraft in the last year? Do tell us why you stopped playing...