Earnings Call Reveals ‘World Of Warcraft’ Subscriptions Fall To 5.6 Million


In September 2010, World of Warcraft subscribers were numbered at 12 million during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. The game’s subscribers fell off after that point until resurgences when Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor released with another high climb to 10 million with the latter. During Warlords of Draenor, though, World of Warcraft has rapidly lost subscriptions.

The first earnings call after Warlords of Draenor‘s release informed players that subscribers fell from 10 million to around 7.1 million. The second earnings call after the latest expansion revealed an even lower subscriber count. Activision Blizzard reported the company’s second quarter 2015 financial results for investors today. World of Warcraft currently caters to 5.6 million players.

World of Warcraft
A screenshot of World of Warcraft‘s Tanaan Jungle

Since subscriber numbers have started to fall after the game’s peak, this is the lowest amount of subscriptions recorded. Even the Mists of Pandaria expansion lull was higher at 6.8 million subscribers, and according to a detailed chart via MMO-Champion, subscriptions were last at this value during World of Warcraft‘s initial climb to its peak. World of Warcraft subscribers were last at 5.6 million in December 2005 before the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, released. All past earnings calls and reports can be found on the Activision website for more information.

The waning subscription numbers for World of Warcraft are likely attributed to a number of factors. The game is 10 years old, the current expansion is technically over, Warlords of Draenor left many players disappointed, and the next expansion is going to be announced in just a matter of days. However, the WoW Token was fully active during this quarter’s results. The WoW Token grants 30 days of game time to the account that uses it but it costs more than a traditional subscription. Players can buy and sell WoW Tokens for gold, letting players with excess gold play the game for free, and those with a disposable income in real life can grab a little extra gold by selling the token. Of course, the barrier of entry still remains since a client must be purchased to play World of Warcraft and a steady supply of gold is required to continue playing for free.

Even with the drop in subscriptions for World of Warcraft, overall, the results of the quarter are better than what was expected of Activision Blizzard. The company touts over 70 million registered players of Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Destiny. Other titles like Skylanders continue to outsell competitors improving the outlook for Activision Blizzard in general.

[Images via Battle.net]

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