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Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime revealed during yesterday's Activision earnings call that the number of players subscribed to the developer's flagship title World of Warcraft has dropped by approximately 300,000 since the last announced subscriber volume of 11.4 million. This brings the total number of worldwide World of Warcraft subscribers to 11.1 million. While that's a large drop since May, it's worth noting that World of Warcraft is still far and away the most heavily subscribed game in the world.
The most recent expansion, Cataclysm, recently launched in China, a huge market for the MMO. With the news that Blizzard acquired the trademark to "Mists of Pandaria," it seems possible that the next expansion will take players to a content which, in terms of lore, is heavily inspired by Eastern Culture. This could be a move by the developer to lean more heavily on the Chinese market.
Morhaime told investors in the call that there were plans to turn back the tides of unsubscribers, by flooding the MMO with fresh content. We should be hearing more about the fruits of Blizzard's labors soon.
A decline in interest for most subscription-based MMOs is just part of the life-cycle, especially with several high-profile games due out in the next twelve months. The question is, how long can Blizzard push back the inevitable?
source
Is WoW heading to it's death bed?
The most recent expansion, Cataclysm, recently launched in China, a huge market for the MMO. With the news that Blizzard acquired the trademark to "Mists of Pandaria," it seems possible that the next expansion will take players to a content which, in terms of lore, is heavily inspired by Eastern Culture. This could be a move by the developer to lean more heavily on the Chinese market.
Morhaime told investors in the call that there were plans to turn back the tides of unsubscribers, by flooding the MMO with fresh content. We should be hearing more about the fruits of Blizzard's labors soon.
A decline in interest for most subscription-based MMOs is just part of the life-cycle, especially with several high-profile games due out in the next twelve months. The question is, how long can Blizzard push back the inevitable?
source
Is WoW heading to it's death bed?