World of Warcraft’s Subscription Numbers Continue to Decline

Since its release in late 2004, World of Warcraft has become the envy of all other MMO-makers out there. Thanks to Blizzard’s creating of a game that was both welcoming to light and heavy game players alike, not to mention one that’s quite captivating, subscription numbers skyrocketed like no other MMO had seen before.

But the game, which peaked at around 12 million subscriptions, began to decline in subscription numbers starting in Q1 2011, marking the first time ever that the game had experienced such a thing since its launch. The decrease continued through to Q2, and according to a recent earnings call, current numbers sit at 11.1 million – a loss of ~900,000 since the beginning of the year.

Blizzard didn’t touch on possible reasons for the decline, but if I had to guess, competition could have something to do with it – given these large drops. Rift for example launched in March, and though it has become known as a WoW clone, it does enjoy a rumored 1 million+ subscribers. When I played the game quite heavily upon its release, many people I ran into were former WoW players.

Free MMOs could also have a major impact as well, and with Valve recently bringing free-to-play games to more noticeable levels, some might be taking a break from WoW, instead choosing to bide their time until the next expansion pack rolls around.

Blizzard recently acquired the trademark for “Mists of Pandaria”, so that’s likely to be the name for the next expansion pack. According to Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime, it’s the company’s goal to bring players back with this pack, so it could prove to be the most content-heavy expansion to date.