Wed, Feb 10, 2010 | 22:35 GMT
Morhaime confirms the unthinkable: WoW’s stopped growing
Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime just said that World of Warcraft’s subs base is static at 11.5 million users, at the same level it’s been since late 2008. Yep: that means it’s not going up.
Blizzard announced the MMO had hit 11.5 million users in late December 2008, as you can see here.
Morhaime added that Blizzard was optimistic about the game’s future, especially given the release of Cataclysm later this year. He noted that the Chinese market, which makes up some 50 percent of the game’s userbase, still doesn’t have access to Wrath of the King.
Local operator NetEase is currently applying for a license to run the add-on.
The exec talked about WoW’s recent woes in China, saying that new sign-ups would be turned off for a week only. Chinese authorities forced NetEase to suspend registration earlier this week, the latest in a string of problems with the game after NetEase was found to be operating it without a license.
Morhaime made the announcement in the Activision Blizzard full-year financial call tonight.
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Posted in: Activision Blizzard, Financials, Hot, MMO, PC
Tags: actibliz full-year financials 2009, Mike Morhaime, world of warcraft
15 comments
#1
Hunam
10/02/10, 10:40 pm
0.175% of the worlds population can’t be wrong!
#2
Razor
10/02/10, 10:40 pm
“it’s not going up.”
I’m sorry to hear that
#3
RGW1982
10/02/10, 10:44 pm
Big Surprise…
#4
Psychotext
10/02/10, 10:46 pm
They’ll probably get another boost when the next expansion comes out… through it’ll probably be temporary. Time to get the next one out the door Blizzard.
#5
Hunam
10/02/10, 10:52 pm
IIRC, the next expansion will also coincide with the main game (lvl 1-60) zones being redesigned to be more fun, so even people who just have the base game will get new stuff.
#6
FidoDido1980
11/02/10, 12:55 am
The rise of Xbox Live and PSN taking its toll? Seems like it.
#7
Hunam
11/02/10, 1:08 am
I don’t think XBLA or PSN has any effect on WoW. It’s probably due to more MMO’s on the market and a smaller market because not everyone wants to pay for sub fee’s.
#8
M337ING
11/02/10, 1:17 am
FidoDido1980, I might as well say that its the rise of Steam taking its toll and I’d still be completely wrong like you are.
#9
Golden
11/02/10, 1:57 am
The key is not to panic…
#10
killmaster84
11/02/10, 7:18 am
You can only afford so many accounts in this economy.
#11
Michael O’Connor
11/02/10, 7:44 am
I find it hilarious that people are freaking out about a game that owns 60% of the entire market as if it were dying.
The game has probably just reached saturation point for the market. There are other factors to consider as well, including the game’s troubles in China and the current economic climate.
The fact that it hasn’t *fallen* when you take both those into consideration is astounding.
#12
endgame
11/02/10, 8:58 am
so there r only 11.5 million retarded humans on the face of this planet? it can not be! w8, the others probably don’t have internet connections. yeah, that has to be it.
#13
Michael O’Connor
11/02/10, 9:05 am
“so there r only 11.5 million retarded humans on the face of this planet?”
Wow… just… wow…
(Not the game kind)
#14
AHA-Lambda
11/02/10, 5:22 pm
actually i’m surprised at this news :O
#15
The_Villa
12/02/10, 12:36 am
It´s no surprise, the game reached its toll