World of Warcraft Subscriptions Down 10%, Still Sports Bulging User Base.
You know an MMO is enormous when it can shed 10% of its user base and still have a raging community. Such is the life of WoW, the Eternal Juggernaut of the MMO realm. As the news portends however, slowly the community is sloughing off its addiction.
World of Warcraft may never truly die. People still play the first Everquest, after all. But it will inevitably lose its place as the biggest MMO on Earth, and that day is now a little closer following the release of the game’s latest set of subscription numbers.
Since May, the number of people playingWorld of Warcraft slipped from 11.4 million to 10.3 million. That’s still a massive number, but it’s also a 10% drop. Why the slide? Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime says it was mostly due to a drop-off in the game’s “Eastern” markets.
They can blame “Eastern” markets, but I’m blaming a seven year-old game on a thirty year-old engine.