2 Million Players Leave WoW

[LongBlade]

World of Warcraft has lost two million subscribers this year.

World of Warcraft, the massively popular online video game, has seen 600,000 subscribers leave in three months.

It means a total of nearly two million players have turned off since the start of the year.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/07/29/game-over-world-warcraft-loses-600000-subscribers/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2aRa9X0c6

Interestingly, management is attempting to buy the game from Vivendi and take it independent.

[son_of_montfort]

I hear that their cycle is crazy, in comparison to other the scale of other MMORPGs. As in they lose like 2 million people, then get back 1.5 million. Sort of like a giant tide of roleplayers. The crazy thing is that WoW consistently loses more players than other MMORPGs even have total.

[Martok]

It's not really surprising news.  MMO's are obviously going to fluctuate over time (no matter how successful)...and ultimately, nothing lasts forever.  Someday WOW will die off, although it's obviously not going to be anytime soon. 

[Nefaro]

Yep, their turnover rate has to be insane.

Of the people I've seen mention they still have an active sub in the past couple years, they all said that they only logged in to do some dailies here & there and then they were back out. 

That daily grind crap was created for just this purpose.  To keep long-time subscribers sub'ing a bit longer.  But if you've hit that point, it's only a matter of time before you shut it down.

I quit playing the thing years ago.  Most decently made MMOs can be fun for awhile, but they all get boring at some point and you'll find yourself with a sub/premium membership for a long period of time and not actually playing it much, if at all.  Time to pull the plug.

[Kushan]

It's not really surprising news.  MMO's are obviously going to fluctuate over time (no matter how successful)...and ultimately, nothing lasts forever.  Someday WOW will die off, although it's obviously not going to be anytime soon.

It normally jumps up a couple million at the release of every expansion. The drop off after this latest expansion has been really quick however. The high only lasted them 2-3 months before people started cancelling their subscriptions again.

I resubbed for a month back in March. Think I only played 3-4 hours total. WoW just isn't the game for me anymore. The game has just lost something. I have don;t really mind Blizzard "dumbing" a few things down and making the game more "casual" but I think the game has lost the feel it used to have. In a lot of ways it feels like Blizzard just became complacent, knowing that WoW was huge it seems like they just stopped putting in the effort.

[Huw the Poo]

In a lot of ways it feels like Blizzard just became complacent, knowing that WoW was huge it seems like they just stopped putting in the effort.

I'm not close to WoW so I'm no authority, but it does seem from my point of view that they don't put in much effort - compare with the likes of ArenaNet for example, or better yet, Trion, who have absolutely pumped out new content for Rift in a constant stream since it was released.

[Arctic Blast]

World of Warcraft has lost two million subscribers this year.

World of Warcraft, the massively popular online video game, has seen 600,000 subscribers leave in three months.

It means a total of nearly two million players have turned off since the start of the year.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/07/29/game-over-world-warcraft-loses-600000-subscribers/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2aRa9X0c6

Interestingly, management is attempting to buy the game from Vivendi and take it independent.

Not sure how it affects WoW specifically, but Activision-Blizzard IS now independent from Vivendi. Happened last week.

http://www.gameplanet.com.au/news/g51f200b8553e1/Kotick-leads-8.2b-buyout-of-Activision-Blizzard-from-Vivendi/

[jomni]

WoW just isn't the game for me anymore. The game has just lost something. I have don;t really mind Blizzard "dumbing" a few things down and making the game more "casual" but I think the game has lost the feel it used to have. In a lot of ways it feels like Blizzard just became complacent, knowing that WoW was huge it seems like they just stopped putting in the effort.

Maybe because Kung Fu Pandas are cheesy.

[Nefaro]

WoW just isn't the game for me anymore. The game has just lost something. I have don;t really mind Blizzard "dumbing" a few things down and making the game more "casual" but I think the game has lost the feel it used to have. In a lot of ways it feels like Blizzard just became complacent, knowing that WoW was huge it seems like they just stopped putting in the effort.

Maybe because Kung Fu Pandas are cheesy.

Gotta admit, they poured on the ridicu-cheese with that nonsense.  I was shaking my head, and I had only been forced to watch the promo advertising for it on youtube or somewhere else before watching a vid - not playing it.  Looked like it started catering to 8-year olds.  :o

[Swatter]

Well, WoW has a huge player base in Asia and Pandas have a different cultural meaning (at least that is what I have heard), but yes the Ninja Pandas are comical.

I worked in QA at Blizzard before the release of WoW and I got to really hate the game. I never liked it from moment one. The development team, from what I saw, was highly dedicated and had very high standards. This was back in 2003, so who knows what has happened. They were totally independent back then (Blizzard). They were still patching and adding content for StarCraft and Diablo 2.

I think people are getting tired of the whole theme park mmo stuff. The market is going to shift back to more open world MMOs as developers stop trying to chase after whatever magic WoW was able to conjure. Everquest Next is on the way, hopefully this will be the new standard.

[Toonces]

What about Elder Scrolls Online?

[jomni]

Well, WoW has a huge player base in Asia and Pandas have a different cultural meaning (at least that is what I have heard), but yes the Ninja Pandas are comical.

I worked in QA at Blizzard before the release of WoW and I got to really hate the game. I never liked it from moment one. The development team, from what I saw, was highly dedicated and had very high standards. This was back in 2003, so who knows what has happened. They were totally independent back then (Blizzard). They were still patching and adding content for StarCraft and Diablo 2.

I think people are getting tired of the whole theme park mmo stuff. The market is going to shift back to more open world MMOs as developers stop trying to chase after whatever magic WoW was able to conjure. Everquest Next is on the way, hopefully this will be the new standard.

I am Asian and I'd rather see elements from Asian folklore instead of Kung Fu pandas.

[Nefaro]

What about Elder Scrolls Online?

Another 'theme park' MMO from what I understand.