World of Warcraft breaks 8 million subscribers

by Vladimir Cole { Jan 11th 2007 at 6:05PM }

The most successful MMORPG of all time just got successfuller: Blizzard today announced that World of Warcraft has surpassed 8 million subscribers. Two million of those subscribers are in North America, 1.5 million in Europe, and 3.5 million in China (the remainder are scattered throughout other parts of the world).

Will nothing stop this juggernaut? We recall attending a GDC 2005 session in which pundits asked (and failed to answer) the following question, "When will we see our first truly mass-market MMORPG?"

[Image credit: World of Warcraft Coke cans spotted at a supermarket by Flickr user hey-gem]

[Via WoW Insider.com]

Tags: mmo, mmorpg, warcraft, world of warcraft, wow

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Storm9 @ Jan 11th 2007 6:24PM

I used to be a skeptic of WoW.
But that was before I played.

This game never seems to stop amusing me.
Very fun to play with Real life friends.

And give the Horde a good whipping in AV!

ackmondual @ Jan 11th 2007 6:25PM

Well, they did create Diablo which sold 1 million copies in 2 weeks of its launch. Starcraft sold VERY well too. WC3 I don't count b/c while it was nice (not better than SC + BW IMO), after SC and Diablo, Blizz was going on PURE reputation. It's that good that WC3 could've been a piece of crap and ppl would've bought just for the brand name Blizzard alone. Whether if they'd like it or not is another thing entirely.

While I scoff at these 8mil subscribers for so much time wasted, I am forced to remind myself of all the time I blew off playing Tetris, Mortal Kombat, etc. etc.

However, my favorite D2 review still comes to mind....

==========
Good game for rats, October 10, 2001
Reviewer: ira povey (Denver)

>QUOTE
In psychology there is a concept called "variable reinforcement schedule". Basically, if you reward a rat for pressing a bar, say with a food pellet, he will want to press the bar. BUT, if you only reinforce the rat randomly as he pushes the bar, well, he'll push furiously, neglecting socializing, hygiene, and all else. Diablo 2 works exactly like the latter situation. You kill a baddie. Did he drop something good? Maybe, maybe not. Every random time a baddie does drop something good, it inflames your brain to want to repeat that behavior, just like a slot machine, or a rat pressing a bar. The priciple is PROVEN to be elegantly addicting. In one sense, that makes this an incredibly efficient game, based on sound scientific data, with a vicious hook. On the other hand, I could put you in a cage with an IV of endorphins that randomly activated occasionaly after you pressed a bar, and you'd all be giving it 5 star reviews on amazon and wasting your time playing it. Here's an idea: spend time with your loved ones, read a book, draw a picture. Life is short.
>unQUOTE

Leto @ Jan 11th 2007 6:36PM

Holy shit, and with the expansion about to come out, Blizzard is going to be one rich company.

redspear @ Jan 11th 2007 6:57PM

#2 successfuller is not a word.......

It is a perfectly cromulent word!
You should try to embiggen your vocabulary sometime.

Me fail english thats unpossible.

Neoglism FTW!

ackmondual @ Jan 11th 2007 7:49PM

SOB Blizzard.... Not only can we kiss Starcraft Ghost goodbye, but any hope of Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 as well. I suppose going WoW was the best business move for them, but at the cost all of their Starcraft and Diablo fanbase.

.

@ #6
From what i hear, Bliz does not make meager $$, but they don't make significant profits either, at to the point some ppl think. Much of it goes towards their equipment and HUGE bandwidth costst.

Huzzah!! @ Jan 11th 2007 7:50PM

"successfuller"

WoTD!!

(Word of the Day)

Sam Gardner @ Jan 11th 2007 7:56PM

Well, I don't really think you can call eight million subscribers mass market.

As popular as the game is, its still not accepted by the average consumer, unless the question was looking at the gaming market specifically.

Sketchy Fletchy @ Jan 11th 2007 7:57PM

People of the internet, do not be fooled!

World of Warcraft is nothing more or less than your average run of the mill cult!

Seriously, look at the behaviour of initiates in the cult of Warcraft (aka 'players'). Players:
• Believe in a fantastical alternate reality, and in that reality obey the cult leaders, also known as 'moderators';
• Send away their money to a shadowy head office every month;
• Talk to family members and friends less and less, preferring to talk to their fellow cultists instead;
• Hold strange gatherings and arcane rituals called 'raids' wherein they apparently stop speaking English, instead speaking in tongues or some other language of their own.
• Lose interest in all other daily life and gaming activities, spending all their time in the cult - where once they entered game stores to buy new and exciting games, all they seek now is 'a wow gamecard, thanks';
• Stop sleeping, eating or bathing correctly, instead entering a trance like state wherein they chant mantras like '50 more XP until level 45', 'Hl, plz... Rez plz.' and 'Haha, noob';
• Have an abnormal tendency to gather in groups, strip naked and dance, later posting the videos on youtube for their fellow cultists to enjoy;
• Idolise strange figures, normally deemed by society to be stupid, criminally insane, delusional, or all three. A prime example is the one known as 'Leeroy Jenkins', whose name is regularly howled as a wolf would bay at the moon - Jenkins has apparently garnered the rank of 'dragon whelp exterminator' in the heretical order of warcraft, and is known to perform sick and inhuman rituals involving chickens.

Be warned! The Cult of Warcraft grows ever stronger - soon there will be none who can stop it! We must strike back at the evil Blizzard corporation during the one time when their brainwashing wears off temporarily - server downtime!

Hehehe - just a humorous observation a friend of mine made a few weeks back (he runs a game store, hence the observation of people not buying different games). But seriously, it's a cult.

cyberfrog @ Jan 11th 2007 8:23PM

At number 3, that quote does have some mistakes. The intermittent reiforcement schedule maintains behavior at a nice steady rate, true. Schedules of reinforcement that are more predictable such as a fixed ratio (a specific number of responses must be completed) or fixed interval (the first response after a specific time has elapsed) result in pauses in responding after a reinforcer is delivered, particularly at larger ratio and interval values. The schedule is not addicting in itself, just effective at maintaining a consistent level of responding (no pauses in responding) given an appropriate reinforcer. Consistent responding is maintained because reinfrocers are presented sometimes after a relatively short time/number of response and sometimes after a relatively long time/number of responses in an unpredictable manner (although usually not random). Additionally, organisms will not forgo all else just because in intermittent schedule is in effect. How they allocate their responding depends on the what other reinforcers are available and how. Additionally, for most reinforcers, satiation will usually occur after enough reinforcers are delivered (certain doses of drug and electric brain stimulation are known exceptions to this general rule). Satiation can occur whether the reinforcer is food or an activity.

Chosin1 @ Jan 11th 2007 8:26PM

Nice Simpsons reference redspear. Very cromulent indeed!

elle @ Jan 11th 2007 9:32PM

cyberfrog: Can you explain all that as simply as #3's quote explained it incorrectly? If not, what sort of classes do I need to take to understand that?

Saint Jouten @ Jan 11th 2007 10:23PM

I think that word, "Successfuller" is a 'Bushism' is it not? I could have sworn I heard him say that one before...

dirtyone @ Jan 11th 2007 11:56PM

bullshit

thejakeman @ Jan 12th 2007 1:12AM

successfuller is not a word.......

but otherwise cool!

thejakeman @ Jan 12th 2007 1:14AM

oops, damn comments system, making me unbump my comments....

Ianc02 @ Jan 12th 2007 2:27AM

http://zombiesloveburningcrusade.ytmnd.com/

Lol

alexanderwales @ Jan 12th 2007 3:26AM

Pricing, via Wikipedia:

"In the United States and Canada, Blizzard distributes World of Warcraft via retail software packages that sold for over US$50 at the time of release. The software package includes one month of gameplay for no additional cost. After a month, a player must purchase additional service using a credit card or prepaid game card. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase via credit card is one month. A player also has the option of purchasing three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight discount. Prepaid game cards are sold for US$30 and provide 60 days of gameplay. Either way, a player pays about US$0.50 for one day of gameplay.

In Korea, there is no software package or CD key requirement to activate the account. In order to play the game, however, players need to purchase time credits online via credit card or the ARS billing system. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase via credit card is five hours. A player may also purchase game time by thirty hours or by increments of one week. A player also has the option of purchasing game time by one, three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight discount. As of December 17th, 2006, 30 days of gameplay costs ₩19,800 (US$21.46).

In China, because a large number of the players do not own the computer they use to play games (e.g. Internet cafes), the CD keys can be purchased independently of the software package. The CD key, which is required to activate an account, is sold for ¥30 (US$3.75) each. The software packages vary in price depending on the items they contain. In order to play the game, the player would need to purchase prepaid game cards in denominations of ¥30 each that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes. This equates to exactly ¥0.45 (US$0.06) for one hour of gameplay. A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region.

In Australia and many European countries, video game stores commonly stock the trial version of World of Warcraft in DVD form priced at A$2 or €2 including VAT, which include the game and 14 days of gameplay. After which, the player would have to purchase the full version of the game priced at recommended retail price similar to those sold in United States. As of November 2006, the RRP is A$29.95"

If they were getting $15 a month for each of their 8 million players, they would be breaking a billion dollars in revenue ($1.44 billion). This is not the case.

Especially in China, where you pay a mere 6 cents per hour of play, they certainly aren't making as large of a profit as they are in North America or Europe. But when people say that Blizzard isn't making a shit-ton of money off of the game - those people are being stupid.

Baz @ Jan 12th 2007 5:46AM

For the above poster who wins at math, 6 cents an hour adds up to $1.44 per day from China. So, they would in fact make more money from China if their player market was more along the lines of America. A "measily" $1.55 a day in China vs. 50 cents a day in America (especially since you are still paying for time which you are not playing) is so much more worth it. Then again their target market in America is larger so they will give us the better deal.

Just saying how 6 cents an hour is not measily compared to everyone else. Especially since Americans pay approximately 2 cents per hour at the rate of 50 cents per day.

Tao @ Jan 12th 2007 7:11AM

@ 19. No, beeing a chinese you generally don't have the money to play more than a few days. They don't get a better price. They get to pay in smaller increments so that they may play at all. You think most chinese have money to play all month or even time? Yeah, we're talking 3,5 mil out of the whole population but still...