We decided we weren't going to make any sort of snide comments about how little Blizzard needs the money, this time. Nope, we're just going to hit you with the facts:
World of Warcraft recently
hit 11 million subscribers, up from
10 million in January. The nine months that separate the two milestones is the biggest in
WoW's history. In fact, the past few million-sub jumps have happened at reliable six-month intervals.
If you were a Blizzard staffer who plugged all this data into a chart, you would be
imaginary, because who has time to make charts when the new "Thrones Made of Bald Eagle Heads" catalog just arrived?
...Crap, we were so close.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
vidGuy @ Oct 28th 2008 1:33PM
Ignoring the article for a sec... can somebody please ban that Wallet Pop ad to the right? Refresh your page until you get it and tell me it doesn't remind you of a certain goat(se).
Brian @ Oct 28th 2008 1:36PM
Got Adblock?
Marty @ Oct 28th 2008 1:36PM
Not sure what you're talking about... but then, I've got AdBlock Plus installed, so I shouldn't.
Will @ Oct 28th 2008 1:42PM
I see it.. it's just a picture. Is it popping up for you or something?
Dirty @ Oct 28th 2008 2:10PM
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
this is the last time
Will @ Oct 28th 2008 2:16PM
Personally I choose not to use Adblock, even when I'm on Firefox (I use Chrome most of the time)
I respect sites that give me free service such as Joystiq but also realize that they have costs and are in search of a profit. Some sites need their ad revenue just to keep from going under. In the case of Isohunt (of which I've been a member for a long time) they need their ad revenue for legal cases.
With that said, I haven't noticed anything popping up on me on Joystiq or even any ads that are animated and I use no adblocks besides the normal popup blocker (and on Chrome the popup blocker just hides them, doesn't actually block them)
Zertoss @ Oct 28th 2008 3:17PM
I'd be happy to view ads too if they weren't riddled with malware and made as annoying as possible.
Haggard @ Oct 28th 2008 3:28PM
It's weird, I only get UK ones except the University of Phoenix one.
vidGuy @ Oct 28th 2008 3:56PM
Wow, you guys missed the point. It's not a pop-up, but a disturbing embedded ad. I'm not bothered by having ads, just thought the content was humorous. Here's the ad:
Hand on the left
Hand on the right
Hands pull on dollar bill, which has a circle in the center that gets stretch.
It should bring up a horrible image for you.
Zertoss @ Oct 28th 2008 4:06PM
What, Goatse? Meh, I've seen worse.
syrik zero @ Oct 28th 2008 1:34PM
Duck Tales the movie was the best movie ever (at least when I was a child)
xFenixKnightx @ Oct 28th 2008 1:35PM
Agreed.
Burritoclock @ Oct 28th 2008 1:48PM
Double Double Agreed Agreed
NoHitHair @ Oct 28th 2008 2:38PM
80s and 90s cartoons were the best ever.
Though there are still some good ones nowadays. Fairly Odd Parents is extremely clever.
Atomicwaist @ Oct 28th 2008 1:36PM
So math time anyone? Let's say that Blizzard receives only $8/month per subscriber (since different territories handle it differently). That is approximately $88 million/month just in subscription fees. That is, at least in my opinion, on the low side of the spectrum. Alas, I can not wait until Wrath to reactivate my account and contribute my paltry sum to the mix. And honestly, all I want them to do with that cash is give me Lost Vikings please.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 28th 2008 1:36PM
Damn did Blizzard buy Activision or Vice versa?
Cephas @ Oct 28th 2008 2:34PM
It was a merge. Both companies were huge and profitable and neither one was in any position to buy the other outright.
Anam @ Oct 28th 2008 4:07PM
Actually, it was Vivendi and Activision that merged. Blizzard is owned by Vivendi.
Erluti @ Oct 28th 2008 1:37PM
How dare they sit on a throne of Bald Eagle Skulls!
Erluti @ Oct 28th 2008 1:40PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skkM2zPFPy0
Marty @ Oct 28th 2008 1:39PM
So let's see... 11,000,000 x $14 x 12 months = $1,848,000,000 a year (gross).
You've got to account for all their employees, servers, etc, but holy hell, that is still a shit-load of money.
Noshino @ Oct 28th 2008 1:46PM
uh, don't they also have to buy the game?...
Marty @ Oct 28th 2008 1:50PM
Of course they do. But they also have other games on the market, which I did not include. I just thought $1.8 billion was a lot for monthly fees only.
Bam! @ Oct 28th 2008 2:14PM
I doubt those are active. I think it means subscribers total. So if you ever played warcraft, you're in that number.
Jeff @ Oct 28th 2008 2:54PM
Maybe they are counting people like me who signed up for the trail and then trashed the game in 3 days?
JerJerBinks @ Oct 28th 2008 4:23PM
The single biggest expense for any MMO is the power bill. It is hard to fathom how much it costs to power and cool a datacenter full of servers.
Rich @ Oct 28th 2008 1:44PM
It's actually 10 million subscribers, and 1 million zombies
/braaains
Will @ Oct 28th 2008 1:53PM
I don't see why you're separating WoW subscribers and zombies into two separate categories?
Jakka @ Oct 28th 2008 3:05PM
Exactly.
It's more like 4M Subscribers,2M Zombies and 5M of grey area in between.
AwesomeTown @ Oct 28th 2008 1:47PM
Life is like a hurricane, here in... Azeroth.
Burritoclock @ Oct 28th 2008 1:49PM
Nice to see my Avatar molested.
xFenixKnightx @ Oct 28th 2008 1:58PM
Did you actually have that up b4 this post?
+1111 for you!
Dante G @ Oct 28th 2008 2:04PM
Could that extra million come from multiboxers? I think so.
Chase @ Oct 28th 2008 2:05PM
Blathering blatherskite!
Andy @ Oct 28th 2008 2:34PM
That Duck Tales game (the box art in the pic) was the BEST!! I remember playing that thing for hours! What is the name of the game again??
xFenixKnightx @ Oct 28th 2008 2:38PM
Cant...stop...nostalgia...too...strong...too...joyus!!!
Blazur @ Oct 28th 2008 2:37PM
I'm surprised Google hasn't offered to purchased WoW from Blizzard yet.
F1 @ Oct 28th 2008 2:53PM
I'm suprised that they havn't merged yet. The sheer power behind the three could easily take over the southern half of Rhode Island (the north is controlled by Sony. Also Bungie and Microsoft own the moon)!
Noshino @ Oct 28th 2008 3:10PM
Unfortunately, they are too busy merging with Apple
Danny @ Nov 10th 2008 11:43PM
Omg don't say that! If google buys blizzard all i can sense is a game being ruined
BLee @ Oct 28th 2008 3:10PM
I always worried that jumping into a pool of coins would kill you..
Blazur @ Oct 28th 2008 3:18PM
Doing a head-on dive would likely lead to broken fingers or arms, while a belly flow or swan dive could very well shatter some ribs.
After careful analysis, a pencil dive would be deemed the safest approach when jumping into a pile of gold coins.
Cubfan786 @ Oct 28th 2008 3:28PM
And Blazur you would know how???
Any gold coins tucked away in your mansion??
Draco @ Oct 28th 2008 4:20PM
Yep, dangerous game jumping into a pile of gold. its best not to do it at all, or at the very least submerge the coins in some sort of fluid, it would have to be a heavy fluid though, possibly murcury, but then again murcury would probably kill you lol.
Blazur @ Oct 28th 2008 4:56PM
@Cubfan786
I'm working my way up. Right now I've got a pool full of pennies, but eventually I hope to earn enough to fill that poll full of gold coins. Gotta start small and dream big, I always say...
AwesomeTown @ Oct 28th 2008 3:40PM
I'm a simple guy. All I need is a giant sea of balls.
Atomicwaist @ Oct 28th 2008 4:28PM
Agreed, nothing beats a pit-o-balls ^_^
Writhes @ Oct 28th 2008 4:45PM
If bliz has so much money I wonder where it is going. It sure isn't apparent in their games. You'd think WoW would have 3 times what it has now with the huge budget it probably has.
Blazur @ Oct 28th 2008 5:10PM
Seriously dude. Have you SEEN how SC2 and/or Diablo 3 are developing? Also, in addition to these two games, AND the latest WoW expansion...there's also at least one unannounced game they're working on.
So in short, 2 blockbuster sequels, one expansion pack to WoW, and plenty of support needed to maintain their WoW community via ongoing content is enough for them to spend their money on.
Mike @ Oct 28th 2008 6:01PM
Take this with a grain of salt. So many people bought 2nd accounts to do the 3x xp promotion.