World of Warcraft Revenue Dropped 54% in 7 Months
Blizzards really needs an in-game store to boost revenue.
On August 1, Activision Blizzard said in its second quarter financial results that World of Warcraft had approximately 7.7 million subscribers. Before that, the company said it had more than 8 million subscribers in the first quarter, and more than 9.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. More than 10 million subscribers still clung to the MMORPG in the third quarter of 2012.
On a financial level, SuperData Research reports that World of Warcraft revenue tanked in a span of seven months, with the MMORPG generating $204 million in September 2012 to $93 million in April 2013. The firm claims that a lack of micro-transactions beyond pets and mounts may be hurting business, especially when players can jump ship and spend their cash on a larger assortment of items in competing free-to-play games.
"Games with micro-transactions have long been trumping subscription ones in total revenues in the US, but the decision to switch to a hybrid or F2P model was one that didn't make sense for all games, one of them, currently, being WoW," the firm states. "With a dedicated player base and relatively stable Monthly Active Users (MAUs), WoW would need a convergence of factors to make the switch beneficial. It looks like those factors are starting to stack up, but haven't hit critical mass."
Once an MMORPG switches over to a free-to-play model, there's an influx of new players and a spike in revenues. This can be sustained if the developer/publisher has the proper setup to keep players engaged with the game enough to willingly play money. But World of Warcraft can't suddenly switch over to a sole F2P model; it would be too much of a jolt, the firm said, and doesn't make sense with the current metrics.
"Despite major declines in total revenues between September 2012 and April 2013, the game has seen an increasing conversion rate for the current, add-on, extra-game store, and its micro-transaction revenues have held pat overall," the firm states. "What it tells us is that dedicated WoW players are interested in—and will spend money on—micro-transactions. By bringing this system into the game, and allowing for power-ups and performance-based micro-transactions, WoW hopes to further entice players to spend."
Back in July, Blizzard confirmed that it's already working on an in-game store for the MMORPG. Right now the project is in the exploration process, and will initially be tested with new items that Blizzard plans to introduce in the Asian regions. These items include an experience buff to assist with the leveling process and an alternate way to acquire Lesser Charms of Good Fortune. Blizzard will be seeking feedback on these specific items and about what the company will ultimately stock on the in-game store's shelves.
Could this in-game store open the door to a hybrid subscription model already used in competing games? While subscribers would get the full, premium experience, free-to-play gamers could still experience the world beyond the limits of the "demo" by purchasing what they want in addition to the cost of the game itself. This model would help increase revenue and bring in more players who were previously turned off by the subscription model.
Going completely free-to-play, however, is definitely out of the question. "In order to have sustained the US revenues the game saw in 2011, it would have had to convert 53 percent of the total free-to-play audience in the US at the time," the firm states. "However, there are now more F2P gamers in the country—and worldwide—so it's becoming easier to capture this audience. But there's also more competition."
To read the full report, head here.

Firstly is that the game has been going for 10 years. There is that level of fatigue that has settled in. No matter how much extra you add WoW is still WoW. After Wrath of the Lich King I've been waiting patiently to no avail for Warcraft 4 to return to its RTS roots to create a new story of Horde vs Alliance action to set the stage for a WoW2 maybe years later. This has not yet happened and I've grown distant from the Warcraft universe.
The Second is perhaps not just F2P but I prefer my pay once model and play the game with micro transactions never imbalancing the game. I compare every MMO that is released to Guild Wars 2. The prospect of paying once for a game and enjoying it as long as the servers run is just something that can't be ignored. I don't know how the game makes its money but the amount of updates the game receives is nothing short of breathtaking.
If WoW maintains a 3 million sub base they still have no problems. But the game needs a break and overhaul before we can come back to a fresh WoW experience.
What I don't like are F2P games like LOTRO. You have to spend hours researching the store so you don't waste money.
Those of us paying subscription fees in WoW do NOT want "F2P" elements mucking with the game. They are already dropping players every quarter, I suspect the addition of micro-transactions that effect game play will cause them to lose more at a faster rate. They would have to be betting that the new players would more than replace those of us that left.
Way to go blizzard!
Firstly is that the game has been going for 10 years. There is that level of fatigue that has settled in. No matter how much extra you add WoW is still WoW. After Wrath of the Lich King I've been waiting patiently to no avail for Warcraft 4 to return to its RTS roots to create a new story of Horde vs Alliance action to set the stage for a WoW2 maybe years later. This has not yet happened and I've grown distant from the Warcraft universe.
The Second is perhaps not just F2P but I prefer my pay once model and play the game with micro transactions never imbalancing the game. I compare every MMO that is released to Guild Wars 2. The prospect of paying once for a game and enjoying it as long as the servers run is just something that can't be ignored. I don't know how the game makes its money but the amount of updates the game receives is nothing short of breathtaking.
If WoW maintains a 3 million sub base they still have no problems. But the game needs a break and overhaul before we can come back to a fresh WoW experience.
Blizz better get Titan sorted out, and actually pay attention to how different WoW is from the newer MMOs.
WoW was a great game, until they dumbed it down so much. At this point I am not sure how a lot of costumes could influence how many people want to play. Especially considering the graphics compared to FFXIV, GW2, and TERA.
Throwing in Pay-to-Win items would really hack a lot of people off. So I am not sure what micro-transactions would be worth it. Mounts? Skins? More Pokemon?
that is priced correctly
the xp potion is acceptable but unfortunately people think any sort of boost = p2w
I am impressed that WoW is still going strong. After trying out other MMOs I have never thought twice of going back.
I would have been extremely happy if Blizz had brought out WoW 2.0 using UE3, and reworked all the spells etc. and made it more of an action MMO. Same world, different take.
Then again, that is the style they choose ... back in 2004. It is 9 years later. Use that immense amount of lore they have and look at F2P, with lots of customisations through micro-transactions.
I used to be a semi-hardcore player and what turned me off of WoW is how whenever I decided to take a break from it, I usually ended up having to start over. After going through this three times, I decided to give up: as much as I liked hardcore-ish raiding, it didn't feel like it was worth paying over $120/year to maintain an active account all-year-'round to avoid getting kicked out of guilds and the frustration from having to start over wasn't worth the ~$80/year for playing on-and-off.
Another thing that bugs me is paying for access to servers on top of paying for expansions. If MoP came with two months of access included, I probably would have at least tried it.
I don't Play Aion any longer and its around 6 years old, F2P and barely hanging on and the graphics are still superior to WOW's. Its no surprise to me that WOW is sinking and will eventually start scratching for subs. Its outdated and has become a cesspool of Trolls and Elitist who who have an epeen the size of which only Blizzards ego can match. Goodbye WoW.
That's a a very good but but then the Asian kids can't play it on their 7 year old laptops...
I liked Aion as well - great visuals, custom look items, very nice music, and pretty different to L2, but fort sieges would go past at 10fps on numerous occasions. The sheer number of quests keeps things interesting, and it's not that difficult to get the items and experience you require, but it does require a decent measure of working in pick-up-groups... and they're usually not without incident. Additionally, like with L2, there's issues with character balance, but not quite to the same degree in that you feel punished for rolling a support toon.
I paid for two accounts for a good period when I played L2 (£8.99 apiece) then quit and only played the one in Aion. Might revisit either of them in the future (I have since they both went P2P) but I guess that, with MMOs requiring so much time, I may not have the time available.
Never played WoW, never wanted to. L2 players generally saw it as too cartoonish and "carebear".