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Activision Blizzard revenues down as WoW, CoD contract
- Thread starter Nibel
- Start date
It's not hard to believe if you assume that half of those are in China/South Korea, with everyone else in Europe and North/South America.
I don't see what's so implausible about that number. We've known it since the beginning of August.
It's the same numbers they have provided in the Shareholder Meetings, Why are you saying it's inflated?
I'm sure expansion pack(s) are coming.
Its time for wow to go. It had its run. I wonder how far titan is coming along.
And COD is their own fault. Shouldn't be oversaturating your own franchise like that. I don't see why they need to release a COD game yearly. Put some more time between it and you'll see developers coming up with more original ideas. I like having a few years between my favourite franchise because atleast that way I'll know that there a lot of work has gone in and that they have made significant changes to keep the franchise atleast somewhat fresh.
And COD is their own fault. Shouldn't be oversaturating your own franchise like that. I don't see why they need to release a COD game yearly. Put some more time between it and you'll see developers coming up with more original ideas. I like having a few years between my favourite franchise because atleast that way I'll know that there a lot of work has gone in and that they have made significant changes to keep the franchise atleast somewhat fresh.
Soon™
Are you new to how quarterly earnings reports work? And what would you have done in the days where the number was 12 million?
Because I have seen with my own eyes how empty servers were compared to the past. And it's not a decline of 1/4th, but way more. It could be that the subs in Asia grew a lot while they declined a lot in the west. But wasn't it said before that in China for example they don't actually pay montly for Wow. There is a lot of room to inflate numbers, that's why I'm asking.
anecdotal evidence ftw.
There's no doubt that the Asians subscriber base is substantial, but WoW's base in the west is still sizable. Dead servers existed even when WoW's subs were growing.
Yes I know, and that kind of evidence is all I have. That's why I'm asking.
Maybe you're on a low/medium server where your faction isn't in high numbers? My Stormwind still seems as lively as last year.
After the patch my own "dead" server is crowded across both factions again. More anecdotal evidence doesn't help, but it wouldn't surprise me if a good chunk of the western base just hasn't been logging into the game thanks to the complete dearth of new content. That they could get a million or more back with the expansion's launch seems likely, if not inevitable.
Not terribly surprised about the CoD numbers, since the market for shooters in general finally seems to be contracting again.
Not terribly surprised about the CoD numbers, since the market for shooters in general finally seems to be contracting again.
Well, they have done stuff.
But even if they hadn't, neither has anyone else, and they have the superior game + largest playerbase. GW2 is pretty good though, we'll see if it lasts.
These are the official numbers. Even if just 30-40 percent of your server's population logs in twice as rarely as they did (but retain the subscription), you will feel more "barren" servers, when the subscription numbers stay the same. Count that in.
(Also: With 1.2mill Annual pass users, even if we assume that 50% of this 9 million is Eu/US, and the Annual pass was offered here, that means that around 25% of the EU/US WoW users have got Diablo III at least - and a WoW subscription that is needed for the D3 account, for a few more months at least. So if those play D3 instead...yeah.
Empty servers have more to do with how the game is structured now (ie. less people out in the world due to being able to queue for everything). Plus it's getting towards the end of an expansion, log on day one of MoP and see how it looks..
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Dem hos betta make dat money.
krameriffic
Member
I like this post. It's rare to see someone look at WoW with an objective eye and actually understand the kinds of changes that they have made and why they make the game better than the alternatives. Sometimes reading forum posts about WoW makes you think that you're not playing the same game as everyone else.
Yeah i'm glad about all the changes they keep doing within the game. Changes to the talents, the skills, the classes, the quests, the zones, the dungeons... If 2012 WoW was the same as 2004-2006 WoW, i would have quit years ago.
someguyinahat
Member
As much as gamers would like to hear that, shareholders would probably not.
Hari Seldon
Member
I can't say i'm sad to see these two franchises finally dying off.
Only when referring to Blizzard/Activision is 9m considered dying off.
I'm starting to believe this game doesn't exist. How many years have we been talking about it? 4? 5? Yet, still nothing is known about it. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't even see it in Blizzcon 2013.
Hari Seldon
Member
I won't care, as long as it pushes some new ideas and is not the same fucking thing. Although it is Blizzard so I'm not holding my breath.
Brofist
Member
If it ever comes out since they tore it down numerous times already, just like D3, and we all know how that turned out. The success of GW2 will also cause concern for them, and wouldn't be surprising to hear it's drawn up all over again. Subs are dead. And if, if they have the balls to release a new sub MMO, they will most certainly have a back up model to go F2P on the drop of a hat.
Besides, after what they did to WoW, how SC2 ended up, and the disaster D3, blizzard may not get that free pass ever again, and rightfully so.
It's an MMO, it takes a while to develop. Beyond that they really have no reason to release it while WoW is still going strong (yes, 9m is still strong).
Angry Puppy
Member
WoW just has its usual pre expansion slump.
I know i will be back with many friends for kung fu panda expansion.
dont think it will ever get back to its peak though
I know i will be back with many friends for kung fu panda expansion.
dont think it will ever get back to its peak though
Tallshortman
Member
When people finally get tired of COD bungie will likely be the new hope they stay viable. It's usually a good idea for a company that relies on IPs to diversify and not put all your eggs in a few baskets. It seems like Blizz may end up propping up Activision if Skylanders doesn't become popular enough to replace COD.
Hari Seldon
Member
How many Asian subs = 1 western sub in terms of money? Is it really 6 cents an hour? That is 250 hours per month to equal 1 western sub. That is 8 hours a day every day of a month. I doubt there are many people playing this game that much anymore except for gold farmers.
Success of GW2? It's been out for less than a week, it's clearly doing decent but it's far too early to call it a success. Not to mention it's having issues (full servers, trading post down) that, if it were a Blizzard game, people would be crucifying it for. I'm enjoying it quite a bit though.
Subs aren't dead at all. A bunch of shitty sub MMO's aren't indicative of this. It's indicative that people won't pay for shit. There's still 9m people playing for WoW.
SC2 'ended up' the flagship competitive RTS, which is pretty much exactly what they were trying to make. And Diablo 3 is doing fine with the newest patch, and still has no competition.
Except it still is the same, it's all waiting on timers and hitting buttons in the correct order. Rinse, repeat.
Congratulations, you just described a shit ton of RPGs.
Holy shit 13.7M in the US only? I knew CoD was big, I don't think I realized just what a monster it was. It's insane. WTF. Jesus Christ.
Despite the decline from BlOps 1 my bet would be that Activision was pretty happy with how MW3 turned out, considering what a mess its development had to be. It wouldn't surprised me if BlOps 2 beats BlOps 1 this Fall.
Hari Seldon
Member
According to this guy, Asian subs are 6% of the revenue of warcraft, but make up 50% of the subscribers (in 2009).
So if Blizzard says they have 9 million players, 4.5 million Asian, then those 4.5 million Asian subscribers are worth 270,000 western subscribers. So Warcraft subscription numbers are comparable to a western only MMO with 5 million subscribers.
So if Blizzard says they have 9 million players, 4.5 million Asian, then those 4.5 million Asian subscribers are worth 270,000 western subscribers. So Warcraft subscription numbers are comparable to a western only MMO with 5 million subscribers.
Is there one? I think TOR peaked at 2mil or so and I know 1mil is a big milestone for MMOs.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
"Quick! We must speed up the game even faster even though we're sub-based and that puts us in direct competition with no-sub and F2P games gameplay and time expenditures! It's always backfired on us in the past, but this time it'll work!"
Better than Ghostcrawler does. But then again, I ain't exactly alone in that reguards by this point. Now just what form the resulting nerfs into mundane Gray Goo Balancing take from this, that's something no one can ever say!
Better than Ghostcrawler does. But then again, I ain't exactly alone in that reguards by this point. Now just what form the resulting nerfs into mundane Gray Goo Balancing take from this, that's something no one can ever say!
1. Empty servers have no bearing on how many people are still choosing to keep their $15 per month account active, and that's all that needs to happen for subscriber numbers.
2. Not everyone plays from your time zone or nation.
insane0hflex
Member
Lol so the GCD is 1second across the board now? Goodbye competitive PvP in WoW.
Uh, Deathwing has been around forever.
Fox Mulder
Member
So what does Activision have to drive into the dirt next?
They may luck out as it's at the end of the generation. New consoles traditionally allow publishers to establish some new IPs.
They may luck out as it's at the end of the generation. New consoles traditionally allow publishers to establish some new IPs.