World of Warcraft claims 11.5 million souls of the faithful
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Expansions, MMO industry, Humor
The Blizzard Overlord sits upon his World of Warcraft throne, in the grand chamber atop his black tower, the tallest and most ominous structure in all the land. He closes his eyes, projecting his senses outwards, as his gaze sweeps over the conquered MMO world. All he can see before him -- stretching past the horizon -- is his. But still, he feels his influence expanding beyond those present borders, claiming yet more of the territory of his rivals, as his senses return to his surroundings. He reaches out into the air before him, envisioning the entire MMO world within his grasp, held delicately in the palm of his hand. He envisions its millions of quests, scores of guilds, and oceans of gold. The Overlord makes a fist, savoring the thought of absolute control. Yes, there's been a shift in power, and the arrival of his minion by his side confirms it.
Blizzard Overlord: My power grows... I can feel it! It surges through me! *smashes table needlessly* Minion! What has changed?
Minion: Sir, millions more have come into our grasp through the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. World of Warcraft reigns supreme, my lord.
Blizzard Overlord: How many? How many more souls have I claimed?
Minion: Gamesindustry.biz reports that 11.5 million subscribers have been claimed by World of Warcraft, boosted by over 4 million copies of Wrath of the Lich King sold to date.
Blizzard Overlord: 2.8 million copies of Wrath sold in one day. ONE DAY! And now this. I am unassailable... the world is truly mine.
Minion: It is indeed, my lord. The World of Warcraft Battle Chests continue to sell as well, as confirmed by GameStop. Our sales exceed even last year's performance.
The Blizzard Overlord laughs maniacally, heady with the newfound power flowing into him. Waves of energy ripple outwards, felt throughout the MMO world, as the Blizzard Overlord continues his ascension to godhood.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jack said on 7:39PM 12-23-2008
Go Blizzard! No one did make anything like it!! Oh wait.... some people did.... Well no one got the marketing like your guys....OH $%%& thats not true also some mmo even have better marketing..... Ok well I give up...
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Tasogare said on 11:29AM 12-24-2008
You know that's funny because I've never met anyone that played WoW that wasn't satisfied with it. And I'll definitly say WotLK is 100 times better than WAR is, out of the over 100 something people that were in the guild I jumped to WAR with...none of them stayed. Go go faulty analogies.
Jack said on 7:38PM 12-24-2008
I do love WoW as well Warhammer can not even hold a hammer against it!
Bam! said on 8:20PM 12-23-2008
I've always been confused by this number. Is this current subscribers or anyone whose every played? Does this include trials?
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Wispur said on 9:03PM 12-23-2008
Blizzard has said it is active, paying accounts only and does not include trials.
Mr. Pickles said on 10:51PM 12-23-2008
Well, it is possible that it could include trials as well to beef up that number. Just think about it, they recently did a "10 free days of WotLK if you have a previous WoW+TBC account" thingy to increase sales. It is possible that they count those as "active accounts" because they technically are old accounts reactivated for the 10 days to try WotLK....would not put it past Blizzard to count it as such either.
BTW: Warhammer Online may not have the millions of subscribers, but it sure does have the quality content.
WoW=McDonalds...millions served, few satisfied
WAR=TGIFridays...get drunk, party with friends, and all around satisfaction.
EVE=Sushi restaurant...watch the food slowly cooked infront of you and turn into a awsome dish.
All other MMOs=Taco Bell, Burgerking, and whatever other junk out there.
The Claw said on 7:19PM 12-24-2008
"Well, it is possible that it could include trials as well to beef up that number."
Mr.Pickles, you are an idiot.
If you'd just READ the damn press release, it spells out in excruciating detail what exactly is counted in the 11.5 million subscriptions. Here's a hint: it's not trials.
LotroME said on 9:32PM 12-23-2008
The sad part of this..is that any true new MMO innovation dies because of this. Everyone rushes to a game that is overtly a child's game it is so easy to level up and does nothing to excite new developments in an old genre.
The stagnant pool just got a little more murkier.
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NekoAli said on 10:38PM 12-23-2008
No no, really guys tell us. Just how sour are those grapes?
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Isc said on 10:42PM 12-23-2008
Not even slightly true for several reasons:
1:) Trying to rip off WoW and compete directly with it is doomed to failure, this is obvious. What this means is that developer's realise the best way to compete is to appeal to those not playing WoW or unhappy with it. End result is games that arent like WoW.
2:) The market size is at least 20 times the size of what it was before wow came out. Even if the majority will likely only play wow the potential of getting larger subscriber numbers than what would have been possible before wow attracts larger investments and interest from outside developers and publishers.
3:) If your game cant exceed subscriber numbers that would have been reasonable when only 1 million mmoer's existed in a market that exceeds 20 million then your game is just terrible, sorry.
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Tony said on 10:45PM 12-23-2008
Eh, I don't enjoy WoW, but once someone makes a compelling title that appeals to the masses and does what it does well WoW will start coming down. I may love different games, but apparently many people think WoW does those things better... I'm not about to insult their intelligence over it.
Honestly, leveling up in WoW is probably the biggest drag for me so I don't think easy leveling up is all there is to it. Even if it's just because all of their friends are on it, that's a compelling enough reason. It's a big part so many people buy Wiis or use Facebook, regardless of them being good or bad products/services. I don't think that's inherently bad.
On the flipside, if no MMORPG ever did this well than I'm sure many companies would say "why bother?" and we'd be in a similar situation. Why innovate in a market where there's clearly a relatively low cap on the userbase? WoW may be a fluke in a sales sense, but I think the fact that it exists creates a lot of interest in trying to match its success on some level.
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Nadril said on 11:52PM 12-23-2008
@ Mr Pickles:
Funny enough WoW is so much more polished and has so much more content than WAR currently does. The end game in WAR is a joke right now, and it's too laggy to even do anything at fortress sieges.
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Fess said on 11:59PM 12-23-2008
[quote]BTW: Warhammer Online may not have the millions of subscribers, but it sure does have the quality content.
WoW=McDonalds...millions served, few satisfied
WAR=TGIFridays...get drunk, party with friends, and all around satisfaction.[/quote]
Quality content? You mean lethargic PVP in mindless zergfest scenarios? Or keep battles that crash the server as though Mythic never actually thought people would stick around long enough to want what was promised?
But sure, I can play along with analogies. WAR is like TGIFridays, except you find out the food is frozen, pre-packaged from a factory, poorly prepared, and completely misrepresented from what's shown on the menu. Then, 9 out of your 10 friends get food poisoning, get frustrated by the failed expectations of the meal, and with no way to speak directly to the chef, swear to never eat in the place again.
Sound about right?
The only thing I can't shoehorn into this little scenario is the rabid, frothing fans of the IP, that are so blinded by their love of the Warhammer universe that they turn a blind eye to every glaring and show-stopping flaw in the game and will lambast anyone with a differing opinion at every chance they get.
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Jack said on 7:48PM 12-24-2008
LOL but so true!! But sure, WAR is junk the game they marketed did show great content for the most part for both PVP and PVE PQ where marketed like a dream come true. But what we did get was noting like what was on the menu I never was able to play pass my first month that btw was a hell to play like the servers where more down them up.
Anyway I understand there are fan boys that thing they got what they wanted and well uh good luck to your guys.
However you can say anything you want about blizzard but the content of WOTLK is great I love the storyline chain quest style, new rep system and even did enjoy playing deathknight and believe it or not but I did enjoy some pvp (what most of the time I hate).
Derek said on 5:22AM 12-24-2008
They now have 11,499,999 players because I just canceled my account.
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Jeni said on 9:15AM 12-24-2008
Oh well. I bought two friends full battle chests and 60 day subscription cards for Christmas since they are absolutely in love with the 10 day trial I sent them last week. ^__^ We'll make up for your one canceled.
Both have heard all the untrue negatives about WoW and never actually played. However, their switch from Lotro to War gave them a bad taste. When I offered them trials, they both jumped at the chance and only have rave reviews for it.
WoW's not for everyone, but I've always loved it. Wrath is just icing. It's beautiful, polished, the quests are so much fun!!!
Derek said on 9:38AM 12-24-2008
Don't get me wrong, WoW was a great game. I was in a raiding guild and we cleared all the old world content as well as all but Sunwell in BC, but my job now prevents me from playing during our raid time - so rather than look for a guild, I just quit, since no guild can take the place of mine IMO.
WoW, while a bit dated in the GFX department, is extremely polished and well programmed. I wish you and your friends many more happy years in Azeroth.
ArrA said on 9:34AM 12-24-2008
Well.... millions of sheep eat grass. I don't plan on tucking into a bowl of it any time soon.
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derella said on 11:19AM 12-24-2008
I'd rather eat grass like than rest of the sheep, than eat feces just to be different.
Joe Six Pack said on 10:38AM 12-24-2008
Obviously the angry mob is wrong, drink the Kool-aid. Drink the Kool-aid. Just admit they did something oh so right and move on.
Which is worse playing or mindlessly moaning every time a blog post about the game comes up. The PVP is lousy, the end game is too easy, it's a grind......
LOL
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