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Blizzard isn't 100% sure why yet but they are losing players at an alarm rate. They have lost more than a million players in just under 6 months. Its averaging that around 200,000 players are leaving a month. And with WoW trying to change things for the worse even more it seems to be going that trend all the more. Here are some of the major reasons players believe wow is losing players.
- Cataclysm had potential but instead of making the game greater it seemed to dumb it down.
- There is nothing new being added but instead wow is trying to add mini games in there. The latest Pokemon expansion is a great example.
- Not many people loved the kung fu panda movie as much as blizzard did.
- Nerfing the entire player base because the numbers are easier on them is not going to gain them any favors.
Take EVE Online as an example of a game doing things correctly. While they did have the annoying CCP scandal of helping BoB back in the day it still is a game where you have risks and rewards. The fear of having your money taken or lossing everything you own makes the game exciting all the time. Blizzard instead of adding a sense of fear to the game have made it even more kid friendly. Keep in mind this game is based on World of Warcraft 1. A very graphic and bloody game if you remember it.
Starting with the bad -- everyone asks to start with the bad news, don't they? -- World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers are much lower than they were this past May. The company reports that subscriptions have dropped from 11.4 million in May to 11.1 million in June to 10.3 million, representing a loss of 10% of the playerbase. These numbers represent the total worldwide, and Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said that most of the losses were suffered in the eastern market. No matter where the losses come from, this continues the downward trend of the title during the past year. Blizzard declined to provide a subscriber forecast for the next quarter.
The good news is that the company has whooped expectations by nearly tripling its profit for the quarter over this time last year. During this past quarter, Activision Blizzard raked in $627 million worth of sales, of which $148 million is pure profit. A majority of the revenue -- 62% -- comes from its digital sales.
The company expects 2012 to be even better, with titles like Diablo III and another Call of Duty in the works. CEO Bobby Kotick is nothing if not confident in the company's future: "I believe our unyielding commitment to excellence and our creative talent around the globe will continue to position Activision Blizzard as the leader in interactive entertainment."