World of Warcraft Loses 1 Million Subscribers, Still Wildly Popular
Activision Blizzard's mega popular MMORPG isn't called World of Warcrack for no reason, folks. The correct title, of course, is World of Warcraft (WoW), and it's been the leading cause for neglected hygiene for going on eight years. At last count, WoW was home to 9.1 million subscribers, Activision Blizzard revealed in its second quarter financial report.
That's a heck of a lot of subscribers -- enough to maintain the game's rank as the most popular subscription-based MMORPG around -- but it's also 1.1 million lower than the 10.2 million paying players that were roaming Azeroth back in February of this year. Is WoW's run coming to an end?
Probably not anytime soon, even if the drop in subscribers is much more steep than the decline from 10.3 million in September 2011 to 10.2 million in February 2012. It's still the world's most popular MMORPG, and it's a cash cow that can easily fund future development and expansions, like the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion slated to launch in September.
On the topic of revenue and profits, Activision Blizzard reported $1.057 billion in revenue for the second quarter, up from its $950 million projection in Q1. Diablo III is a big reason why, posting record breaking sales on the PC platform, with more than 3.5 million units sold via digital and retail combined in its first 24 hours alone.
That's a heck of a lot of subscribers -- enough to maintain the game's rank as the most popular subscription-based MMORPG around -- but it's also 1.1 million lower than the 10.2 million paying players that were roaming Azeroth back in February of this year. Is WoW's run coming to an end?
Probably not anytime soon, even if the drop in subscribers is much more steep than the decline from 10.3 million in September 2011 to 10.2 million in February 2012. It's still the world's most popular MMORPG, and it's a cash cow that can easily fund future development and expansions, like the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion slated to launch in September.
On the topic of revenue and profits, Activision Blizzard reported $1.057 billion in revenue for the second quarter, up from its $950 million projection in Q1. Diablo III is a big reason why, posting record breaking sales on the PC platform, with more than 3.5 million units sold via digital and retail combined in its first 24 hours alone.
