After a surprising recovery last holiday season on the back of the Warlords of Draenor expabsion, which saw subscriber numbers spike to 10 million after years of decline, World of Warcraft seems to have suffered from a mass player exodus in the last quarter again. In their latest earnings report, Activision Blizzard confirmed that the subscriber count for the decade old MMO is edging back down, and is currently at 7.1 million.
Based on precedence, however, it seems like Activision Blizzard expected the fall. The game, they note, remains the top P2P MMORPG in the world, which is indeed impressive when one considers just how old it is.
“As expected and consistent with our experience following prior expansions, we saw a decline in the World of Warcraft subscriber number,” Activision Blizzard said. “Subscribers ended the quarter at 7.1 million. World of Warcraft’s revenue performance at constant FX has been more stable, driven by continued strong uptake on value added services, and price increases in select regions, which partially offset subscriber declines, particularly in the East. World of Warcraft remains the No. 1 subscription-based MMORPG in the world.”
Whether or not the numbers see a spike again this holiday season remains to be seen. At the very least, it is a safe assumption that there will be a temporary uptake when the next installment for the MMO releases.