We need to stop trying to bring down Acti-Blizzard, because regardless of their current size, they are one of the biggest company that have many Popular IP.
D3 , regardless of what people said, they earned huge profits from that game, it is not an subscription game, therefore every single player that bought the box already generated profits for Blizzard.
Starcraft , another popular IP, that once the second game comes out, another huge profit storm for Blizzard. And again, its not an subscription based game, therefore they only need to sell boxs.
WOW, this game is already just generating Pure Profits for Blizzard, after years of having over 10 million subscriptions, even if they lose 10 million of subscriptions and only have 100k of subscriptions it will still generate profit for the company. Unlike other MMO's that exists, it has already generated more than the initial production costs and overheads. Most likely from their first 3 years of dominance.
Thats just the 3 most popular IP that Blizzard have, Activision also have other IP that generates them profit.
I am a very excited fan for GW2 and I want GW2 to do very very well, but still I understand that WOW will never fail, not in the traditional sense when compared to other MMO's. Because it no longer have to earn back its production costs or overhead charges after all these years of millions of subscription. It probably have enough extra surplus funds to create 10 SWTOR. And still won't make a dent.
Profits do not equal quality; just because a game sells well does not mean its worth playing.
If WOW loses 10 million subs they will have -0.9 million subs. Just like SWTOR's baseline for profit is 500k, WOW also has a baseline for profit; if they go below that, then WOW would no longer be sustainable.
Yellow: sorry Lucioon, that is simply not true. All things come and go; one day, WOW will shut down, just like Tabula Rasa did; though I doubt they will end in the same disatrous fashion. I'm not saying WOW is failing, that would be ridiculous; what I am saying though is that it is impossible for a game to last forever... even GW2 will not last forever :-(
Blue: WOW is very expensive to maintain, and as the subs keep decreasing, it will become harder and harder to maintain; even Blizzard admitted this. As to the "extra surplus funds", WOW's profit is being used to keep Blizzard affloat; in other words, WOW doesn't get to keep all of its profit, Blizzard as a whole is tapping into WOW's profit in order to fund other aspects, parts and segments of Blizzard. And please don't assume that all 9.1 million subs are all paying $15 per month, cause only approx 3-4 million are; the other 5-6 million in Asia (mainly China) are paying hourly.
We need to stop trying to bring down Acti-Blizzard, because regardless of their current size, they are one of the biggest company that have many Popular IP.
D3 , regardless of what people said, they earned huge profits from that game, it is not an subscription game, therefore every single player that bought the box already generated profits for Blizzard.
Starcraft , another popular IP, that once the second game comes out, another huge profit storm for Blizzard. And again, its not an subscription based game, therefore they only need to sell boxs.
WOW, this game is already just generating Pure Profits for Blizzard, after years of having over 10 million subscriptions, even if they lose 10 million of subscriptions and only have 100k of subscriptions it will still generate profit for the company. Unlike other MMO's that exists, it has already generated more than the initial production costs and overheads. Most likely from their first 3 years of dominance.
Thats just the 3 most popular IP that Blizzard have, Activision also have other IP that generates them profit.
I am a very excited fan for GW2 and I want GW2 to do very very well, but still I understand that WOW will never fail, not in the traditional sense when compared to other MMO's. Because it no longer have to earn back its production costs or overhead charges after all these years of millions of subscription. It probably have enough extra surplus funds to create 10 SWTOR. And still won't make a dent.
Profits do not equal quality; just because a game sells well does not mean its worth playing.
If WOW loses 10 million subs they will have -0.9 million subs. Just like SWTOR's baseline for profit is 500k, WOW also has a baseline for profit; if they go below that, then WOW would no longer be sustainable.
Yellow: sorry Lucioon, that is simply not true. All things come and go; one day, WOW will shut down, just like Tabula Rasa did; though I doubt they will end in the same disatrous fashion. I'm not saying WOW is failing, that would be ridiculous; what I am saying though is that it is impossible for a game to last forever... even GW2 will not last forever :-(
Blue: WOW is very expensive to maintain, and as the subs keep decreasing, it will become harder and harder to maintain; even Blizzard admitted this. As to the "extra surplus funds", WOW's profit is being used to keep Blizzard affloat; in other words, WOW doesn't get to keep all of its profit, Blizzard as a whole is tapping into WOW's profit in order to fund other aspects, parts and segments of Blizzard. And please don't assume that all 9.1 million subs are all paying $15 per month, cause only approx 3-4 million are; the other 5-6 million in Asia (mainly China) are paying hourly.
You are assuming that WOW is the only profit generating Game available for Blizzard to take funds for.
Thats why i suggested that you look at their other IP, Diablo 3, althought many have negative reactions to it, its still wildly popular, being just an B2P game, regardless of Quality, it has already generated profit for Blizzard, Starcraft is another wildly popular game that has its own channel in Korea and other asian countries.
WOW will not fail, will it close down, sure, eventually it will close down, but it wouldn't have considered as an failure, with the profits that it has already generated, it will always be considered the Only MMO that took the world by storm, that every single country in the would that has Internet knows what the hell WOW is.
Technology has changed, and unless WOW have an make over to the new graphics, and processing power, their operating cost is stil the same when they had the largest number of subscription. Like you said, their subscriptions have been declining, therefore the costs to maintain WOW has also been decreased, its not like they suddenly decided to upgrade every single server and update all the graphics and have an entire overhaul of WOW.
For MMO's to succeed, their first 5 years is the most important, with steady growth, they will recover all their investments and overhead costs. But for WOW, their growth wasn't steady, it was RAPID, and they stayed there for a long time.
Thats why I was stating that, regardless of what happens to WOW, its really not that big a deal.
Comparing to the costs of production when WOW was made, and compared to SWTOR, I don't have the exact numbers, but this is what was stated on the NET. "From looking at research of the amount of people who have purchased this game, the total subscription, average cost of equipment and amount of employers they have it shows that they make nearly a 50% profit, which most of it is not spent" not sure if its correct, but this is what other MMO companies dream of.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
You guys are missing the point on this one. We all know Panda is going to be a success in the Asian market, which is where the maajority of their player base comes from now.
Now is the time to buy stock. It is about $11, and wont move much until after xpac. When the sub numbers skyrocket due to Asia, the quarterly profit report will be way up and so will the stock prices. Follow that with a first quarter 2013 announcement of Titan and I think you can make a killing if you invest now.
You are assuming that WOW is the only profit generating Game available for Blizzard to take funds for.
Thats why i suggested that you look at their other IP, Diablo 3, althought many have negative reactions to it, its still wildly popular, being just an B2P game, regardless of Quality, it has already generated profit for Blizzard, Starcraft is another wildly popular game that has its own channel in Korea and other asian countries.
WOW will not fail, will it close down, sure, eventually it will close down, but it wouldn't have considered as an failure, with the profits that it has already generated, it will always be considered the Only MMO that took the world by storm, that every single country in the would that has Internet knows what the hell WOW is.
Technology has changed, and unless WOW have an make over to the new graphics, and processing power, their operating cost is stil the same when they had the largest number of subscription. Like you said, their subscriptions have been declining, therefore the costs to maintain WOW has also been decreased, its not like they suddenly decided to upgrade every single server and update all the graphics and have an entire overhaul of WOW.
For MMO's to succeed, their first 5 years is the most important, with steady growth, they will recover all their investments and overhead costs. But for WOW, their growth wasn't steady, it was RAPID, and they stayed there for a long time.
Thats why I was stating that, regardless of what happens to WOW, its really not that big a deal.
Comparing to the costs of production when WOW was made, and compared to SWTOR, I don't have the exact numbers, but this is what was stated on the NET. "From looking at research of the amount of people who have purchased this game, the total subscription, average cost of equipment and amount of employers they have it shows that they make nearly a 50% profit, which most of it is not spent" not sure if its correct, but this is what other MMO companies dream of.
Yellow: I'm not assuming wow is the only profit generating IP by Blizzard, thing is, that WOW composes the vast majority of Blizzard's total profit; in other words, Blizzard is too heavily depending on one game, and that is a dangerous move (never put all your eggs into one basket).
Red: Blizzard's other IP's do bring profit, but like you pointed out, they tend to be one-time injections and though they do bring profit, Blizzard is still heavily depending on their cash-cow (basket with most eggs) WOW.
Blue: As to what will be the main cause/reason for the "downfall" of WOW, no one knows... yet. To say that WOW cannot fail is somewhat of a grey issue; so far WOW has not failed, it has actually been the best selling game of all time (If I'm not mistaken). I would argue that though it is very unlikely, WOW can still fail. Don't be too quick to say that WOW will always be considered the only mmo to have taken the world by storm; though some say the world ends on December 21st of this year, I think we still have plenty of time for bigger and better games in the near/mid/distant future. Don't assume we've seen it all when it comes to mmos.
Green: Their costs have increased, just like everything increases from the basic rate of inflation. Blizzard has improved WOW, updated their graphics and made a lot of improvements to the game. Please don't assume that as subs drop so does the cost, just like if subs go up it doesn't necessarily mean that costs go up as well; there are thresholds to be met on both cases. A drop from 12 million subs to 9.1 million subs is sure to have gotten a few people fired, in order to level the balance sheets; nothing to the degree of SWTOR though. Thing is, just like SWTOR has a baseline for profit (500k subs), with the sheer size of WOW, I'm sure their baseline is much larger. Considering that Blizzard heavily depends on the profits from WOW, it also increasees the baseline for profit; in other words, Blizzard can't afford for WOW to make less than x profit, even though it stil may make profit below that x mark.
White: True, but with a rise in subs also comes a rise in costs.
Orange: I think losing 1.1 million subs in 3 months is a big deal! Considering Blizzard's delicate situation and WOW's position as the most important cash-cow for Blizzard, I would say more than ever the smallest of things do indeed matter
Purple: Sounds more like speculation than anything else. Though 9.1 million subs is a dream for any mmo :-)
my prediction is that once Titan goes live WoW will go full on f2p with an item shop. it will be an attempt, and probably a successful one, to grab bored gamers for a short spike in attention.
"There are at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play." Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
You guys are missing the point on this one. We all know Panda is going to be a success in the Asian market, which is where the maajority of their player base comes from now.
Now is the time to buy stock. It is about $11, and wont move much until after xpac. When the sub numbers skyrocket due to Asia, the quarterly profit report will be way up and so will the stock prices. Follow that with a first quarter 2013 announcement of Titan and I think you can make a killing if you invest now.
I am unsure if anyone actually knows this, but Blizzard do get a cut from the TV shows devoted to Starcraft in Asia. And its one of the most profit generating show in Korea. I was in Korea airport and there is 3 starcraft shows on.
In Taiwan, there is even an 1 hour event on Starcraft Tournaments, and many celebrity also plays. I believe a female Taiwanese Actress is the current #1 female player.
You might think Blizzard have all their eggs in their basket, but thats only because WOW is the most recognized IP, but I think Starcraft is more popular than WOW, just because it has International Tournaments and Minor Competitions all over the place.
It might even be more Popular than DOTA.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
I am unsure if anyone actually knows this, but Blizzard do get a cut from the TV shows devoted to Starcraft in Asia. And its one of the most profit generating show in Korea. I was in Korea airport and there is 3 starcraft shows on.
In Taiwan, there is even an 1 hour event on Starcraft Tournaments, and many celebrity also plays. I believe a female Taiwanese Actress is the current #1 female player.
You might think Blizzard have all their eggs in their basket, but thats only because WOW is the most recognized IP, but I think Starcraft is more popular than WOW, just because it has International Tournaments and Minor Competitions all over the place.
It might even be more Popular than DOTA.
So... because you saw starcraft tv shows in Korea and starcraft tournaments in Taiwan, it is more popular and more profitable than WOW? If you have figures, graphs, or articles I think that would be a bit more reliable. Not hating, just saying bro :-)
BTW, I had no idea there were starcraft tv shows... going to check it out online!
I'm just suprised WOW is still as strong as it is. In any case, that's why they're developing Titan, another flagship to replace the falling WOW revenue.
I am unsure if anyone actually knows this, but Blizzard do get a cut from the TV shows devoted to Starcraft in Asia. And its one of the most profit generating show in Korea. I was in Korea airport and there is 3 starcraft shows on.
In Taiwan, there is even an 1 hour event on Starcraft Tournaments, and many celebrity also plays. I believe a female Taiwanese Actress is the current #1 female player.
You might think Blizzard have all their eggs in their basket, but thats only because WOW is the most recognized IP, but I think Starcraft is more popular than WOW, just because it has International Tournaments and Minor Competitions all over the place.
It might even be more Popular than DOTA.
So... because you saw starcraft tv shows in Korea and starcraft tournaments in Taiwan, it is more popular and more profitable than WOW? If you have figures, graphs, or articles I think that would be a bit more reliable. Not hating, just saying bro :-)
BTW, I had no idea there were starcraft tv shows... going to check it out online!
yeah, they have Korea Starcraft Celebrities and its always a packed stadium and the show is like spectator mode with commentators. I think its considered as an Sport in Korea.
Unfortunately I don't have any charts, or know where to get the charts, but I was just mentioning that Starcraft is very very popular, so don't count Starcraft out as an Profit Generating stream.
WOW is an Well known Profit Generating Juggernut, but Starcraft isn't bad either.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
yeah, they have Korea Starcraft Celebrities and its always a packed stadium and the show is like spectator mode with commentators. I think its considered as an Sport in Korea.
Unfortunately I don't have any charts, or know where to get the charts, but I was just mentioning that Starcraft is very very popular, so don't count Starcraft out as an Profit Generating stream.
WOW is an Well known Profit Generating Juggernut, but Starcraft isn't bad either.
Damn! That's quite the following for Starcraft!
I also don't know where to look in regards to how Starcraft and WOW compare with each other. And yes, I agree with you, though WOW is a huge fat cash-cow, I have no doubts that Starcraft can hold its own when it comes to making money.
SC2 doesn't generate monthly subs and it is past it in terms of box sales. Blizzard are very dependent on having about 12 million people logging into Battle.net regularly. If they don't have those numebers anymore, and it looks like they don't, then they will have to down-size and reduce costs.
Originally posted by Illyssia SC2 doesn't generate monthly subs and it is past it in terms of box sales. Blizzard are very dependent on having about 12 million people logging into Battle.net regularly. If they don't have those numebers anymore, and it looks like they don't, then they will have to down-size and reduce costs.
If they cannot reverse the negative trend then yes, they will have to down-size and reduce costs. WOW is already F2P to lvl 20, I wonder how long it will be before they increase that or make the whole game F2P (or B2P)... time will tell.
You guys are missing the point on this one. We all know Panda is going to be a success in the Asian market, which is where the maajority of their player base comes from now.
Now is the time to buy stock. It is about $11, and wont move much until after xpac. When the sub numbers skyrocket due to Asia, the quarterly profit report will be way up and so will the stock prices. Follow that with a first quarter 2013 announcement of Titan and I think you can make a killing if you invest now.
Originally posted by Prenho I want to see the decline of WoW, and after this, maybe there is some hope for the MMO industry, lost in single player/multiplayer games, and maybe they start developing MMOs again.
I think the days of big sub games are over. If you are talking about business, Blizz should focus on things like D3 (expansion & future games). It sold like 10M ... very impressive.
MMOs will be F2P from now on.
Personally I shall be very cautious about buying an ARPG from blizzard, I had fun for a bit with D3 but it is fundamentally flawed. I wonder if Bliz still have the talent tbh, caution on any purchase from them by me actually.
I don't think we are getting al lthe information concerning Blizzard......There has to be a solid reason why Vivendi is considering selling Activision Blizzard....My guess would be taht things are worse than they are saying and they are trying to get what they can while they can.....I dont know if they have a bad feeling about this next expansion or what, but something is definitely up.
Originally posted by Theocritus I don't think we are getting al lthe information concerning Blizzard......There has to be a solid reason why Vivendi is considering selling Activision Blizzard....My guess would be taht things are worse than they are saying and they are trying to get what they can while they can.....I dont know if they have a bad feeling about this next expansion or what, but something is definitely up.
True, that could very well be the case, but it is also no secret that Vivendi's other investments (worldwide) aren't doing so well, so... who knows.
Originally posted by Theocritus I don't think we are getting al lthe information concerning Blizzard......There has to be a solid reason why Vivendi is considering selling Activision Blizzard....My guess would be taht things are worse than they are saying and they are trying to get what they can while they can.....I dont know if they have a bad feeling about this next expansion or what, but something is definitely up.
They are seeing a downward trend and want to be left holding the bag.
Originally posted by Theocritus I don't think we are getting al lthe information concerning Blizzard......There has to be a solid reason why Vivendi is considering selling Activision Blizzard....My guess would be taht things are worse than they are saying and they are trying to get what they can while they can.....I dont know if they have a bad feeling about this next expansion or what, but something is definitely up.
Subs from wow are not only a huge part of there revenue they are almost pure profit. They are very vulnerable to a decline in subs, Vivendi and every on else for that matter know that. Did you read the Forbes article? The guys who wrote it have an agenda but leaving aside there guesstimate at decline it is a solid pov.
Originally posted by Theocritus I don't think we are getting al lthe information concerning Blizzard......There has to be a solid reason why Vivendi is considering selling Activision Blizzard....My guess would be taht things are worse than they are saying and they are trying to get what they can while they can.....I dont know if they have a bad feeling about this next expansion or what, but something is definitely up.
Subs from wow are not only a huge part of there revenue they are almost pure profit. They are very vulnerable to a decline in subs, Vivendi and every on else for that matter know that. Did you read the Forbes article? The guys who wrote it have an agenda but leaving aside there guesstimate at decline it is a solid pov.
Agreed. This fall and winter will be fascinating to see what happens with WOW, SWTOR and GW2.
Originally posted by Prenho I want to see the decline of WoW, and after this, maybe there is some hope for the MMO industry, lost in single player/multiplayer games, and maybe they start developing MMOs again.
What if investors see it as the mmorpg industry dying off?
The best thing for the industry and investment is growth.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I love how people think WoW's drop in subs has ANYTHING to do with other games using different payment models. And any of those games are doing well?
WoW is just shy of 8 years old, and the game is nowhere near as good as Vanilla or even TBC era. Its old, and the content since Ulduar (over 3 years ago at this point) has been lackluster.
Show me a game that hasnt lost 25% of its player base in the last 2 years? Only one I can think of is EvE- oh hey, a sub game...
Originally posted by Prenho I want to see the decline of WoW, and after this, maybe there is some hope for the MMO industry, lost in single player/multiplayer games, and maybe they start developing MMOs again.
I think the days of big sub games are over. If you are talking about business, Blizz should focus on things like D3 (expansion & future games). It sold like 10M ... very impressive.
MMOs will be F2P from now on.
Personally I shall be very cautious about buying an ARPG from blizzard, I had fun for a bit with D3 but it is fundamentally flawed. I wonder if Bliz still have the talent tbh, caution on any purchase from them by me actually.
Fundamentally flawed? I already spent more than 200 fun hours in that game. For a $60 box game, that is head and shoulders about almost anything else in the video game industry.
I tried Torchlight, and certainly will try TL2, and other ARPG. None is as much fun as D3 yet.
Comments
Profits do not equal quality; just because a game sells well does not mean its worth playing.
If WOW loses 10 million subs they will have -0.9 million subs. Just like SWTOR's baseline for profit is 500k, WOW also has a baseline for profit; if they go below that, then WOW would no longer be sustainable.
Yellow: sorry Lucioon, that is simply not true. All things come and go; one day, WOW will shut down, just like Tabula Rasa did; though I doubt they will end in the same disatrous fashion. I'm not saying WOW is failing, that would be ridiculous; what I am saying though is that it is impossible for a game to last forever... even GW2 will not last forever :-(
Blue: WOW is very expensive to maintain, and as the subs keep decreasing, it will become harder and harder to maintain; even Blizzard admitted this. As to the "extra surplus funds", WOW's profit is being used to keep Blizzard affloat; in other words, WOW doesn't get to keep all of its profit, Blizzard as a whole is tapping into WOW's profit in order to fund other aspects, parts and segments of Blizzard. And please don't assume that all 9.1 million subs are all paying $15 per month, cause only approx 3-4 million are; the other 5-6 million in Asia (mainly China) are paying hourly.
You are assuming that WOW is the only profit generating Game available for Blizzard to take funds for.
Thats why i suggested that you look at their other IP, Diablo 3, althought many have negative reactions to it, its still wildly popular, being just an B2P game, regardless of Quality, it has already generated profit for Blizzard, Starcraft is another wildly popular game that has its own channel in Korea and other asian countries.
WOW will not fail, will it close down, sure, eventually it will close down, but it wouldn't have considered as an failure, with the profits that it has already generated, it will always be considered the Only MMO that took the world by storm, that every single country in the would that has Internet knows what the hell WOW is.
Technology has changed, and unless WOW have an make over to the new graphics, and processing power, their operating cost is stil the same when they had the largest number of subscription. Like you said, their subscriptions have been declining, therefore the costs to maintain WOW has also been decreased, its not like they suddenly decided to upgrade every single server and update all the graphics and have an entire overhaul of WOW.
For MMO's to succeed, their first 5 years is the most important, with steady growth, they will recover all their investments and overhead costs. But for WOW, their growth wasn't steady, it was RAPID, and they stayed there for a long time.
Thats why I was stating that, regardless of what happens to WOW, its really not that big a deal.
Comparing to the costs of production when WOW was made, and compared to SWTOR, I don't have the exact numbers, but this is what was stated on the NET. "From looking at research of the amount of people who have purchased this game, the total subscription, average cost of equipment and amount of employers they have it shows that they make nearly a 50% profit, which most of it is not spent" not sure if its correct, but this is what other MMO companies dream of.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
You guys are missing the point on this one. We all know Panda is going to be a success in the Asian market, which is where the maajority of their player base comes from now.
Now is the time to buy stock. It is about $11, and wont move much until after xpac. When the sub numbers skyrocket due to Asia, the quarterly profit report will be way up and so will the stock prices. Follow that with a first quarter 2013 announcement of Titan and I think you can make a killing if you invest now.
Yellow: I'm not assuming wow is the only profit generating IP by Blizzard, thing is, that WOW composes the vast majority of Blizzard's total profit; in other words, Blizzard is too heavily depending on one game, and that is a dangerous move (never put all your eggs into one basket).
Red: Blizzard's other IP's do bring profit, but like you pointed out, they tend to be one-time injections and though they do bring profit, Blizzard is still heavily depending on their cash-cow (basket with most eggs) WOW.
Blue: As to what will be the main cause/reason for the "downfall" of WOW, no one knows... yet. To say that WOW cannot fail is somewhat of a grey issue; so far WOW has not failed, it has actually been the best selling game of all time (If I'm not mistaken). I would argue that though it is very unlikely, WOW can still fail. Don't be too quick to say that WOW will always be considered the only mmo to have taken the world by storm; though some say the world ends on December 21st of this year, I think we still have plenty of time for bigger and better games in the near/mid/distant future. Don't assume we've seen it all when it comes to mmos.
Green: Their costs have increased, just like everything increases from the basic rate of inflation. Blizzard has improved WOW, updated their graphics and made a lot of improvements to the game. Please don't assume that as subs drop so does the cost, just like if subs go up it doesn't necessarily mean that costs go up as well; there are thresholds to be met on both cases. A drop from 12 million subs to 9.1 million subs is sure to have gotten a few people fired, in order to level the balance sheets; nothing to the degree of SWTOR though. Thing is, just like SWTOR has a baseline for profit (500k subs), with the sheer size of WOW, I'm sure their baseline is much larger. Considering that Blizzard heavily depends on the profits from WOW, it also increasees the baseline for profit; in other words, Blizzard can't afford for WOW to make less than x profit, even though it stil may make profit below that x mark.
White: True, but with a rise in subs also comes a rise in costs.
Orange: I think losing 1.1 million subs in 3 months is a big deal! Considering Blizzard's delicate situation and WOW's position as the most important cash-cow for Blizzard, I would say more than ever the smallest of things do indeed matter
Purple: Sounds more like speculation than anything else. Though 9.1 million subs is a dream for any mmo :-)
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
Not a bad idea...
I am unsure if anyone actually knows this, but Blizzard do get a cut from the TV shows devoted to Starcraft in Asia. And its one of the most profit generating show in Korea. I was in Korea airport and there is 3 starcraft shows on.
In Taiwan, there is even an 1 hour event on Starcraft Tournaments, and many celebrity also plays. I believe a female Taiwanese Actress is the current #1 female player.
You might think Blizzard have all their eggs in their basket, but thats only because WOW is the most recognized IP, but I think Starcraft is more popular than WOW, just because it has International Tournaments and Minor Competitions all over the place.
It might even be more Popular than DOTA.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
So... because you saw starcraft tv shows in Korea and starcraft tournaments in Taiwan, it is more popular and more profitable than WOW? If you have figures, graphs, or articles I think that would be a bit more reliable. Not hating, just saying bro :-)
BTW, I had no idea there were starcraft tv shows... going to check it out online!
yeah, they have Korea Starcraft Celebrities and its always a packed stadium and the show is like spectator mode with commentators. I think its considered as an Sport in Korea.
Unfortunately I don't have any charts, or know where to get the charts, but I was just mentioning that Starcraft is very very popular, so don't count Starcraft out as an Profit Generating stream.
WOW is an Well known Profit Generating Juggernut, but Starcraft isn't bad either.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Damn! That's quite the following for Starcraft!
I also don't know where to look in regards to how Starcraft and WOW compare with each other. And yes, I agree with you, though WOW is a huge fat cash-cow, I have no doubts that Starcraft can hold its own when it comes to making money.
If they cannot reverse the negative trend then yes, they will have to down-size and reduce costs. WOW is already F2P to lvl 20, I wonder how long it will be before they increase that or make the whole game F2P (or B2P)... time will tell.
Take a look at this for an alternate view. http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/08/02/world-of-warcraft-guild-wars-2-and-vivendi-activisions-achilles-heel/
Personally I shall be very cautious about buying an ARPG from blizzard, I had fun for a bit with D3 but it is fundamentally flawed. I wonder if Bliz still have the talent tbh, caution on any purchase from them by me actually.
True, that could very well be the case, but it is also no secret that Vivendi's other investments (worldwide) aren't doing so well, so... who knows.
They are seeing a downward trend and want to be left holding the bag.
Subs from wow are not only a huge part of there revenue they are almost pure profit. They are very vulnerable to a decline in subs, Vivendi and every on else for that matter know that. Did you read the Forbes article? The guys who wrote it have an agenda but leaving aside there guesstimate at decline it is a solid pov.
Agreed. This fall and winter will be fascinating to see what happens with WOW, SWTOR and GW2.
So $1125 from now
What if investors see it as the mmorpg industry dying off?
The best thing for the industry and investment is growth.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I love how people think WoW's drop in subs has ANYTHING to do with other games using different payment models. And any of those games are doing well?
WoW is just shy of 8 years old, and the game is nowhere near as good as Vanilla or even TBC era. Its old, and the content since Ulduar (over 3 years ago at this point) has been lackluster.
Show me a game that hasnt lost 25% of its player base in the last 2 years? Only one I can think of is EvE- oh hey, a sub game...
Fundamentally flawed? I already spent more than 200 fun hours in that game. For a $60 box game, that is head and shoulders about almost anything else in the video game industry.
I tried Torchlight, and certainly will try TL2, and other ARPG. None is as much fun as D3 yet.