World of Warcraft subscriptions have long been on the decline, with the most recent report indicating that over two million players had jumped ship in the last year or so. Now, Blizzard has released another report, this one indicating that while player loss has slowed, it certainly hasn?t stopped.
The company is reporting a loss of over 100,000 subscribers in the last quarter of 2011. It?s not too much when you compare it to the ten million active players still enjoying WoW, but any player loss is going to cause concern at the upper levels of the development studio.
Blizzard has been on the offensive, trying to slow losses as much as possible. They?ve offered an annual pass for the game with a discounted rate and free copy of Diablo III. They also dropped a massive content patch just weeks after announcing the next big expansion, Mists of Pandaria. If this is what it takes to keep people in the game, it?s doubtful that Blizzard can continue to keep up.
We?ll have to see where the game goes in the future. Responses to Mists of Pandaria have been lukewarm at best, but there?s always a chance things can turn around once the game gets closer to release.
Do you still play WoW? Have you ever? What do you think the future holds for the world?s largest paid MMO?