Even after all these years World of Warcraft remains the true titan of the MMORPG scene. Countless challengers have stepped into the ring with Blizzard’s mighty beast and they have all fallen. Over the years ‘WoW-killers’ have been and gone, most barely denting World of Warcraft’s stupendously huge subscriber count.
Recently however, time has begun to take its toll on the old giant. WoW’s subscriber count has been intermittently falling for a few years now. At its peak over 12 million people were subscribed; which is frankly a stupidly large number. It should also be remembered that although that number is now nearly halved, WoW still has a huge number of subscribers. At 6.8 million, World of Warcraft has more subscribers than some countries have population.
Blizzard have taken a very sober stance to the drop in subscribers. In an interview with MCV, World of Warcraft lead game designer Tom Chilton expressed doubts on whether the popular MMORPG would ever relive its glory days. “We really don’t know if it will grow again,” said Chilton. “It is possible, but I wouldn’t say it’s something that we expect. Our goal is to make the most compelling content we can.” He added: “By building expansions, you are effectively building up barriers to people coming back. But by including the level 90 character with this expansion, it gives people the opportunity to jump right into the new content.”
Whilst Chilton clearly expresses doubts about the chances of reaching the heady heights of WoW’s past, it is evident he thinks that Warlords of Draenor may encourage some subscribers to return. Certainly the prospect of being able to instantly access the new content with a level 90 character may be tempting but newer players, or even those who have only missed out on one or two expansions, may feel like they are missing out on a good percentage of the game. Warlords of Draenor’s storyline shows a clear focus towards the ‘old’ Warcraft and it is perhaps that Blizzard are using this in combination with the option to start from Level 90 to gently let fans forget about Pandaria.
Whatever Blizzard’s goals, the facts are clear. Blizzard will be looking to kick-start subscriber growth with their new expansion. Is it possible? Or is World of Warcraft’s reign of dominance entering its twilight years?
You can follow Edd on Twitter: @The_Eddpire
