Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| reply to Immer
Re: WoW Loses 100k Subscribers, Subscriber Decline Slows I didn't see this thread when I posted the below in a new thread. Sorry about that.
In the confrence call thay made it well known that subs for WOW were at 10.2 million. This would be only a 100K loss from the previous quarter. So is this good news?
I looked at the revenue numbers and pulled up previous quarters. On a GAAP deferred basis here are the results:
Q2 11.1 million and $359 million in revenue.
Q3 10.3 million and $336 million in revenue.
Q4 10.2 million and $268 million in revenue.
The non-deferred number show only $250 million in revenue. (Non-deferred is actually better than deferred numbers when trying to tie current subs to revenue).
So there was a hugh drop in revenue yet subs only went down by 100K. What this means is that subs were swapped from west to east (China). That could explain why there was only a net loss of 100k subs but a hugh revenue loss.
And since these were Q4 (12/31) numbers it doesn't yet take into consideration SWTOR. |
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 NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
·Comcast
 ·Callcentric
| reply to Immer
I don't understand why people have a hard-on for subscriber numbers. It doesn't matter if 10 million people play the game or 1 million. If your server is populated, the game is updated, and you like the game, subscriber numbers don't matter. It also doesn't matter if WoW drops from 10 million subscribers to 9 million. Thats still a very large population.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | said by Nightfall:I don't understand why people have a hard-on for subscriber numbers. It doesn't matter if 10 million people play the game or 1 million. If your server is populated, the game is updated, and you like the game, subscriber numbers don't matter. It also doesn't matter if WoW drops from 10 million subscribers to 9 million. Thats still a very large population.
this is so true. And WoW is still very profitable even considering its outbound costs.
Sure they might get down to needing one fleet of dump trucks for the money but really WoW is likely going to remain a steady income source for another few years.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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| reply to Kearnstd
said by Kearnstd:Wow has been that car that does not die for Blizzard. sure its not always the best and sometimes it has problems but the owner got their money worth on it years ago. but id say investors should be happy about the return on investment. the game cost over 100mil to initially develop, and in subs alone has raked in billions.
Where did you get this number from? Not saying you're wrong (although 100 million dollars sounds a little high to me). I've just never heard anything about wow's development one way or the other.
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Brawnx - 85 Human Warrior - Hydraxis |
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 ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to nickdres
said by nickdres:50 million active users on b.net but only 10 million WoW accounts?
That is a LOT of Starcraft players.
Hey, Korea isn't *that* small. |
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ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| reply to margaf77
said by margaf77:I think its due to terrible customer service and a very lackluster tier of raiding in 4.3.
I'd rather have WoW's "crappy" customer service, than get banned from Star Wars for playing the auction house.
Honestly, many people haven't been around long enough in MMORPGs to recognize legitimately bad customer service. |
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 GorkOu812ic
join:2001-10-06
Bountiful, UT | reply to Nightfall
said by Nightfall:I don't understand why people have a hard-on for subscriber numbers. Because more subscribers equals more money.
My plan is to take that subscriber number down by two very soon. |
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NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI Reviews:
·Site5.com
·Comcast
·Callcentric
| said by Gork:said by Nightfall:I don't understand why people have a hard-on for subscriber numbers. Because more subscribers equals more money. My plan is to take that subscriber number down by two very soon. Uh, more money for the company, but not for the person paying. So as I said before, why the hard on over subscriber number if you are consumer? Unless its a popularity contest, I just don't see the point.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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GorkOu812ic
join:2001-10-06
Bountiful, UT | said by Nightfall:but not for the person paying. So as I said before, why the hard on over subscriber number if you are consumer? "Uh," you didn't say anything about your comment being geared toward the consumer in your first post. And it's not just more money for the company, but also for the shareholder. A company that moves around a billion dollars a year is kind of a big deal. Some people may be looking at a picture bigger than just playing a silly game. |
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| reply to Pollux7777
»online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142···news_wsj |
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 The0_o
join:2011-06-15
Silver Spring, MD | reply to Thaler
said by Thaler:....... than get banned from Star Wars for playing the auction house..... What?!?
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"There is no good. No Evil. No Light. There is only PIE" |
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NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI Reviews:
·Site5.com
·Comcast
·Callcentric
| reply to Gork
said by Gork:said by Nightfall:but not for the person paying. So as I said before, why the hard on over subscriber number if you are consumer? "Uh," you didn't say anything about your comment being geared toward the consumer in your first post. And it's not just more money for the company, but also for the shareholder. A company that moves around a billion dollars a year is kind of a big deal. Some people may be looking at a picture bigger than just playing a silly game. If you take a look at various forums, subscriber numbers are the end all be all for most gamers. Seems that if a game doesn't have millions of subs, then the game is a failure to some. Some MMOs that are very good have failed because they don't have millions of subs. I could understand it if it was common for gamers to invest, but that just isn't the issue. You and I both know that the common gamer cares a lot about subscriber numbers, so I ask why is it important if the game is healthy, adds content, and the server has great population? Doesn't matter if 100,000 people are playing on one server and that is all the subs the MMO has.
So far, I haven't seen a single relevant answer from anyone on this. I figure it has to be a popularity contest.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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| said by Nightfall:said by Gork:said by Nightfall:but not for the person paying. So as I said before, why the hard on over subscriber number if you are consumer? "Uh," you didn't say anything about your comment being geared toward the consumer in your first post. And it's not just more money for the company, but also for the shareholder. A company that moves around a billion dollars a year is kind of a big deal. Some people may be looking at a picture bigger than just playing a silly game. If you take a look at various forums, subscriber numbers are the end all be all for most gamers. Seems that if a game doesn't have millions of subs, then the game is a failure to some. Some MMOs that are very good have failed because they don't have millions of subs. I could understand it if it was common for gamers to invest, but that just isn't the issue. You and I both know that the common gamer cares a lot about subscriber numbers, so I ask why is it important if the game is healthy, adds content, and the server has great population? Doesn't matter if 100,000 people are playing on one server and that is all the subs the MMO has. So far, I haven't seen a single relevant answer from anyone on this. I figure it has to be a popularity contest. Probably the appeal to popularity.
"Since my MMO has the most subs, it's the best. Anything else if failure." |
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NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI Reviews:
·Site5.com
·Comcast
·Callcentric
| said by Slydermv:Probably the appeal to popularity.
"Since my MMO has the most subs, it's the best. Anything else if failure."
Yup, my thoughts exactly.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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 ImmerAspiring GentlemanPremium
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA
kudos:3
·Comcast
| said by Nightfall:said by Slydermv:Probably the appeal to popularity.
"Since my MMO has the most subs, it's the best. Anything else if failure."
Yup, my thoughts exactly. it's one of the few realms where gamers can demonstrate their personal popularity. You know, the ones that aren't captain of the [insert sport] team, dating [insert hotty], or have their names in the local paper.
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Immergruen (resto/kitty) on Nathrezim Server (US)
Guild leader for Pride and Ego
"You never truly know someone... until you fight them"
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Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to Nightfall
said by Nightfall:So far, I haven't seen a single relevant answer from anyone on this. I figure it has to be a popularity contest.
Subscriber numbers translate into revenues. They also give an indication on which way the revenues will be heading. And revenues translate into stock price. Stock price indicates the health of the company.
And of course revenues means better developers and more money for the next project. Not to mention things like customer service, patches, expansions etc etc.
So hopefully you understand why subscriber numbers matter now. |
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 saillawPremium
join:2007-05-08
Houston, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to Nightfall
I think people always want to know if they are part of something growing or slowly dieing. Subscriber numbers is the most convenient (only?) way to judge that.
It also can translate into how much developer time we will get to implement all the cool wish list changes and new content we dream of. |
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| reply to Goodmongo
said by Goodmongo:said by Nightfall:So far, I haven't seen a single relevant answer from anyone on this. I figure it has to be a popularity contest.
Subscriber numbers translate into revenues. They also give an indication on which way the revenues will be heading. And revenues translate into stock price. Stock price indicates the health of the company. And of course revenues means better developers and more money for the next project. Not to mention things like customer service, patches, expansions etc etc. So hopefully you understand why subscriber numbers matter now. I really do not think Blizz will magically hire more people if they get more money. I really doubt that they will change their costomer service quality. "our numbers are going up, why should we change our CS around?" Posters here are right, who really cares if it goes up or down a 100k or two outside of popularity? That would matter more on an investment forum. |
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| No its more like "Our revenues are going down. Fire some people." That is a very common corporate practice. |
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ImmerAspiring GentlemanPremium
join:2010-01-07
Evans, GA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Comcast
| said by Goodmongo:No its more like "Our revenues are going down. Fire some people." That is a very common corporate practice.
but not if the decrease is decreasing. The numbers still look stable for the most part. People being fired now are probably being fired for other reasons, not just "downsizing"... not that any of those people would admit it. |
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