Blizzard Announce Q4 Earnings; WoW Is Dead!

Written by: James Megretton (Twitter @JuhTai - Google+) | February 7, 2013 5:03 pm

Blizzard Announce Q4 Earnings; WoW Is Dead!

116 Comments

Blizzard announces Q4 profits. World of Warcraft Subscriptions have fallen. WoW is Dead!

Well, not quite. But, now that I have your attention, Activision Blizzard has announced its fourth quarter earnings, for the period September – December 2012, and it’s not exactly looking bright for one of the world’s most popular MMORPGs.

Despite announcing “Better than expected” results and a cash flow of $1.3 billion over all of its franchises, World of Warcraft has apparently lost subscribers since the release of Mists of Pandaria. Brace yourselves, folks. Those of a nervous disposition, look away now. The reported number of active subscriptions is now around 9.6 MILLION… With such a dramatic drop since the Q3 announcements the question that has to be asked next is; Is WoW dead?

No, WoW is not dying, and we aren’t even going to try to make you believe otherwise. The report does point out that WoW still remains the #1 MMORPG in the world, despite fierce competition from rivals ArenaNet with Guild Wars 2, that launched just weeks before Mists of Pandaria hit. Of course, the drop off figure isn’t that significant as a percentage of the previous subscriber levels of over 10 million. It’s fairly usual with any game of this nature to see players “drop off” as they hit max level and find themselves with less to do.

The sales for Mists of Pandaria were also fairly pleasing, with around 9-10 million copies sold between release and December 31st, making it the 3rd most popular game in 2012.

Other Games

Some other facts and figures that made it into the call are;

For the calendar year, Blizzard Entertainment had two top-10 PC games in North
America and Europe. Diablo III was the #1 best-selling PC game at retail, breaking
sales records with more than 12 million copies sold worldwide through December
31, 2012
As of December 31, 2012, the Skylanders franchise has generated, life-to-date, more than $1 billion in worldwide sales and through January 2013, Activision has sold more than 100 million Skylanders toys worldwide.
In November 2012, Black Ops II became the first video game ever to cross the $1 billion
mark in 15-days, eclipsing “Avatar’s” 17-day movie record.

So fret not, fans! There is life in Activision Blizzard yet!
For those of a geeky disposition, who might want to check out the earnings for themselves, you can find them here!

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25 comments

Boberton

“other wise”
“arn’t”
“worlds most popular MMORPG’s”
“as its fairly usual”

C’mon, at least *try*. That’s all I ask.
- http://www.facebook.com/xylotism Brooks Rockett
  
  Gamebreaker titles OFFICIALLY DEAD!
  
  No, Gamebreaker is not dying and we aren’t even going to try and make you believe otherwise. The article does point out that the title is a load of crap, despite being from a “for gamers by gamers” news website.
http://openid.aol.com/jpuffer87 Justin Pfeifer

Sadly Diablo 3 sales are based off of a name and since the product fail to deliver there are millions of people who would like nothing more then to get their money back from blizzard.
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  D3 is not my game, so I defer to the GamebreakerTV community on content. But, this means after the disastrous Error 37 launch and the gameplay letdown, the game sold 6 million more copies. wow.
- http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm
  
  Well Torchlight only sold copies cause of what happened at launch for D3 & that game didn’t last long.
  
  Even with the problems in D3 they have fixed up the game very well.
http://www.facebook.com/mat.dabbs Mat Dabbs

Bit of an overdramatic Title, Specially for a pretty standard earnings call.

I know what you meant and I don’t have a problem as such, I’m just not a fan of titles like this.
As for the call? Expected higher, but not to much more, so this isn’t to much of a shock.
I think a lot of people are still returning to.
I know my guild alone has had over 20 people reactivate in the last Month.
Blizz possibly still suffering the cataclysm effects, plus the drop off at 90.
New Raid and next Q should be higher.
vryk

Title:
Blizzard Announce Q4 Earnings; WoW Is Dead!

First sentence of the 3rd paragraph: No, WoW is not dying and we aren’t even going to try and make you believe otherwise.

Are you kidding me? Fuck you.
http://www.facebook.com/dbsodee David Sodee

I left WoW with Mists. Yuck is all I can say. Still looking for a good replacement in mmo but for now I have plenty of single player goodness to complete anyhow.
djsjr

Please stop with the titles…..
http://www.rebelminds.dk Kenneth Jørgensen

Stupid head line, god damn tabloid crap.
Lynx Raven Raide

If it can hold steady at that mark, it will be fine. On the flip side, it means they have lost over 2 million subs since it hit its peak of 12 million around the time of Cataclysm, which does make you wonder a bit
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  Nothing to wonder about, Lich King was a raiders paradise, while Cata turned out to be disjointed content in which development was abandoned after the first year.
  - Lynx Raven Raide
    
    That’s the thing, though, they hit the peak after Cata was released. The fact that the new expansion hasn’t even replaced those numbers, and is heading backwards, actually says something for WoW at the moment. Maybe people have found better alternatives, maybe they feel the sub fee isn’t worth it, but it is slipping backwards. It wont really die, because you will still get a core number sticking with the game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it sheds a few more million
http://twitter.com/AgeNightroad Adrian Lloyd

That title is horribly misleading, most MMO gamers will know it wasn’t true but still…

A drop in WoW subs isn’t too surprising what will all the MMOs that came out last year
- http://www.facebook.com/kirzansix Mike Coulombe
  
  That and the rise of B2P games or F2P games with very little restrictions is slowly killing off sub-based MMOs. I personally still wouldn’t mind paying monthly for a quality product and judging by the amount of people STILL playing and paying for WoW after 7 years, I don’t think I’m alone.
  - http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm
    
    WoW is the only game I would actually pay a sub for honestly. I’m part of that crowd that refuses to pay a sub. I have a feeling Titan could have a sub linked to WoW or both Titan & WoW go B2P to play which I think is the best choice.
    
    Leave in the mirco transactions add a XP Boost & other stuff (Fluff) and your golden. WoW will continue to make money.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=521152493 Kelly Michaels

but, to lose 1.2 million one quarter after an xpac is released is something.
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  Really, selling 9-10 million copies of an expansion is not amazing. I was knocked out of my chair it sold so many copies.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=521152493 Kelly Michaels
    
    Defend it all you want, as you are one of its sheeple, but it lost 1.2 mill after xpac release, none of the previous dropped that many after just one quarter. Even Cataclysm didn’t drop as many after its first quarter.
    - http://www.facebook.com/kirzansix Mike Coulombe
      
      In an increasingly F2P world evolving towards B2P where new subscription based releases barely hit 100k subs, I’d say even if WoW loses 5 million subs, it’s still pretty darn healthy.
      - http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm
        
        No other sub bases MMO is even above 350k I think, I’m not sure were Swtor is. GW2 don’t count they have 0 subs .
      - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
        
        I’m guessing EVE Online is now in second place with 400k~ subs. Not sure where Rift is, last number I heard was 200k subs. But the SL expansion should have helped.
    - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
      
      Not sure where you are getting your numbers from. Prior to the xpac they had 10 million subs (they said over, but not by how much.)
      During the earnings call they reported subs of 9.6 million and xpac sales of between 9 to 10 million.
      
      Like I posted before, they must have lost subs from former players with annual passes that finally expired, players who didn’t purchase the expansion and players with a second account for the recruit a friend bonus.
      
      I’m really shocked they sold so many copies of Mists and keep so many people subscribed.
      
      Personally, I think some of the players that returned for Mists after unsubbing at the start of Cata, will probably unsub again in a few months. My guild has a significant number of players that only sub for between four to six months out of the year.
    - http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm
      
      They lost 400k from 10 Million
http://about.me/davip David Jacaré

stupid misleading text. you lost all your credibility gamebreaker. fuck you.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka

The lack of senses of humor in here is impressive.
http://twitter.com/cipero Matt Cipriano

aw shucks now we are only 18x larger than swtor
Jeremy Keat

Eh, don’t like Activision. People can cry all they want about EA, Activision is equal or worse- they just haven’t given money and demands to as many developers. They instead milk out stale IPs, don’t encourage any innovation and just play off of the good will (popularity) of the name, dumbed down the FPS genre and MMORPG genre. Luckily 2013 looks promising for new MMORPGs and some viable FPSs truly unique, which have been my favorite genres next to strategy and adventure/story-based games.

This is just an example of a (gradually occurring) corporate takeover of a passionate growing industry, in an unjust economy so I really don’t hate the company just the trends- and the corporate structure.
- Eric Davenport
  
  Haters gonna hate.
http://www.facebook.com/rammur65 Roger Means

just because it make more money and has more subs dont quite make it #1 imo sure money wise yeah but its not #1 not by a far imo just a opinion to and that is it.
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  Sorry, this is not about your personal opinion. You can’t just wish a game away because you want to.
http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

Lol, Mists of Pandaria sold 9-10 million copies and Gamebreaker is saying it’s dead. Another MMO sells 3.5 million copies (which I praise them for and cheer them on) and GamebreakerTV is doing back-flips during the shows.

Does Gamebreaker actually play the games they report on? The statement “ it’s fairly usual with any game of this nature to see players “drop off” as they hit max level and find themselves with less to do.” You are kidding right, do you even play this game. Actually, I’ve heard more complaints that there is too much to do at max level. I’ve had to counsel several of my guildies that they don’t have to run all the dailies. All you have to do it run heroics hit the gear ilevels and raid. Do the dailies you enjoy, or not do them at all.

A few months back some of the hosts on this channel were predicting the subs would drop to 6 million because of the end of the annual pass, multi boxers who finished with the leveling bonuses and players who stop raiding at the end of Cata.

Personally, I think the subs are going to cycle during the year, I’m seeing more players who stay sub for between 4 to 6 months out of year, with a core raid team that says sub for the entire year.

I know Gamebreaker producers and hosts hate World of Warcraft, but this article is just plain sad and disappointing.
- http://twitter.com/cipero Matt Cipriano
  
  I think you are taking the title way out of context..they obviously made a joke toward all of the people who say this after every earnings report.
  - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
    
    Sorry, they are using sarcasm to hide their ambivalence. You hear it all the time from the staff and producers. They use sarcasm harshly and contemptuously for destructive purposes.
- http://www.facebook.com/benoit.chalifoux Benoit Chalifoux
  
  i think u dont get what sarcasm his.its all over the place. like jasmine on facebook with her post that was hilarious.
- http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm
  
  Well when you get paid to promote games what do you expect!.
  
  But I can see there using sarcasm here, but it isn’t put in the best way.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8118690 Jinhoo Park

I just unsubbed from GameBreaker on Facebook because of this fucking stupid title created just to get views. Gary wtf you can do better
- http://profile.yahoo.com/3E2LHOMCZC3WKNS2O343WYOUUQ Darren
  
  Your response was far worse
totaltitan

Do we really need the tabloid headlines? Sad.
http://www.facebook.com/joseph.fiol Joseph Giovanni Fiol

I so hate gimmicky misleading titles.
totaltitan

Also, losing more PAYING players than Guild Wars 2 has Free players IN TOTAL isn’t in any way dead.
InvaderMig

Wow, the derp is strong with the commeters on this one. Seriously, guys get over yourselves. It was very obvious reading the title that it was just a joke, and if you actually thought otherwise, slap yourself in the face repeatedly until either your hand or face lose feeling.
- totaltitan
  
  No one took it literally, it’s just an ass move because they need clicks. You’re naive if you think otherwise.
  - InvaderMig
    
    Oh please, the second I read the title I assumed they must have lost subs. As you know WoW losing more subs than most MMO’s have is the indication that it’s about to die. It was a joke, plain and simple. People are so sensitive about nothing.
    - http://www.facebook.com/kirzansix Mike Coulombe
      
      No it’s actually a journalism tactic. Grabby titles do attract views. It’s exactly like thumbnails with boobs on YouTube when the video is just some derpy derpington talking about stuff you don’t give a shit about.
      
      You may be smart enough to consider it a “joke”, a lot of people just get in there and believe anything before rationally thinking about it. A trap for the bold, if you will.
      
      Of course WoW isn’t dead. Even if it goes down to, like, 2 millions, it’s not dead. You don’t lose 6-7 million subs overnight, and yesterday had no such news. Some people just don’t think like that.
http://twitter.com/cipero Matt Cipriano

I think everyone who is taking the title literally needs to relax, it’s obviously a tongue in cheek reference to the doomsayers that wow forums such as mmo-champion, here, and even the official forums have plenty of.
Matthew Decaro

WoW has lost subscribers since the expansion’s release!? This is a new trend?!?
http://www.facebook.com/benoit.chalifoux Benoit Chalifoux

lol that funny.
MissBegotten

Sad Panda…. LOL….

World of Dailies took a hit. Gotta say, I am not surprised, considering there are a lot of newly F2P games that are worth looking into instead of grinding tirelessly over and over and over… The rep grinds behind other rep grinds are getting annoying when trying to gear up alts. I know this should change in the patch… but it is tough to focus when you’re doing the 6th toon through GL.

Also, that Tera grind isn’t looking so bad now… and since its F2P now… may be rather nice to see what my warrior is like again.
Revanhavoc

I love the extreme titles at Gamebreaker it reminds me old school news paper headlines with Gary as the dude on the street corner yelling, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”
Alex Handy

This title is on par with some of the ridiculousness at Huffington Post and Fox. If you’re trying to be tongue-in-cheek, make an attempt at subtlety. I understand the article fully, but practices like this are a surefire way to get people to stop taking you seriously. Just because alarmist headlines generate more traffic does not mean it’s a good practice. If you expect people to take this site as a legitimate gaming news outlet, act like it.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tye-Roberts/100000970848311 Tye Roberts

Any and all WoW population news is irrelevant and pointless. The joke is starting to wear off guys…
http://www.facebook.com/andrew.lambrecht.7 Andrew Lambrecht

So what the hell is taking Activision so long to put back up the guitar hero world tour free update that lets me actually use the downloadable content I paid for in warriors of rock? Hey Activision, can I at least have my money back since I can’t use the content I paid for?!?
http://www.facebook.com/kirzansix Mike Coulombe

“So fret not, fans!”

You started it…
Xanakis

I am offended by this…
- http://twitter.com/Hagg3r Michael
  
  You have no sense of humor.
http://twitter.com/Hagg3r Michael

This does not normally happen after an expansion hits so quickly. I believe the first time it started to happen was Cataclysm and that was in the 2nd quarter. The simple truth is that every quarter from this point all the way until the next expansion they will continue to lose subs. This is bad news for Blizzard as regardless of them still making alot of money, they will be making substantially less money soon enough. I expect those losses to only grow significantly as we get close to 2014 with all the new MMOs coming out.

WoW won’t ever die, but i expect before Titan comes out they will be sitting at somewhere betwen 3-4m.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Christopher-Mantia/558237378 Christopher Mantia

sensationalism?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=707400307 Nathen McHugh

really, you proclaim WoW is dead because of a subscription decline? If you’re trying to be a viable venue for gaming news you are indeed doing a very poor job Gamebreaker, allowing your ‘journalists’ to post misguiding titles in their articles.
- http://www.facebook.com/inkogni.alex Inkogni Alex
  
  its getting people to read the article by using a strange/silly name for it.
  don’t be mad, you are one of those people that clicked it
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka
    
    I think “read” is a bit strong.
- http://www.facebook.com/djlanders020 Dave Landers
  
  This is why I hate people…
- InvaderMig
  
  If you actually believed wow is dead then you are a fool plain and simple. It’s a play on all the doom and gloom people out there that claim any little drop in subs are the end of wow as we know it. Jesus christ, all you people talking all this nonsense about the title need to get a grip and stop being so angry because you are too gullible to know the difference between a joke and reality. There are far too many people in this comment section that lack any semblance of common sense.
Fabio Pizzini

Trolling so you can have people read your magazine? Ah ah ah ah are you italians?
http://www.facebook.com/oneniisama Bear Powell

Don’t worry… The numbers are going to take a much larger dive as the upcoming quarter marks the end of the dominant amount of Annual subs and MoP early adopters.
http://twitter.com/Luke_Malcolm Luke Malcolm

I actually read the article even if it is put in a negative light. I found this in the article. “No, WoW is not dying, and we aren’t even going to try to make you believe otherwise. ”
scottsummer

Sensationalism are dated.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_37KO2WEG76QC3ZXFU7Y4DDB3LQ Pay Perveiw

I actually activated my two accounts in January. MoP is a fantastic expansion but I think Cataclysm made folks sceptical
- http://www.facebook.com/inkogni.alex Inkogni Alex
  
  yup, now im skeptical for any EA or Blizzard product after D3 fail. Before buying something ( other than HotS ) i will check friends and internet reviews for the first week or so
  - Xeridian
    
    Finally, the lost gamers are starting to think on their own again… Bravo!
http://twitter.com/Deadalon Deadalon

Ye – WOW is dead for 400K more players this time around. Thats alot of money gone. The real talk should be why that is happening. PPL said MOP was a good expansion and still it has lost more subs in the first 4 months than any previous expansion has.

Sounds to me like the daily grind and LFR are not quite what players are looking for. MOP has little else for the majority of their playerbase when it comes to RPG systems.

Now its time to try to improve. And yet again BLIzzard is doing it totally wrong once again. Super items… will cause alot of loot rage and quitting. Focus on dailies has been lowered but is still way to high for a none social content that is designed to be most efficent for one role.

Server merges ? From 12 mills down to 9.6 so ofc its needed badly. Are BLizzard listening ? No?

BLizzard needs to restructure their game. They also need to make the GUILD key component to the game again. Best way to do that is to offer more friendly normal raids that offer better progress than what we see now. 3% of the playerbase have finished NORMAL mode this tier. It should be around 20-35% now. So obviously BLizzard has yet again overtuned normal content that should be for normal everyday players. But its yet again designed for much more hardcore group that are already aiming for heroic version.

Next tier has alot of bosses. Blizzard’s priority should be to guaranty the normal players that do raid a good solid progression. LFR is not progression. The game needs meaningful content where players get better slowly but are not hitting a wall as early as 2nd or 3rd boss.
http://twitter.com/AisarGaming Aisar

I don’t know what is up with you guys but you really need to stop with the ridiculous articles and just..silly junk like the title of this….thing. Now as for WoW, I am glad to hear they are losing subs. Obviously they are not in trouble though. I quit because I did not like the content in MOP and I am not surprised that many people did not like it as well. I am hoping another MMO comes along soon that topples the giant, I am tired of hearing about it. I played since Open Beta, played for about 8 years, and frankly I don’t want to hear anything about it anymore.

So all in all, good news.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Spears/100000045054762 Joseph Spears
  
  5.2 will put it over 11 million subs. people just hate dailys. fortunate for blizzard that there arent any good MMOs out there
  - http://twitter.com/AisarGaming Aisar
    
    This exactly. We can only hope, /fingers crossed. For now I have been playing Planetside 2 like a maniac and really enjoying it.
  - InvaderMig
    
    I doubt 5.2 will bring over 1.4 million people back, but I certainly could be wrong. The whole reason the numbers went up that high in the first place after the initial sub drop into to 9mil territory, was because MOP was the new hotness with pokemon. I believe that it will go back up, but I don’t know that it will cross that 11mil mark again. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
  - Twenti AfterFor
    
    Apparently you have the IQ of a shoe. WoW is NOT the best MMO out. WoW isn’t even a good MMO. It’s mediocre at best. But it is STUPID easy, I guess that attracts millions of people preferring to be spoon fed.
- InvaderMig
  
  Are you mad like the rest of the fools in the comment section who are too gullible to understand the difference between an obvious joke and reality. It’s obviously a play on the doomsayers claiming the sky is falling and wow is on it’s death bed with any drop in sub numbers. My goodness, if this comment section is any indication of the WoW community, no wonder lots of gamers view them as lower life forms.
  - http://twitter.com/AisarGaming Aisar
    
    Mad? No. Tired of WoW, yes.
    - InvaderMig
      
      I was referring to your comment about GBTV needing to stop with the ridiculous articles with silly titles. I could care less about the game, and if you read my comment it had nothing to do with how I feel about the game, but the purpose behind the title of the article.
      - http://twitter.com/AisarGaming Aisar
        
        Whatever the case may be it’s not funny to begin with. If GB is attempting humor they could try to be fresh and original.
  - totaltitan
    
    There’s only one fool, and you see him in the mirror.
Jamie Stevens

maybe if blizzard stop being money laundering whores they might actually get players to stay?

they charge for expansions and on top of that charge £12 a month to play. expansions should be free to subscribing players and if they learned that more quantity = more money they would lower their monthly subscription. and still make more money because more people would be inclined to pay for it.
- InvaderMig
  
  If sales numbers for MOP were any indication giving expansions away for free would be a moronic move at best from their perspective. Why would you purposefully lose money, it makes no sense at all.
  - Xeridian
    
    No body bought MOP, it had the worst sales of any expansion they’ve released, they don’t have 12mil or 9mil active subs, it’s all BS. They are giving them away in hopes that people resub to play the content. CATA sold less than 5mil, MOP sold less than 4mil, so you think over half of the active users actually didn’t buy the expansions? These numbers are full of lies, inactive accounts and trial memberships that never converted… As Admiral Ackbar would say, “It’s a Trap!”
    - InvaderMig
      
      Most of the active subs for WoW are int he Asian market. And didn’t Korea get the expansion free, or was that the previous expansion?
    - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
      
      They sold between 9-10 million copies of Mists.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Spears/100000045054762 Joseph Spears

MoP is much less Noob friendly than normal, regardless what many think, that’s the only issue, when the game was super easy in wrath it was at 15 million… I have thought of quiting only due to the fact its harder to find good guilds now, but i just keep doing fun things
- InvaderMig
  
  It was at 12 million at it’s peak, but yea. Pfftt, wow lost more subs this quarter than most other mmo’s have playing their game lol.
Xeridian

Blizzard has been lying about their numbers for the past 4 years now…

There is no way there are 9+ million “ACTIVE” subscribers when the newest expansion hasn’t even sold more than 3million copies and the last expansion hasn’t sold more than 5 million, with every expansion it gets less sales numbers because people are leaving and no one is buying it. These numbers are the biggest pile of horsecrap I’ve ever heard, even the CEO admitted to G4TV 2 years ago in an interview that the numbers included inactive subs, they even included trial memberships that never even continued after the trial. Do you think that many active subs would actually NOT buy the latest expansion? I’m sorry, but you’re not gonna get me to believe this crap…
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Hamad-Ali-Al-Jalahma/512893526 Hamad Ali Al-Jalahma
  
  Majority of wow players aren’t max level, and so assuming they well buy each expansion as soon as its out is ridiculous.
- http://www.facebook.com/shawn.chesak Shawn Chesak
  
  …your numbers are contradicted by the above article, which states that the newest expansion sold “ …around 9-10 million copies..”
  
  You will forgive me if I trust their numbers rather than yours.
- Old Ben
  
  They count anyone who logs in at least once a month as an “active subscriber” in China, even though there are no subscriptions in China (players there pay by the minute – approximately 0.125 cents / minute, or 7.5 cents an hour, IIRC).
  
  In other words, looking at the US / EU player base, each represents $15 a month, while the ones in China might represent less than $1 a month.
  
  This is part of the reason why they no longer publish separate East and West subscription numbers (China represented 60% of their player base during WotLK and is likely to be an even bigger chunk these days).
  
  So yeah, the numbers are BS, and designed mainly to impress people who assume the US / EU subscription model is also used in the East, but nearly every company out there fudges its numbers to please shareholders. Welcome to the wonderful world of financial reports.
  
  None of that is very relevant for players; 7 million players in China (even if they play for 16 hours a day) aren’t going to make the game more enjoyable for someone who is on an empty server in the US (or vice-versa).
Xeridian

Oh and lastly, Gamebreaker, I hope you have your legal council at the ready, because this title (especially when shared on twitter) could be considered slander by Blizzard and Activision. Knowing them, they could sue you next!
John Doe

Is it 9.6 milion subs whit the asian market or whitout ? Because in eu i see more then 10 servers where the population at peek times wont be higher then 100 on both factions.
Is it 9.6 milion subs whit the bots that blizz refuses to ban and i understand them they need money from subs.
wow Its a lame excuse of a game imho.
http://twitter.com/olov244 Jason D Williams

i have to laugh at those taking the title literally. wow is dead has been an internet joke for years, why? because wow will prolly never die. QQ more noobs, wow is dead
John Doe

Wait you can sue someone over a title ?
That would be sad.
Chris Martin

This crap reminds me of that Christian religious cult that predicted the end of the world a few years ago. It’s no surprise we are still here. So is WoW. I don’t play WoW anymore. But I don’t want it to die either. However, I am sick to death of the media and naive arse holes in general depicting WoW as the ONLY MMO anyone cares about. It is as though they want it to die! Also comparing WoW to GW2 is really dumb. GW2 does not try to be WoW in any way at all. Almost everything in GW2 is unlike WoW. However, on the flip side.. well do I even need to elaborate? Some WoW fan boys will never understand that the reason WoW survives – is that , just like a religion – it blatantly steals ideas in order to survive (Everquest, Warhammer, Rift, GW.)

How much of the stuff in WoW that people love is simply a bastardization of things stolen from other favourite MMO’s? In essence, the last thing we want is for WoW to die. Because if WoW can’t survive with same content ripped from every other game out there, where does that leave our games?

The only thing I want dead in WoW, is their subscription model. Maybe then Blizz would have a trumpet of their own to blow. Like “Hey folks, you know all that free shit we stole from other mmo’s, well
now it’s F2P.”

The 11th commandment. “Thou shalt keep thy WoW fanboyism to thyself.”
- Daniel Sutton
  
  “Stealing” ideas from other games has been industry practice for a long time. Wow has borrowed numerous ideas throughout it’s history, and was itself a refined clone of Everquest. Many other MMOs have borrowed from WoW in turn. Do you suggest that if a game originates a great idea that would work in WoW, that the developers ignore that idea and refuse to use it, even if it would improve the game?
  
  I also dislike the label “fanboy” as it tends to be used as an ad hominem to shut down any disagreement, in addition to being tautological. Their arguments in favor of their game are invalid,be cause they’re biased I know they’re biased because they’re arguing in favor of their game.
  
  P.S. The spell checker wants me to change “hominem” to “Eminem.”
  - Chris Martin
    
    Congrats on 100% missing the point there “Dictionary Dan”, and instead arguing about how “words offend you!” I’m not here to please you. I’m here to express an opinion, as are you. If you feel butt hurt by that, then by all means feel free express your opinion to the contrary. If you feel offended by the use of a word, well so what? Do you think you are special, that every forum post should not offend you? I won’t pander to anyone’s “special needs” when making a point. If I did that, then that WOULD put a stop to the argument, not by calling out a crowd of “fan boys” as such. I consider myself a “fan boy” to the MMO genre. So, not everyone considers it offensive.
    I think many here already understand the meaning of “fan boy”, but hey thanks for the English lesson!
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka
      
      Speaking of missing the point…
      - Chris Martin
        
        yeah?!
arenasb

I find it rather unbelievable and kind of entertaining the reaction by a lot of the posters here in regards to the title.

Suing gamebreaker over this? Really? I have lost a little faith in people’s ability to critically read and understand the written word from this. I imagine some of you would go absolute ape shit if you read stuff like the Onion or even daily rags like The Sun.
Headdie

This whole “WoW is dead!” is almost becoming like the whole “Primus sucks!” moniker. Those in the know get, and those that don’t just look kinda foolish. It makes me laugh.
Peregrine451

Count me among those that found the misleading title stupid rather than funny.

I expect that kind of nonsense from the National Enquirer. I thought that Gamerbreaker was shooting for more credibility than that. Hey, maybe I was wrong. Maybe you guys really want your site to have the same credibility as the “UFO aliens have Elvis’ love child” rags.
- Krzysztof Kotarba
  
  wow… You don’t get it, it’s a mock of people who will scream all over internet that WoW is dead cos it dropped 1 mil users…
- http://www.facebook.com/tim.whitehead1 Tim Ginger Panda Whitehead
  
  You did? lol
Shadowtalis

Gamebreakers is simply making fun of the people who think WoW will ever really crash and burn.

These people DESERVE to be made fun of.

Here’s the thing. In order to think this is misleading you’d have to honestly believe it was possible to begin with! In which case… You are a moron. You were baited and you swallowed it and now your angry because the site is poking fun at your irrational shrieking.

Or to put it another way, imagine if your favorite News Paper printed the headline “Giant Space Hamster invades Earth!”

Misleading? No. Unless you really believe its possible for space hamsters to invade earth.
- Zohar Gargir
  
  People don’t want WoW to fall. People want Activision to, for ruining one of the best franchises ever. If WoW lives on, and is good again, awesome. I’ll pay my money and I’ll play the game. But as long as the ‘geniuses’ who farted out the Call of Duty franchise are in control, WoW is shit. Slimy, gore-filled shit with sprinkles.
  - Old Ben
    
    The change in WoW’s design team happened before the Activision merger, and Activision has no influence on the design of WoW; Blizzard even operates as a separate financial unit.
    
    Don’t look for scapegoats or magic wands; Blizzard is quite capable of screwing up on its own, and splitting from Activision wouldn’t make any difference to WoW.
Hector Rivera

F2P All the way! lol
http://www.facebook.com/tim.whitehead1 Tim Ginger Panda Whitehead

World of Warcraft has died so many times now (according to nut jobs in the forums) it should be considered the new Lich King!
http://twitter.com/MiZTiiX MiZTiiX

nooooo
Overit

Wait til PearlAbyss’ game Black Desert comes out. WoW will wish it had died with dignity when it had the chance.
Nutzj98

The fact that you used this phrase, “players hit max and find less to do”, discredits your opinion, judgement, and knowledge of the game. It just begins at max level and everybody knows that. Sure some will play out the quests and stop. But most will farm, hunt pets, PVP, raid, roleplay, or the many other amazing things to do. Not defending WoW though because honestly I think it’s dead. Having many toons and several servers, I have never seen it drop off like this. Blizz killed it, literally this time.
Tim

guild wars 2 is not a rival… the game sucks ass compared to WOW
sidjfghn

WOW is dead to me and that is all that matters. I’ve played since release, but MOP is a seriously bad game and I will not pay for this garbage any more.

Blizzard Announce Q4 Earnings; WoW Is Dead!

Blizzard announces Q4 profits. World of Warcraft Subscriptions have fallen. WoW is Dead!

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