Warcraft slows client hemorrhage to 150,000 a month

Once upon a time, Warcraft was the most valuable gaming IP in the real world. But the days when people flocked to pay per month online are gone and it's now a game of ‘How can we reduce the level of loss?'.  

Back on 9th May 2013, Forbes reported that Blizzard had lost around 1.3 million subscribers in Q1.

Word in to KitGuru today says that the current rate of bleed out is closer to 150,000 a month – which would be 450,000 a quarter.

If you were measuring Blizzard's success by the rate at which decline was being slowed, then a drop in ‘lost customers' from 1.3 million a quarter to just 450,000 would be a huge success.

But shareholders probably prefer increased customer bases and more money/profit.

So what do the players themselves want?

KitGuru is not about to interview 8 million people, so we did the next best thing and spoke to a kid we know who plays WoW a lot. We asked him what the problem is and why so many people are leaving.

His comment was pretty clear, “It used to be all about the game play, but that has changed. You can see it clearly when you go to the Blizzard store. Right now, they have 3 helmets on sale that do nothing but change your appearance. They don't add any abilities or improve your chances of success with a quest, they just let you pimp your character's look. There's lots of stuff like that. Stuff that is aimed directly at noobs and idiots to try and attract them in. It's all about transmogrification. It's just retarded”.

.
KitGuru says: Whatever the reasons, one thing is for sure, the decline is on-going. When you factor in the changes in Titan that were reported by KitGuru earlier today – it seems that Blizzard's golden revenue days are over, but can they adapt and survive?

Comment below, in the KitGuru forums or join us online over at Facebook.

Become a Patron!