World of Warcraft Subscriptions Down to Just 9.1 Million

[Shawn Zipay]

Yes, World of Warcraft is down to just 9.1 million subscribers. Why is this still a significant figure to mention? Well, at last check, the MMORPG was at about 10.2 million subscribers. The game has bled away over 1.1 million paid subscriptions since December of 2011.

At a typical subscription rate of $15 per month per person, that is a considerable loss in cash flow for Activision Blizzard. However, despite this rather drastic decrease in player numbers, Activision Blizzard had a strong quarter and have raised their yearly projections thanks to strong sales from Diablo III and Skylanders.

"Second-quarter sales, excluding changes in deferred revenue, rose 51 percent to $1.05 billion and beat the $837 million average of 19 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Total revenue fell 6.2 percent to $1.08 billion. The company’s “World of Warcraft” multiplayer online game lost 1.1 million subscribers in the period, finishing at 9.1 million."

Perhaps the upcoming release of the Mists of Pandaria expansion will draw some of those players back to the game.

(via Business Week)