World of Warcraft Drops Three Million Subscribers

One of the big headlines this week that caught my eye had to do with the recent announcement that World of Warcraft has lost 3 million subscribers since the release of the latest expansion "Warlords of Draenor."  3 million subscriptions may sound like a lot, but even with this hit WoW still commands an impressive 7 million players.  7 million people are playing a game that is ten years old!  So while this news of WoW casting off players might have an "the end is nigh" feeling, it's really not the end.  Millions of people are continuing to play WoW despite it's age.  This fact is extremely impressive.

My own experiences with WoW are probably similar to some of the 3 million players who quit.  I played WoW  religiously for years, but would usually find myself losing interest.  I would cancel my subscription and tell myself this was it for WoW.  Then some new expansion would be announced, I would renew my subscription, fall in love for awhile and then eventually get bored again.  WoW isn't a boring game...it just seems to have cycles that hit it at certain points in the year.  When people are trapped inside during the winter months they are content to pour their hours into the game.  Typically when the weather gets better people lose interest.  It's a seasonal thing I've always noticed about WoW.

I can't help but to be impressed at the fact that WoW has been around for ten years.  Blizzard are masters at making a game that can get stale into something new and exciting.  Each new expansions slaps a shiny, new coat of paint on a classic.  New classes, new races, new zones, new raids, new features--but underneath it's still the same thing.  I think for a lot of players this just isn't enough any more.  I wonder about how much longer WoW will be around.  Five more years?  Ten?  I think the next move will be to go free-to-play...but we'll see.