Thanks to the amazing support of our community of players, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has sold more than 4.7 million copies as of its first month of release, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales. Don't all stand in the fire at once! Check out the press release for all the details, and thanks again for playing!

IRVINE, Calif. -- January 10, 2011 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft?: Cataclysm?, the third expansion for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has sold through more than 4.7 million copies as of its first month of release, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales.*

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was simultaneously released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on December 7, and became available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on December 9. With day-one sales topping 3.3 million copies,* World of Warcraft: Cataclysm became the fastest-selling PC game of all time, shattering the previous record, which was held by the second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King?.

"We created thousands of new quests, introduced new lands to explore, and extensively revamped the game world for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, making it our biggest and most ambitious expansion yet," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We?ve been floored by the community's response so far, and we'd like to thank them for their continued passion and support for World of Warcraft, and for helping Cataclysm reach this incredible milestone."

Prior to the launch of Cataclysm, World of Warcraft's subscriber population had grown to more than 12 million players globally, further strengthening the game's position as the world's most popular subscription-based MMORPG. More information about the new expansion can be found at the official World of Warcraft: Cataclysm website: http://www.blizzard.com/games/cataclysm/ .

The_Korrigan posted:

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- Expansions sets a new record in PC games sales.
- A few "nobodies" say the game is doomed on some random fan forum.

I wonder who is wrong...

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GutterSludge posted:

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So, 4.7 million boxes, sold to 12 million subscribers....


Less than half of the sub holders bought the expac??


Why does that look more like fail than success?

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kyrv posted:

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GutterSludge posted:

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So, 4.7 million boxes, sold to 12 million subscribers....


Less than half of the sub holders bought the expac??


Why does that look more like fail than success?

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I'm not sure how the subs work out and is the expansion out in the far east yet? Also not everyone will necessarily buy it immediately.

Just throwing stuff out, it is a valid question. That is a lot of sales though. Much money.

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GutterSludge posted:

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So, 4.7 million boxes, sold to 12 million subscribers....


Less than half of the sub holders bought the expac??


Why does that look more like fail than success?

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GutterSludge posted:

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WORLD OF WARCRAFT® SUBSCRIBER BASE REACHES 12 MILLION WORLDWIDE

PARIS, France – October 7, 2010 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the subscriber base for World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), now exceeds 12 million players worldwide. This milestone was reached in the wake of the mainland Chinese launch of World of Warcraft’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King®, and also as global anticipation continues to mount for the December 7 release of the game's third expansion, Cataclysmâ„¢.

“The support and enthusiasm that gamers across the world continue to show for World of Warcraft reaffirms our belief that it offers one of the best entertainment values available today,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We are as committed as ever to taking the game to new heights, and we look forward to demonstrating that with Cataclysm in December.”

Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular subscription-based MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007. For 2008, the World of Warcraft series represented three of the top five bestselling PC games, with Wrath of the Lich King finishing the year at #1, and in 2009, World of Warcraft titles claimed three of the top six spots.*

World of Warcraft is currently available in eight languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chile, Argentina, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard Entertainment games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on career opportunities available at Blizzard Entertainment can be found at eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/careers/.

For further information on World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm, please visit the official website at www.wow-europe.com.

World of Warcraft’s Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?101007

You don't read much do you?

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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I would note that in that press release it DOES NOT say that they have 12 million subscribers. It says they have a "subscriber base of over 12 million".

If they had 12 million subscribers, why not say that directly? It's legal speak and their hoping people like you will make the assumption they currently have 12 million or so people playing.

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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If Cataclysm is doing better in sales than WoTLK or TBC, I'm not really sure how that's falling short. Or fail.

Call it what you want, I'm sure Blizzard doesn't mind.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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Fine.

Here's Blizzard's most recent financial statement: http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know how to read that.

You tell me how the math works out that they can only have subscription, licensing, and other revenues of $348 million if we assume 11 million people paying an average $12.99 a month for 3 months.

If what you are saying is true, then they earned AT LEAST $428 million from WoW alone, and they misreported it here in this document. They also clearly didn't have any other sources of monthly income other than WoW (I'm not sure if they do or not, but I would assume they do.)

Or you are wrong, and I'm right.

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--Syrus-- posted:

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Because we are not assuming that 11 million pay $12.99. Subscription rates and methods of payment are much different outside canada and the US.

Subscribers = number of people playing

Not number of people paying a monthly subscription of 12.99 a month.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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Here's Blizzard's most recent financial statement: http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know how to read that.

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GutterSludge posted:

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Korrigan, I am not saying anything, I am just reflecting on the current data.

39% is crap. Period.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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--Syrus-- posted:

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Because we are not assuming that 11 million pay $12.99. Subscription rates and methods of payment are much different outside canada and the US.

Subscribers = number of people playing

Not number of people paying a monthly subscription of 12.99 a month.

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Indeed. The rate for 1 month is $14.99. For 6 months is drops to $12.99. I'm fairly certain that at least a majority of their subscribers go month to month, but I was giving you and your team the benefit of the doubt. I also reduced the # of subscribers, since the press release you both so handily referred us to is Oct 7, 2010, shortly after these three months in question.

If it was 12 million people paying $14.99 a month they you are even more wrong.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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Fine.

Here's Blizzard's most recent financial statement: http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know how to read that.

You tell me how the math works out that they can only have subscription, licensing, and other revenues of $348 million if we assume 11 million people paying an average $12.99 a month for 3 months.

If what you are saying is true, then they earned AT LEAST $428 million from WoW alone, and they misreported it here in this document. They also clearly didn't have any other sources of monthly income other than WoW (I'm not sure if they do or not, but I would assume they do.)

Or you are wrong, and I'm right.

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The_Korrigan posted:

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The problem is that YOU don't know how to read that.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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Fine.

Here's Blizzard's most recent financial statement: http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know how to read that.

You tell me how the math works out that they can only have subscription, licensing, and other revenues of $348 million if we assume 11 million people paying an average $12.99 a month for 3 months.

If what you are saying is true, then they earned AT LEAST $428 million from WoW alone, and they misreported it here in this document. They also clearly didn't have any other sources of monthly income other than WoW (I'm not sure if they do or not, but I would assume they do.)

Or you are wrong, and I'm right.

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GutterSludge posted:

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Korrigan, I am not saying anything, I am just reflecting on the current data.

39% is crap. Period.

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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GutterSludge posted:

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Korrigan, I am not saying anything, I am just reflecting on the current data.

39% is crap. Period.

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So if it's crap, then I'm assuming you know of games with much better initial month expansion sales stats?

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Talehon69 posted:

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China just got WotLk like 5 months ago, pretty sure Cataclysm isn't out there yet.

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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^ It seems like you're completely discounting that they apparently beat out both of their previous expansion's records. I'm sure doing better in sales than they previously did was about where they put the bar, and it looks like they did exactly that.

You're making a lot of assumptions on just a couple data points, and discounting a lot of previous sales for this game and others, just to jump to the (imo) very illogical and erroneous judgment you're arriving at.

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GutterSludge posted:

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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^ It seems like you're completely discounting that they apparently beat out both of their previous expansion's records. I'm sure doing better in sales than they previously did was about where they put the bar, and it looks like they did exactly that.

You're making a lot of assumptions on just a couple data points, and discounting a lot of previous sales for this game and others, just to jump to the (imo) very illogical and erroneous judgment you're arriving at.

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Those "sales records" are dollar amounts, and boxes sold.. not percentages of boxes sold in relation to the number of current account holders( which is larger now than ever).

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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GutterSludge posted:

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Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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^ It seems like you're completely discounting that they apparently beat out both of their previous expansion's records. I'm sure doing better in sales than they previously did was about where they put the bar, and it looks like they did exactly that.

You're making a lot of assumptions on just a couple data points, and discounting a lot of previous sales for this game and others, just to jump to the (imo) very illogical and erroneous judgment you're arriving at.

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Those "sales records" are dollar amounts, and boxes sold.. not percentages of boxes sold in relation to the number of current account holders( which is larger now than ever).

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Obviously, but the differences in sub pop numbers between expansions wasn't so great that it would create much of a swing in the percentages between expansions if Blizzard beat previous initial month sales this time around. But then, I think you just want to argue. I'll let someone else take over from here, because this discussion is pretty nonsensical and pointless to me given the info we have.

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GutterSludge posted:

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Talehon69 posted:

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China just got WotLk like 5 months ago, pretty sure Cataclysm isn't out there yet.

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another that did not read the OP.

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Talehon69 posted:

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GutterSludge posted:

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Talehon69 posted:

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China just got WotLk like 5 months ago, pretty sure Cataclysm isn't out there yet.

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another that did not read the OP.

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You're pretty terrible at Geography then. It's not out in China yet, and won't be for quite awhile.

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The_Korrigan posted:

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For the local failtrolls, everything is a failure. Do you read this forum regularly?

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Talehon69 posted:

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Hong Kong is part of Taiwanese servers.

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Ugh_Lancelot posted:

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Talehon69 posted:

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Hong Kong is part of Taiwanese servers.

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If we're being overly literal, Taiwan IS China according to mainland Chinese.

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siujoey posted:

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I think many (if not all) would agree that the 12 million number is at least SLIGHTLY inflated.

Even so, if you told Blizzard that 39% of their existing players would buy the expansion pack within the first 30 days of it's release, they would have been celebrating.

39% buying the new expansion in the first month? Blizz will take that every single time. That is a win.

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Talehon69 posted:

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39% of 12million people bought it. It was only available to 40%-50% of the 12million people.

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siujoey posted:

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Burning Crusade sold 3.5M in it's first month. WotLK sold "over 4 million" in it's first month, which broke the record held by BC. Cataclysm sold 4.7M plus in it's first month breaking the record held by WotLK.

By the way they worded the WotLK sales in the first month- "over 4M", I would guess the actual number is between 4 and 4.1M. If that is true, there was a bigger sales increase from WotLK to Cata, than there was from BC to WotLK.

Any way you want to look at it, those are some ridiculously impressive growth numbers for a what- 6 year old game? 6 year old games in this industry are the exception, not the norm. 6 year old games posting those kind of numbers aren't even the exception, they're unheard of.

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Talehon69 posted:

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39% of 12million people bought it. It was only available to 40%-50% of the 12million people.

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siujoey posted:

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Talehon69 posted:

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39% of 12million people bought it. It was only available to 40%-50% of the 12million people.

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huh?

And yes, Syrus, I think any game company would consider 39% of their quoted subscriber base buying the expansion pack *in the first 30 days* a win. That's almost half your quoted subscriber base upgrading inside of one billing cycle!

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Rill_of_WE posted:

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This thread is fun!

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GutterSludge posted:

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kyrv posted:

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GutterSludge posted:

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So, 4.7 million boxes, sold to 12 million subscribers....


Less than half of the sub holders bought the expac??


Why does that look more like fail than success?

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I'm not sure how the subs work out and is the expansion out in the far east yet? Also not everyone will necessarily buy it immediately.

Just throwing stuff out, it is a valid question. That is a lot of sales though. Much money.

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From the post above:

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was simultaneously released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on December 7, and became available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on December 9.

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siujoey posted:

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Burning Crusade sold 3.5M in it's first month. WotLK sold "over 4 million" in it's first month, which broke the record held by BC. Cataclysm sold 4.7M plus in it's first month breaking the record held by WotLK.

By the way they worded the WotLK sales in the first month- "over 4M", I would guess the actual number is between 4 and 4.1M. If that is true, there was a bigger sales increase from WotLK to Cata, than there was from BC to WotLK.

Any way you want to look at it, those are some ridiculously impressive growth numbers for a what- 6 year old game? 6 year old games in this industry are the exception, not the norm. 6 year old games posting those kind of numbers aren't even the exception, they're unheard of.

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kyrv posted:

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Yes it is amazing they appear to be growing, just holding steady would be excellent for a six year old game.

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Broken_Kayfabe posted:

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kyrv posted:

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Yes it is amazing they appear to be growing, just holding steady would be excellent for a six year old game.

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Initial box sales isn't a growth indicator, only overall box sales and retention rates. All initial box sales means is higher number of pre-orders than before.

Subscription numbers indicated WoW was in decline prior to releasing its expansion, and I will bet dollars to donuts will resume that decline once the shiny is become a little more worn, just as it did with WotLK, which in the end was a much better expansion in the first place.



Indeed, with the way WotLK ended, with everyone being handed all the goodies on a silver platter and with everyone having multiple L80s, how can anyone be surprised that Cata outsold WotLK off the start? Everyone was sitting around this time with nothing to do for months.

Context is everything. But some people are easily impressed.

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Rill_of_WE posted:

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This thread is fun!

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kyrv posted:

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They went from 10 to 11 to 12 million. Where are you getting the decline?

Yes CAT outsold wotlk, they set a record. Nobody has sold more. Setting this record with the decline in subs you mention is impressive.

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Gr0uch0Marx posted:

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That was in November 2009. So the number of subscriptions in the past was double to triple than it was on November 2009. Now I don't know how to reconcile that fact with the posted numbers that show growth from 5 million players in 2004 to 12 million today. The only thing I can think of is that since he was talking to a US audience, he was quoting the US subscriber rate and not the overall subscription rate?

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Liquid741 posted:

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this thread is all about measuring each other's epeen.

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Exodus_The_Mage posted:

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ATVI stock hasn't even move much in the recent months.

On the other hand... Apple is yummy.

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SunnyDelight posted:

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I didn't read this whole thread, but I read the people bitching about how only ~30% got the expansion.

CHINA DOES NOT HAVE THE EXPANSION YET. Many of the people I go to school with are from China and still play on their servers and they don't even have ICC yet. They are VERY behind over there.


So that is why the numbers are 100%. You are welcome.

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Broken_Kayfabe posted:

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No matter. Let the fanboys have something to hang their hat on to excuse every decision their hero Ghostcrawler makes once again. We'll talk about this again when we have retention numbers, and we'll see if they go as quiet again as they did when it came out WoW stopped growing and began shrinking more or less exactly the moment Ghostcrawler took control.

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Sociop posted:

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In reality these sales numbers have proven less sells thus the player population can now expect even less next expansion.

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Broken_Kayfabe posted:

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kyrv posted:

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Yes it is amazing they appear to be growing, just holding steady would be excellent for a six year old game.

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Initial box sales isn't a growth indicator, only overall box sales and retention rates. All initial box sales means is higher number of pre-orders than before.

Subscription numbers indicated WoW was in decline prior to releasing its expansion, and I will bet dollars to donuts will resume that decline once the shiny is become a little more worn, just as it did with WotLK, which in the end was a much better expansion in the first place.



Indeed, with the way WotLK ended, with everyone being handed all the goodies on a silver platter and with everyone having multiple L80s, how can anyone be surprised that Cata outsold WotLK off the start? Everyone was sitting around this time with nothing to do for months.

Context is everything. But some people are easily impressed.

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The_Korrigan posted:

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Sociop posted:

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In reality these sales numbers have proven less sells thus the player population can now expect even less next expansion.

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Care to explain your logic here?
So they have sold MORE, yet you pretend it proves they sold LESS?

I'm confused.

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Billarious posted:

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Exodus_The_Mage posted:

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ATVI stock hasn't even move much in the recent months.

On the other hand... Apple is yummy.

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ATVI hasn't moved much in a year or so lol

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Broken_Kayfabe posted:

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kyrv posted:

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They went from 10 to 11 to 12 million. Where are you getting the decline?

Yes CAT outsold wotlk, they set a record. Nobody has sold more. Setting this record with the decline in subs you mention is impressive.

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I got the decline from when they dropped off from that high. They were in fact in a more than year long decline prior to cata. They don't announce when the numbers drop down.

In any event I am quite sure they are propped right back up. After all, you can't know something is crap until it's been tried, right?

And honestly, it's the total subscription numbers that are impressive, not this "record". Since you effectively would not play WoW *without* the expansion, it stands to reason everyone who wants to play WoW will get it as early as possible, as opposed to other games where there is no drawback to waiting. In terms of this record, therefore, WoW was more or less competing only with itself. Online upgrading probably had more to do with the number than anything.

No matter. Let the fanboys have something to hang their hat on to excuse every decision their hero Ghostcrawler makes once again. We'll talk about this again when we have retention numbers, and we'll see if they go as quiet again as they did when it came out WoW stopped growing and began shrinking more or less exactly the moment Ghostcrawler took control.

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Spookysheep posted:

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Ok, so only 39% of subscribers bought the xpac so far.

What are the other 61% of subscribers doing you think?


I wonder how many of the 4.7 million will still be subscribed in February since even the most casual among them will have completed all the "new" content by then.

I wonder if there will ever be a caffeine free diet version of vanilla coke?


Its these nagging life altering questions that keep me up at night.

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Spookysheep posted:

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Ok, so only 39% of subscribers bought the xpac so far.

What are the other 61% of subscribers doing you think?

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Spookysheep posted:

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Isn't it funny how people pick out parts of posts and conveniently ignore the rest when it doesn't suit their assertions.


We're talking about Caffeine Free Diet Vanilla Coke here.


If you're not talking about Caffeine Free Diet Vanilla Coke, then you all epic failed.

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The_Korrigan posted:

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Yep, that's certainly why the game gained several more million customers since Ghostcrawler took "control".

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kyrv posted:

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"Since you effectively would not play WoW *without* the expansion, "

Wrong, they redid the leveling, you can have a blast now without any of the expansions.

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kyrv posted:

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"WoW was more or less competing only with itself."

WoW is competing with every other game out there, and every other way to spend time and money. Good grief what a silly statement. Come on now. Do you think WoW is that good that they truly have NO competition in making a good game?

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kyrv posted:

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Yes WoW will start declining, I've read that since the game released. Hey, it will be true eventually. And since we all know this, yes, we all told us so.

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pattongb posted:

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Im no fanboi anyone will tell you that, but 39% is amazing.

Taking into account:

- WoW has a player base of at least 1 million subscribers who are under the age of 18. These subscribers will be slower to buy the box for obvious reasons.

- Since this is the 3rd expansion many long term players have learned not to buy the game for a month or so after expansions release. The thought is this avoids log jams, ques, and server issues. Although that has not been the case with this expac.

- As said before, this expac is not in China yet. That leaves 4-6 million subscribers yet to have the opportunity to buy it.


So lets say the top instance adds 5% more over the next 6 months, the 2nd adds 10% more to that, and the 3rd adds 15% to that total.

Thats a total of 69% minimum. Thats pretty amazing.

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--Syrus-- posted:

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pattongb posted:

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Im no fanboi anyone will tell you that, but 39% is amazing.

Taking into account:

- WoW has a player base of at least 1 million subscribers who are under the age of 18. These subscribers will be slower to buy the box for obvious reasons.

- Since this is the 3rd expansion many long term players have learned not to buy the game for a month or so after expansions release. The thought is this avoids log jams, ques, and server issues. Although that has not been the case with this expac.

- As said before, this expac is not in China yet. That leaves 4-6 million subscribers yet to have the opportunity to buy it.


So lets say the top instance adds 5% more over the next 6 months, the 2nd adds 10% more to that, and the 3rd adds 15% to that total.

Thats a total of 69% minimum. Thats pretty amazing.

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Fanboi

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pattongb posted:

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--Syrus-- posted:

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pattongb posted:

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Im no fanboi anyone will tell you that, but 39% is amazing.

Taking into account:

- WoW has a player base of at least 1 million subscribers who are under the age of 18. These subscribers will be slower to buy the box for obvious reasons.

- Since this is the 3rd expansion many long term players have learned not to buy the game for a month or so after expansions release. The thought is this avoids log jams, ques, and server issues. Although that has not been the case with this expac.

- As said before, this expac is not in China yet. That leaves 4-6 million subscribers yet to have the opportunity to buy it.


So lets say the top instance adds 5% more over the next 6 months, the 2nd adds 10% more to that, and the 3rd adds 15% to that total.

Thats a total of 69% minimum. Thats pretty amazing.

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Fanboi

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LOL and there it is!

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pattongb posted:

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Im no fanboi anyone will tell you that, but 39% is amazing.

Taking into account:

- WoW has a player base of at least 1 million subscribers who are under the age of 18. These subscribers will be slower to buy the box for obvious reasons.

- Since this is the 3rd expansion many long term players have learned not to buy the game for a month or so after expansions release. The thought is this avoids log jams, ques, and server issues. Although that has not been the case with this expac.

- As said before, this expac is not in China yet. That leaves 4-6 million subscribers yet to have the opportunity to buy it.


So lets say the top instance adds 5% more over the next 6 months, the 2nd adds 10% more to that, and the 3rd adds 15% to that total.

Thats a total of 69% minimum. Thats pretty amazing.

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Soulja_of_War posted:

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Using xpac box sales in relation to total subscription numbers isn't necessarily a sound way to judge the success of the Xpac. If half or more of those subs are Chinese, most not in Hong Kong, and without access to the Xpac altogether, why even include them with judging the sales success of the Xpac? Even if they if they did have the xpac available there, are we really going to say that chinese subs carry the same weight in terms of money, when they don't follow the same payment methods as other regions? Also, do people subbing at internet cafes there all have to upgrade or buy the xpac box to play the xpac? We assume yes but my money is that it's different in China. In fact, anything coming out of China kind of seems like a voodoo black hole where things don't always add up...

To assess the success of the xpac sales, assuming that mainland China is without access to it, I think it would be more reasonable to slash 12 million to around 6 million subs(world wide). This would more likely be the amount of subscribers with actual access to the xpac... with more or less what we think of as tradition payment methods (buy game, buy xpac, pay a monthly subscription, etc). So that takes us to 4.7 million xpac sales of 6 million subs with actual access to the xpac..Not bad?

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Spookysheep posted:

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If the xpac is so great, why aren't all subscribers playing it? o.0

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JaredKorry posted:

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It's not at all unreasonable to presume that China has at least as many subscribers as the US does. I would not be the least bit surprised if they had more then we do, considering how mainstream it is there and how hardcore the Chinese are about gaming.

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Broken_Kayfabe posted:

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kyrv posted:

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"Since you effectively would not play WoW *without* the expansion, "

Wrong, they redid the leveling, you can have a blast now without any of the expansions.

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Have you run into a SINGLE person in the game who is playing without the expansion? Be honest.

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Widdarr posted:

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Spookysheep posted:

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If the xpac is so great, why aren't all subscribers playing it? o.0

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Because it isn't free.

Better bait, imo. Too easy.

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Eternal_Midnight posted:

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Fine.

Here's Blizzard's most recent financial statement: [link=http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564 http://investor.activision.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1104659-10-56564 [/l ink]

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know how to read that.

You tell me how the math works out that they can only have subscription, licensing, and other revenues of $348 million if we assume 11 million people paying an average $12.99 a month for 3 months.

If what you are saying is true, then they earned AT LEAST $428 million from WoW alone, and they misreported it here in this document. They also clearly didn't have any other sources of monthly income other than WoW (I'm not sure if they do or not, but I would assume they do.)

Or you are wrong, and I'm right.

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Fedup23 posted:

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Honestly though.. why are you dorks fighting about how much $$ Blizzard printed this time. What pony do you have in this race?

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Foojo posted:

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Because some of them need to think that WoW is failing. Just sit back and enjoy the stupidity.

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Foojo posted:

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Only VN (or mmorpg) could find gloom in selling 4.7 mil copies

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Grimlik posted:

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Blah blah blah

So 39 percent bought the expansion. Thats still 4.7 million copies. Not even Rift will come close to a qtr of that number.

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Spookysheep posted:

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Widdarr posted:

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Spookysheep posted:

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If the xpac is so great, why aren't all subscribers playing it? o.0

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Because it isn't free.

Better bait, imo. Too easy.

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ah yeah, that's it. Sixty-one percent of the players can't afford $40 even after month.


Maybe they should get jobs instead of sitting around playing WoW all day. o.0

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Most of their 12 million customers are in China, and they won't be getting the expansion for a long time. So you're just looking at the Americas, Europe, South Korea, and Oceania (am I missing any?). I'm guessing that of the markets Cataclysm is available in, it probably had a saturation rate of more like 70%.

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Riftstar posted:

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Grimlik posted:

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Blah blah blah

So 39 percent bought the expansion. Thats still 4.7 million copies. Not even Rift will come close to a qtr of that number.

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If Rift has even a quarter of that number, it will be a success.

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Grimlik posted:

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Riftstar posted:

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Grimlik posted:

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Blah blah blah

So 39 percent bought the expansion. Thats still 4.7 million copies. Not even Rift will come close to a qtr of that number.

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If Rift has even a quarter of that number, it will be a success.

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Yet by that same token 4.7 million copies of Cata sold is a failure according to the logic here.

Rift will do well, but it won't touch WoW as far as sub numbers go.

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Boone-Eldar posted:

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Most of their 12 million customers are in China, and they won't be getting the expansion for a long time. So you're just looking at the Americas, Europe, South Korea, and Oceania (am I missing any?). I'm guessing that of the markets Cataclysm is available in, it probably had a saturation rate of more like 70%.

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Do you people even read the posts in a thread before posting?

Non China (US, EU, Latin America, etc) subscribers made up around 5 million of the 12 million the last time a breakdown was released. A fact that some of the very same people who are using the 39% have used to support their anti WoW rhetoric and trolling efforts in the past.

Again, that is around 95%.

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Boone-Eldar posted:

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Most of their 12 million customers are in China, and they won't be getting the expansion for a long time. So you're just looking at the Americas, Europe, South Korea, and Oceania (am I missing any?). I'm guessing that of the markets Cataclysm is available in, it probably had a saturation rate of more like 70%.

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Do you people even read the posts in a thread before posting?

Non China (US, EU, Latin America, etc) subscribers made up around 5 million of the 12 million the last time a breakdown was released. A fact that some of the very same people who are using the 39% have used to support their anti WoW rhetoric and trolling efforts in the past.

Again, that is around 95%.

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No, I did not. And why are you so emotional? That time of the month sweety?

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siujoey posted:

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Boone-Eldar posted:

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[quote=Blisteringballs]Most of their 12 million customers are in China, and they won't be getting the expansion for a long time. So you're just looking at the Americas, Europe, South Korea, and Oceania (am I missing any?). I'm guessing that of the markets Cataclysm is available in, it probably had a saturation rate of more like 70%.

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Do you people even read the posts in a thread before posting?

Non China (US, EU, Latin America, etc) subscribers made up around 5 million of the 12 million the last time a breakdown was released. A fact that some of the very same people who are using the 39% have used to support their anti WoW rhetoric and trolling efforts in the past.

Again, that is around 95%.

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No, I did not. And why are you so emotional? That time of the month sweety?

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--Syrus-- posted:

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Well since we are nothing using any hard facts at all by your logic and freedom to manipulate the numbers why not bring that number right down to 4.7 million out of 4.7 million bought it and call it a day.

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Blisteringballs posted:

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Here's some cranberry juice, lets sit you down....

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