Activision-Blizzard has posted their Q1 2013 financial report, and one of the interesting things to note is a decline in World of WarCraft subscriber numbers.
Activision-Blizzard says that the game’s subscriber numbers are down by around 1.3-million between Januray and March 2013. The game retains 8.3-million subscribers.
Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer, Activision Blizzard, said the losses were “mainly from the East, but in the West as well.”
On the financial front, things are positive as ever for the mega-publisher:
- Q1 2013 total revenue of US$1.32-billion is up from US$1.17-billion in Q1 2012.
- Q1 2013 operating income is US$587-million, up from US$513-million in Q1 2012.
Kotick said there are risks and challenges ahead for the company in the second half of 2013, and cites as examples shifting release dates in competitng titles, a disappointing Wii U launch, uncertainties regarding next-gen hardware, and overall global economic concerns.
“For these reasons, we remain cautious. However, our focused and disciplined approach to our business has served us well in the past, and through continued investment and careful management of our costs, we expect to continue delivering shareholder value over the long term as we have for the last 20 years,” said Kotick.
Despite the downturn in World of WarCraft subscribers, Activision-Blizzard is doing well on all fronts:
- WoW remains the #1 subscription based MMORPG, with 8.3 million subscribers.²
- For Q1 2013, Blizzard Entertainment had two top 10 PC titles in both North America and Europe with StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Diablo III.¹
- As of 31 March 2013, in North America and Europe combined, Activision Publishing was the #1 publisher overall for the quarter, including accessory packs and figures, with the #1 and #2 best-selling franchises – Skylanders and Call of Duty.³
- In both North America and Europe, including accessory packs and figures, Activision Publishing’s Skylanders Giants was the #1 best-selling game overall in dollars for the first quarter of 2013.³
- For Q1 2013, in North America and Europe combined, Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II was the #2 best-selling title in dollars.¹
- During the quarter, non-GAAP digital revenues from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty franchise increased more than 100% year over year.²
- On 1 May 2013, Activision Publishing announced that it will release its new Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts, on November 5, 2013.
- On 29 April 2013, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it will release Diablo III for the PlayStation 3 later this year. As announced previously, Blizzard also plans to adapt the game for the PlayStation 4.
- On 22 March 2013, Blizzard Entertainment announced Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, a new cross-platform free-to-play game for Windows, Macintosh, and iPad.
- On 12 March 2013, Blizzard Entertainment launched StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. As of the end of its first two days of sales, Heart of the Swarm had sold through approximately 1.1 million copies worldwide, including both retail and digital sales.²
- On 5 February 2013, Activision Publishing announced Skylanders SWAP Force.
¹According to The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track
²According to Activision Blizzard internal estimates
³According to The NPD Group, Gfk Chart-Track and Activision Blizzard internal estimates, including accessory packs and figures.
Source: Activision
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Well Blizzard will always have a special place in my heart thanks to the original Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games that I spent a lot of time with. I enjoyed many hours with WoW too a long time ago (in a land far away known as the World…of Warcraft) and it was fun. Sadly I think they kind of killed the game themselves by keeping it just a bit too…boring and stale while making it too easy and casual (sure…bring on the casuals, boost the subscriber numbers but good luck keeping the more casual gamer interested for a long period of time).