Back in August, NCsoft’s highly-anticipated MMORPG – Aion – was released over here in the West. After being hugely successful in the East by gaining millions of subscribers, expectations were high for it in other territories.
With Age of Conan and Warhammer Online failing to be the “WoW killers” they were touted to be, the general anti-WoW MMO population looked to Aion for deliverance from Blizzard’s wicked ways, despite the two games’ obvious similarities.
So just how did things fare for Aion on this side of the world? Should World of Warcraft players be praying for deliverance from NCsoft’s frightful beast come to snatch away players one-by-one during server maintenance? The answer is quite simply: no. Whilst Aion enjoyed impressive initial sales in the range of 700 000 and is still selling steadily – nearing 1 million sales – the novelty seems to have worn off quite quickly for existing/ex subscribers. Three months after release, many subscribers who were with Aion from the start are no longer playing.
If we take a look at World of Warcraft, we notice that not only does it have high subscription numbers over here in the West, but actual boxed sales are still high after all these years. Blizzard is raking in the cash and the players.
It seems WoW will continue to hold the crown as the MMO juggernaut in the western world. Things aren’t looking too rosy in the East for WoW, what with the Chinese government banning the game, but Blizzard is no doubt scrambling to sort out any pending issues.
The West is what’s important to us, and so far it doesn’t seem like there will be a mass exodus of players from the game we love and love to hate. In fact, chances are that many players who screamed for the death of WoW upon leaving are now returning to the game they’ve grown comfortable with over the years. At least one is.
World of Warcraft is here to stay, and it doesn’t look like Aion is about to put a stop to it any time soon.
One can’t imagine a single MMO on the horizon that will, for that matter. Cataclysm’s imminent arrival will no doubt ensure the retention and return of players. Those who would never even dream of forsaking their second home can rest easy knowing that Blizzard and millions of players will be behind the game for a good long while to come…Aion or no Aion.
Discuss WoW vs Aion in the forums
Loading ...
