300,000 leave World of Warcraft, new content due this year

04 Aug 2011 at 14:08:42 by John Robertson

Number of subscribers drops to 11.1 million for quarter ending 30 June.

The number of paying subscribers within the realm of World of Warcraft dropped by 300,000 between the end of March and the start of July. This puts the subscribers levels for the MMO at roughly 11.1 million, still making it the most popular game in the genre by quite some margin.

However, at the top of its reign, WOW was attracting user number of over 12 million.

This news came last night during Activision Blizzard's earnings call, in which it was also revealed that this year would see a new content update. Presumably, in an effort to curb the downward subscriber spiral.

"The team is currently working on our largest content update since Cataclysm and that will hit later this year," said CEO Mike Morhaime. "The next content update... will include major new raid and dungeon content. We believe that this new end-game content will keep the game fresh for current players and provide compelling reasons for lapsed players to come back."

Morhaime also added that the recent launch of the Cataclysm expansion pack in China and the upcoming Portugese edition of WOW should help to strengthen the player base.

"Aside from promoting World of Warcraft in other regions, we're taking other steps to bring more players into the community," Morhaime continued. "With the new World of Warcraft Starter Edition, players are now able to play the game for free until level 20 with no time restrictions. Since the launch of this program, we've seen a significant increase in new account creations, which we hope will allow us to continue attracting new players."

Blizzard also recently registered a new trademark for 'Mist of Pandaria,' sparking rumours as to the title and content of their next WOW expansion.

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