‘World of Warcraft has not reached its peak’

Blizzard has dismissed fears that PC?MMO World of Warcraft is on the wane.

The developer and publisher reported 11.4m subscribers in its last financial report, a drop of 600,000 since its 2010 high when the expansion pack Cataclysm was launched.

But the company believes it can still ‘build and sustain’ its player base by growing in China, launching in Brazil, and offering its more attractive trial service.

There’s a lot of great things happening with Warcraft,” VP and MD of international Michael Ryder told MCV.

We are launching in Brazil this year and we have great expectations for that. The numbers you might be looking at from the end of the last quarter, that was before Cataclysm launched in China. That is a big part of our business going forward.

We also changed the trial mechanism for World of Warcraft, so people trying it can now play in an unlimited way up to level 20. In the past it was time-based. Our data shows when people get to level 20 they’re more likely to stay on, as they have got over that initial learning curve. That will help us build and sustain our player base.”