Blizzard has made the last announcement regarding subscriber numbers for World of Warcraft. As it stands, as of Q3 2015, World of Warcraft is sitting at 5.5 million subscribers. That is a 100,000 subscriber drop from Q2 2015, and is the first time to hit such a low number since Q4 2005.
World of Warcraft saw an increase in subscribers (up to 12 million) until the release of Cataclysm. After Cataclysm’s release, the subscriber numbers have continued to drop consistently. The jumps in numbers have been after expansions, which quickly lose subscribers once they’ve played through the new content.
Since Mists of Pandaria the numbers have been getting smaller faster, with a small hiccup aligned with Warlords of Draenor’s release. Starting out as one of the best expansions to date, Warlords of Draenor spiked player numbers up to 10 million once again in Q4 2014. In less then one year, the number has been halved.
Warlords of Draenor has proven to be one of World of Warcraft’s smallest expansions, if not the smallest ever. With only 3 raids, and the content being fully released back in the summer, it lasted less then one year. Although the expansion started on a high, it sits as one of the least enjoyable expansions.
Blizzard plans on releasing different stats to discuss the healthiness of their MMORPG, and hopefully stop the mass panic every time they lose a few numbers. So far, the company has only continued to grow in terms of employees – and they plan on getting more expansions out faster.