14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Blizzard working on World of Warcraft says that it no longer expects to see the number of subscribers for its MMO increase even as it continues to deliver new content for it, mainly because of the changing nature of the video games industry.
The title is still one of the most popular in its genre and is bringing its developers a lot of money, but it seems to have entered a long-term decline that it will never snap out of.
Tom Chilton, the lead game designer working on World of Warcraft, is quoted by VG247 as saying that “We really don’t know if it will grow again. It is possible, but I wouldn’t say it’s something that we expect.”
The record for the MMO was set in 2008, when it went over 10 million monthly subscribers, and the company used to count on an increase in its numbers every time it launched a new expansion.
Now, it seems that Blizzard is more focused on keeping its core player base satisfied rather than on expanding it in any way.
Chilton adds, “By building expansions, you are effectively building up barriers to people coming back. But by including the level 90 character with this expansion, it gives people the opportunity to jump right into the new content.”
At the moment, there are 6.8 million people paying money every month in order to play World of Warcraft, which is still a very respectable number.
Warlords of Draenor is the fifth full expansion and will be launched on November 13 of this year. In the meantime, gamers can enjoy a new lore-focused animated series called Lords of War, which will introduce the most important characters and enemies they will meet.
The new content will push the level cap up to level 100 and will execute a major re-balancing of all the abilities and powers for classes.
At the same time, gamers will be able to travel to the original world of the Orcs and there are plenty of new features associated with guilds.
Blizzard has not said whether it has plans to launch a sixth expansion for World of Warcraft.
The company has long been working on a new MMO that is supposed to replace its current title, but no details have been offered about it, and right now the focus seems to be more on Hearthstone and on Heroes of the Storm.