14 DAY TRIAL // A new set of data from online game tracker Raptr suggests that the Cataclysm expansion for the World of Warcraft MMO has failed to excite the player base very much, with the average playing session after launch being just a little over two hours, the same as for a blockbuster modern first-person shooter title.
The length of the same session stands at 2.1 hours just after the arrival of Cataclysm, with a total play time on December 7 of 6.23 hours.
This is pretty much the same as the average playtime and gaming session registered for other big launched in 2010 like Halo: Reach, the shooter from Bungie and Microsoft, and Call of Duty: Black Ops, the Cold War FPS from Treyarch and Activision Blizzard.
Raptr also says that just 11 percent of those who subscribe to World of Warcraft have been the source for about half the playtime generated for the MMO for the period surveyed.
One player logged 149 game hours in the week after the Cataclysm launch.
The post on the official Raptr blog says, “Even in a massively addictive and deeply enthralling game like WoW, it is also filled a good chunk of leisure gamers who will get the expansion pack on day one, but only play a few hours here and there.”
The company adds, “There appears to be a distinct yin yang balance between avid gamers and leisure gamers in just about any game, which results in playtime averages that hover around the same range.”
The numbers must be a bit worrying for the developers that are working on World of Warcraft at Blizzard, who have worked pretty hard to deliver this new expansion and might have to cope with a lack of interest from some players.
The company has indicated that it is working on another expansion that could arrive in about 18 months.