Slashdot Mirror
MMOG Subscription Charts Updated
SirBruce writes "Mmogchart.com has been updated, and Version 13.0 is now online. The charts now include more data for World of Warcraft and EverQuest II. Please keep in mind that this data is still very preliminary and could still change. It is widely believed that many other games have shown a decline in subscriptions as a result of the impact of WoW and EQII, but I have no quantifiable numbers yet for the current subscribers for games such as EverQuest I, Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot, and City of Heroes. The full effect of WoW and EQII is not yet visible and probably will not be until February or March."
Hey xeno, don't worry, you're not being an ass. :) The criticism I usually get is much more blunt; yours is actually reasonable!
However, I will point out a couple of things:
1. The numbers for Anarchy Online were also modified to more accurately reflect reality (hopefully). Eve Online was also updated, A Tale In the Desert finally got listed, and there were a couple of other minor changes. Also, I added a market share by genre breakdown.
2. The February/March update(s) should be a lot more informative. Meanwhile, a lot of people have been using my charts to argue EQ2 vs. WoW, and given that new numbers came out for both recently, the current interest level is quite high.
3. I used to update more infrequently; quarterly was about the average I was managing the past 2 years. But then people complained it was too long between updates! I've gotten some generous donations so I'm trying to give back to the community by updating more frequently.
Whether or not each new update deserves a monthly slashdot article, well, that's a legitimate question. I think the current interest is high enough to warrant it (I had no idea that the IDGA white paper would be coming out at the same time), but clearly I'm biased.
Bruce
All of this is quite true. Still, I will admit 350K is nearly the lower end for WoW; in the analysis I state it could be as high as 600K. (EQII reportedly had 85% conversion, which is very high; apply the same to WoW and you'll get 500K.) Still, one would expect them to trumpet passing the 500K subscriber mark and claim they have passed EverQuest in size -- but they haven't. So it makes one wonder.
It's also important to note that many WoW boxes were bought as holiday gifts, and many were bought by Blizzard or Warcraft-specific fans who had never been willing to try a MMOG before. So it would not be unusual for the conversion rate to be lower because of these factors.
There's a good chance Blizzard will release another number for WoW later this month or in February, in which case the 350K figure might be more accurate for December.
Bruce
Mark Jacobs has admitted they are lower, and the concurrency numbers are down over 30%, but exactly how many subscribers have left has yet to be quantified. The 250K number comes from the last press releases.
Bruce
If you read the Analysis section, you'll find more discussion of the Lineage numbers. But the short answer is, yes, it is very popular in Korea.
Bruce