With the immense popularity of World of Warcraft, I'm surprised to even see people outside when I look out of the window. Becoming a reclusive and trendy shut-in is now quite cool, and for that Blizzard is to be commended. Who'd have thought that such geeky nonsense would sell 8.6 million units?
That's the figure touted by the folks at NPD, collecting all the sales data from the main game, its two expansions, and the WoW Battle Chest. Some number crunching suggests that Blizzard has raked in around $258 million on retail sales alone. That doesn't even begin to consider how much the company has made from its $15 a month subscription fee.
The general point of the story is this -- Blizzard is making more money than you could realistically spend in two lifetimes.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
11:20 AM on 07.30.2009
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Come on Jim, That wouldn't cover two months of hookers and orange juice.
That and WoW almost has as many subscribers as XBox Live Members, so, yeah 11 Million people cant all be wrong.
When looking at just retail sales, how can you say "That's all?" as if that's some disappointingly low amount. Movies appeal to a much wider audience, are cheaper to indulge in, and thus more people watch movies than say purchase a videogame. Many millions more. And yet WoW has generated a similar amount of money through retail sales. For a videogame to match a summer flick with just retail sales alone says a lot. If the report included revenue from monthly subscriptions, the figure would balloon even higher, so it's not as if that statement somehow means WoW isn't successful financially.
I've played since beta, and I'll tell you.
First time I played it, a few things were readily apparent even on the first couple of days. First: their art style, audio, terrain layout, even the UI all tied together well to build a "theme". Some people may hate the art style, but there's no denying that the game pulled you in with the professional level of presentation.
Second: Gameplay and solid game design. Gameplay will make or break a game. Many times as I played, I would see how they did a quest or a layout of a dungeon, and think to myself "they really thought this through". I assume they really listened to internal feedback, or just better planning. Whatever magic formula they found was solid design.
There are also other factors like brilliantly allowing their gamers to create mods to boost shortcomings in the UI, as well as a lot of "flavor" added in things like cross-server battlegrounds and big storyline moments and backstory. Just about every instance has backstory if you want to go read it, but isn't necessary to know it.
Really? Personally, I thought WoW was incredibly boring. But 8.6 million folks can't be wrong I guess.[/i]
So the 50 million that followed Hitler were on the right track?
*Fwuh-WHAPs!!! in front of you w/ a thick stack of cash!*
Hit-lah didn't have purple, green, blue etc. hues/diversity of WARRIOR boobies. Not the good kind anyway (P.S. I'm not sexist, women are free to talk bout dudes "danglers and jinglers (y'know like 'jingle bells'-duh!)").
I'm too poor to play monthly anyways. At least these people are funding Blizzard to make games like:
- Die-Ah-BLOW tree
- 'Stark'-raft chew
I have no problem if one rules them all. Maybe then the 360 and ps3 can be turned over, perfected and maybe the gaming industry will be able to see all their projects through without cutting corners or lopping off projects. Free MMORPGs should rival them just enough to prevent WoW from raising their prices (turning ppl away). And y'know just give the gaming industry a steady income. Maybe they'll even wrest Yakuza 3 from Japan. Imagine if Blizzard took over Bethesda (allowing the company to continue their projects) and created an Oblivion MMORPG...
*drools like Homer Simpson for a sec.*
I want to kinda say the idea would be like Seven of Nine y'know what I mean? Like a step towards getting something good out of the Borg.
I'm actually pretty ok with the gaming industry and the pace at which they're making improvements, but when you have the one survivor and he/she is the fittest who also:
- doesn't kill "actual ppl" (cept the competition)
- attract the best of the best glitch solvers
- maintain decent prices
- and are open to all ideas/commentary for gaming
well.. not to get Star Wars here:
Padme: Sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me.
Anakin: Well? If it works ...
Which reminds me...
*if only Anakin had said this (as he makes pledge to Sith Lord)*
---> "If she dies, you die too 'stoopid-head'."
sorry kinda got caught up and strayed a bit, hope what I said made some sense... >_> I might not have thought this all the way through... oh well, I went this far might as well hit "add comment" and watch this join the other comments in oblivion (in a week or less). enjoy!