WoW Subscribers Drop to 9.1 Million: Will Mists of Pandaria Sweep in to Save the Day?

Yes indeed, you read the title correctly. As of June 30, 2012, World of Warcraft has dropped down to 9.1 million active subscribers from 10.2 million that was reported at the end of March. Losing another 1.1 million subscribers may seem like an enormous figure but does this drop really qualify as a worry factor for Blizzard? After all, it is safe to admit that Blizzard could lose half of its WoW base and still outdo any competitor. As long as they have enough subscribers to meet the profit mark, this game is going to be around for many years to come.

Nevertheless, one cannot help but wonder if the next expansion, Mists of Pandaria, will trigger a twofold increase or decrease. Set for release on September 25th, this oriental masterpiece could just be Blizzard’s ultimate weapon to launch WoW into its original limelight once more. Raw reviews about the trailer, lore and beta have already mustered up significant first impressions, which seemed to have been met with positive and negative reviews. From the introduction of new dungeons, changes in the looting system such as AoE looting – receiving all your loot with one easy click when it comes to AoE farming – alongside an assortment of other colorful additions such as the new Pandaren Cloud Serpent Mount below, there is no question that subscribers will skyrocket during the first week (followed by server crashes, blackouts and rage quitting).

Yet there are those who claim that after Blizzard’s poor performance in maintaining the ‘addicting’ effect of what has now become a repetitive and tiring item hunt grind in Diablo 3, this next WoW expansion will not necessarily guarantee enough satisfaction to win the hearts of Blizzard fans all over again. Others on the WoW forums claim that the idea of playing ‘pandas’ in general just ruins the game outright. With Guild Wars 2 due for release at the end of this month, Blizzard might have just played this one rather smartly by creating a one month anticipation gap for their own expansion. It may not be f2p (free to play) anytime soon but this 4th expansion will welcome both longtime and returning fans to a new world that is no longer shrouded in mist. Whether it’s yay or nay, World of Warcraft will undeniably continue to dominate as the most-subscribed MMORPG in the world so be sure to check out the trailer below and pre-order your very own copy today starting at $39.99!

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