After Blizzard Entertainment announced in their quarterly report released in August that the number of active subscribers to their World of Warcraft MMO had dipped to 5.6 million subscribers in the second quarter of this year, the game giant has now released a new quarterly report announcing yet another dip for their 11-year-old game. World of Warcraft only saw a small decrease in numbers over the past quarter, with the grand total hanging around 5.5 million subscribers. This is a decrease of 100.000 subscribers, making this the lowest point in the game's lifespan in 9 years. Even though initial player response to the expansion pack was so overwhelming it made it nigh on impossible to play the game in the week the game launched, a lot of players have yet again decided to lay down their arms and move to greener pastures.

In the quarterly report, Blizzard comments that this quarterly report will be the last one to contain specific information about the amount of people actively playing the game, citing that "There are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard business performance."

The game is still boasting subscriber numbers most other MMOs can only dream off and is set to release its 6th expansion pack Legion sometime next year.

Quick Take

World of Warcraft has been slowly bleeding subscribers since the release of the Cataclysm expansion. It is to be expected that some long-time players decide to leave the game after playing it for 11 years. Blizzard is far from down and out, though. The company still has smash hit Hearthstone bringing in quite a bit of money, and Blizzard's MOBA Heroes of the Storm is also doing quite well. The company is set to release their first person arena shooter Overwatch sometime in the not too distant future, as well as a brand new expansion to World of Warcraft that is sure to bring some veterans back into the fold in addition to drawing in some new blood, even if it's temporary. Fans of the company's IP and approach to gaming will have more than enough to play and to look forward to.