It is the ideal situation for a company like Blizzard to be at the top of their game, where Diablo 3, their latest game title to be released a few months ago, had already sold over 10 million copies worldwide – and counting. This will no doubt affect its other online title, World of Warcraft, which saw subscriptions drop to 9.1 million, with the majority of the lost subscriptions coming from Asian territories. I would assume that most of these lost subscriptions were the direct result of folks moving on to Diablo 3, what about you? Either way, the coffers at Blizzard are certainly ringing in the cash, as it is money from the left pocket to the right regardless of how Diablo 3 has cannibalized World of Warcraft subscriptions.
For those who love statistics, listen to what Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has to say, “For the first six months [of 2012], we had the top three best-selling games in North America and Europe with Activision Publishing’s Skylanders Spyro’s Adventures and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Blizzard Entertainment’s record setting Diablo III.”
It remains to be seen whether the introduction of Mists of Pandaria will see the sales of World of Warcraft getting a boost. What would your two cents be on the situation?