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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Is WoW hitting a plateau?]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/academic/" rel="tag">Academic</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/education/" rel="tag">Education</a></p><a href="http://www.warcraftrealms.com/census.php"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/09/playeractivity_wow_large-sms-0908.jpg" /></a>Seems like a silly question with the imminent release of <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath">their second expansion</a> just within our grasp, but over at <a href="http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008255.php">Dailygame.net</a>, they've speculated a bit on when that plateau might finally hit <em><a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com">World of Warcraft</a></em>. <br /><br />According to this article, based on information from <a href="http://www.mmogchart.com">MMOGchart.com</a> and <a href="http://www.warcraftrealms.com">warcraftrealms.com</a>, the rise in <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/world-of-warcraft">WoW</a></em>'s subscription numbers has traditionally peaked around the holiday seasons and expansion releases. This should come as no surprise to anyone, but it also points out that we're not seeing as gradual an increase in subscriptions throughout each peak season. The last sentence of the article sums it all up fairly well: <em>"If at the end of 2009 </em>WoW<em>'s total subscription numbers are less than 10 percent higher than they were when 2009 started, I will submit that </em>WoW<em> will have officially entered its plateau phase. But even if that transpires, and if after four to five years </em>WoW<em> has declined and leveled-off into a steady state of a mere three or four million worldwide subscribers, it will still be a cash cow."</em> <hr />
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            <td><em>One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft">World of Warcraft</a>, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/wrath-of-the-lich-king/">all your Lich King needs!</a></em> </td>
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</table><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/">Is WoW hitting a plateau?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008255.php>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1311239/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/is-wow-hitting-a-plateau/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blizzard</category><category>dailygame</category><category>mmogchart</category><category>subscription</category><category>trends</category><category>warcraftrealms</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Schuster]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
