World of Warcraft just released its fourth expansion – Mists
of Pandaria. WoW currently ranks as the top MMORPG in the world with nearly 10
million active subscribers, each paying $15 every month. Although some gamers
wax nostalgic about the good old days of Vanilla (original release), the
numbers don’t lie. World of Warcraft consistently has the most subscribers of
any MMO, and so whatever they are doing is probably the right way to be
updating an eight year old game.
Purist or not, Mists of Pandaria will add a new race of
Pandaren (pandas) who can play for either of the game’s two factions – horde or
alliance. Additionally, more land to explore and additional quests will be
added to the game. For a game that’s been on the market eight years already, it’s
always a good idea to keep things fresh so the die hard players aren’t getting
bored playing stale material.
Despite having such a large player base, WoW is still
working to grow its subscriptions. I think they are exceedingly smart for
continuing to hunt for new players. Any game that players get bored of, or
perhaps they level capped and are dissatisfied with the end game, will
eventually lose players. Developers want to minimize that by adding new
content, but it does happen on all games to some degree. By targeting newer
players, they are more likely to keep a consistent subscriber base.
Where do you stand on the new expansion – are you pro panda
or anti panda?
