Earlier this week, World of Warcraft subscriber numbers were revealed, and they weren’t great by Blizzard’s standards. Â At 5.6 million subscribers, this number is lower than it’s been in many years. Â While traditionally Blizzard’s popular MMO fluctuates with the release of new expansions, the numbers we’d heard after the release of Warlords of Draenor topped 10 million.
Blizzard is set to announce a new World of Warcraft Expansion at Gamescom later today, and those numbers could again start to inflate if fans like what they see. Â The announcement will be streamed live, and can be viewed in the video below, or on YouTube.
Even at 5.6 million subscribers, World of Warcraft is still the most popular MMO on the market today. Â Considering how many other entries into the genre have been forced to adopt free to play models due to a lack of interest from players in paying a monthly subscription fee, WoW is still doing alright.
It’s been over 10 years since the launch of World of Warcraft, and if subscribers don’t jump back in for a go at this new expansion, we could continue to see numbers continue to fall for Blizzard. Â There are quite a few moves Blizzard can make though. Â They could adopt a full free-to-play model, expanding on the trials that they currently offer.
New World of Warcraft Expansion “Legion” Announcement
World of Warcraft: Legion is the latest expansion for the game. Â This new chapter for World of Warcraft will focus on an enemy of both the Horde and the Alliance in the Burning Legion. Â The expansion will feature a number of new things, an all-new hero class called the Demon Hunter, the ability to boost characters, a new continent in the Broken Isles, and artifacts that are class-specific customizable weapons. Â Legion raises the World of Warcraft level cap to 110, and will feature new dungeons and raids.
Blizzard did not reveal the release date for the Legion Expansion.
