World of Warcraft News: Game Loses 600,000 Subscribers in Three Months

World of Warcraft, one of gaming's longest lasting and most popular MMOs, has been in a downward spiral, and things are only getting worse. In the announcement of Activision-Blizzard's split from Vivendi, it was revealed that the game lost 600,000 subscribers in just one quarter, leaving the title with the lowest amount of subscribers since 2007.

The game now has 7.7 million subscribers, which is nothing to sneeze at, but considering that at its peak the game had over 12 million users, and had 8.3 million users just three months ago, this indicates a major drop in subscriptions and revenue for Blizzard. World of Warcraft may continue to shed users as most MMO's go free-to-play and more gamers believe the top MMO's should not require users to pay a monthly fee.

However, there are some signs that Blizzard is adapting to the times and preparing for some major changes. The game is getting an in-game store, with users in Eastern regions being able to buy experience boosting items that will give them a leg-up in gaining levels for their character. It is unclear if this in-game store is going to become a worldwide feature, or if users react negatively to it's inclusion and they do not expand the feature. But considering that free-to-play has become the norm for the MMO genre, Blizzard might be forced to switch to the model and offer microtransactions and optional subscriptions as a way to generate revenue.

Considering the epic run that World of Warcraft has had and the game's impact on the cultural landscape, it is doubtful that the game would completely tank and lose the majority of its remaining users. But games this old (the game was released in 2007) rarely get a surge in popularity this late in their life, and Blizzard may be looking towards a future beyond World of Warcraft. After all, Diablo 3 has proved to be a smash hit on the PC, and with console versions of the game coming to current and next-gen consoles it could replace World of Warcraft as the marquee franchise for Blizzard.

Blizzard is also working on the free-to-play card game Hearthstone Heroes, and the long-rumored Titan MMO, so World of Warcraft's prominence could be coming to an end.

Check back with us for more World of Warcraft and Blizzard news as the game's anniversary approaches and Blizzard gets Diablo 3 ready for consoles.