8 Million Subscribers for World of Warcraft

Blizzard announced this week that its blockbuster MMORPG virtual world World of Warcraftnow has more than 8 million subscribers around the world. That total includes 3.5 million players in China, 2 million in North America and 1.5 million in Europe. That’s a ton of players, and clearly represents a huge revenue stream for Blizzard.

How much is WoW making? It’s hard to say for sure, as many of those subscribers pay less than the $14.95 monthly fee paid by most U.S. players. Blizzard’s press release say that subscribers include “individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers.” Game rooms (also known as “game bangs”) are huge in South Korea.

WoW is reported to have North American revenue of about $200 million. Income from Warcraft’s massive base of China gamers is much lower, as noted by Wagner James Au at GigaOm: “Chinese pay to play by the hour, and what they pay isn’t much: the yuan equivalent of $.04/hour. And while they play a lot, this also means total revenue from China is just 15% of WoW’s Western market. ($30 million versus $200 million, in 2006’s second quarter.)” WoW is available in seven different languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

For additional coverage, see WoW Insider, Joystiq, Blue’s News and Clickable Culture.