Kotaku
Whenever a developer who works for a company that doesn't make MMOs pipes up and says "PC gaming is dead", they really mean they just can't make money selling what they're selling. Maybe it's because of piracy, like many say, but hey, maybe it's also because they don't make MMOs, because NPD figures released today show that Americans spent over $1 billion on online subscriptions last year. That money came from an estimated 11 million subscribers, the majority of whom were obviously playing WoW, with RuneScape, LotRO, FFXI and City of Heroes following (in that order) in its wake. NPD say "it's clear that there is a sizable chunk of revenue being generated by PC gaming beyond what is reflected in retail sales", and really, none of us are in a position to argue with that.
Online subscriptions exceed $1 billion a year, says NPD [GI.biz]
Comments
Don't forget DDO =)
This is what I call a "Well, Fucking Duh" Moment.
World of Warcraft costs $15 a month. At 10 million subscribers, that's 150 million a month.
With twelve months in a year at 150 million a month, you've got 1.8 billion from World of Warcraft alone.
Of course they've surpassed a billion. Any idiot can do sixth grade math.
That picture is just amazing really, and true.
@dead_red_eyes: SouthPark. "Make love, not warcraft".
Probably the only downloaded anything from Live-Marketplace.
You know Rockstar+SouthPark collabo is coming. Its inevitable.
Heeeeeeyyyyyy!!!!!!!
I don't notice when you take that picture to me >:(
LOL,just joking,not true??? XD
Luckily I just canceled my subscription to FFXI. >.> Was way addicted, but then the whole grinding and not being able to level on my own finally got to me. That and everyone I played with quit. But good for pc gaming, it'll never go away...
"I don't know who that guy is, but he's one tough badass."
Haha, great episode!
I find myself trying very hard to imagine a billion dollars. Seems almost incomprehensible...and that's only in the US.
Maybe it'll go to 2b with Age of Conan? >_>
Whoever is still up can snag a cool ABC's gaming shirt at [shirt.woot.com] took 1st place in the current derby.
@Cogito: I'm not your guy, FRIEND
1) I'm a gamer
2) I have a "life"
3) I'm sure glad I'm not like that dude up there. it'd be an embarassment to the gaming community living off hot pockets and Rockstars.
@Palladium:
It obvious, but it still needs to be said. People like to chime in aobut how PC gaming is dying because it only raked in 900 million in retail sales last year. It's figures like this that people need to see. The majority of PC game sales take place online through subscriptions or systems like steam and d2d. It's obvious to you and me, but many people have no bloody clue
@Fyren:
I know where it's from. Thanks tho.
@D Mitsuki: I'm not your friend, BUDDY
So thats a tangible number. WoW has how much of the market?, just divide a billion by it.
Might as well divide with 0, since its gazillion dollars.
Wait...RUNESCAPE.
In front of FFXI, LoTRO, and CoH?! Jesus, there's a lot of kids with shitty computers out there.
@Palladium: The 1 billion figure was for the US not worldwide, only around about a quarter of the 10 million WoW subscribers are in the US acording to the last released figures.
WoW users do not have Rigs that bitchin'.
FFXI players maybe, LoTRO players maybe, but definitely not WoW users.
I hear by declare that despite the fact that South Park showed that as a WoW user that image is to be used for all of us that upgraded our rigs to play Crysis.
martin has it, wow has 2 million users in the us. 2 more in europe and the remainder in china/korea, where they have different payment systems and do not pay a flat 15 dollars per month fee. im surprised eq2 fell below city of heroes, it had been higher but was slowly trending downward. Im amazed to see ffXI still doing so well, unless they changed a lot since i played, it was one of the most user unfriendly mmos out there.
I bought like 3 games during the 1.5 year period i played WoW. So it might actually be hurting the industrie, on the other hand its made Blizzard rich enough to support it themselves :P
When I first heard of Everquest, I thought it weird that anyone would ever pay per month and voxed I'd never contribute to such a filthy money making scheme.
Now, it just feels weird if I do not have any monthy mmo fees going.
Fatasses.
The idea of playing an ongoing MMO is as alien to me as console gaming is to so many other people out there. I just can't fathom how on earth it could be fun.
Of course, watching "Make Love Not Warcraft" absolutely guarunteed that I will never touch such a game. Brilliant episode though =)
I think Warcraft is a lot of fun and have made many of the same comments as the posters above before I tried it. $1 billion dollars is a lot of scratch and MMOs are probably the only reason PC gaming will be alive in 10 years.
@Daobaz: Haha, I know what you mean. But I guess I thought it was such a crap idea at first because I wasn't even old enough to own my own credit card. But here am I now, playing FFXI since it's release five years ago.
People might think subscriptions suck, but an MMO has helped me save money and has helped me refrain from impulse buying any games that I'll probably never play.
"Americans Now Spend $1 Billion A Year On Game Subscriptions"
...for their kids.
Plus I wonder how many people out there have a subscription that isn't really used. My dad's been paying for my RS account for close to a year now and I haven't really played much since high school.
And don't forget games and online communities like Habbo and Maplestory where you don't necessarily subscribe, but pay for accessories and extras.
@Daobaz:
Yeah I was the same until WoW came along... curses.
Depressing that Runescape is even classed as an MMO when it's really just a depressingly bad browser based game. Even worse is that it has more subscribers than FFXI.
I hope not.
The MMORPG genre is dyiing, if only, because WoW and stagnation. Players will get bored soon, and want to play something else WITH A CHAT CONSOLE.
I don't know what the future players will play, but It will have the /bow emote, and It will *NOT* be a sucesfull profitable MMO (note, can be a not-profitable mmo).
I contribute to this through City of Heroes, and I'm proud to admit it.
MMOs aren't the only thing PC gaming has to offer... I really wish they'd innovate more though. City of Heroes is on the right track.
@Tei: I think 'dying' is the wrong work. It's SKYROCKETING.
There is stagnation, but also innovation coming steadily. I wouldn't place any bets yet.
@Fyren: God, I hope so. After "Make Love, Not Warcraft" and "Guitar Queero," I trust Matt and Trey with any game franchise.
I quit WoW... I havnt touched my PC since. Maybe for downloading some cartoons or checking movie times. paying bills, but not gaming. The sad thing is I keep upgrading it. Oh well. I need a fix, Age of Conan... Think we can start downloading it tomorrow. THANK GOD I need someone to give 15 dollars a mounth so I can slaughter 13 year olds in California.
LOL That was a great episode of South Park, and yeah, I quit playing WoW, the payments, ugh, and not to mention the grinding just to level up.
Well I pay $49 for 6 months of Phantasy Star Universe. =(
I would pay for a subscription if the game was good enough, but WoW, SWG, FFXI and Tabula all ended up boring after a while. It's nice to be free and playing the good console games.
Is this why US economy sucks right now? Because we're playing too much video games and not going out buying other shit?
@_tdc_ NO.
Every game developer should just go with Steam and profit.
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