EA and Mythic cut staff in response to lower than expected Warhammer subscriber numbers.
In November, EA revealed that Warhammer Online (WAR) had sold in the realm of 800,000 units. At the time, there was a quoted ‘more than 70%’ retention rate on those sales, meaning that roughly 560,000 people had continued to subscribe beyond the first months. Yesterday, EA announced that the subscriber base for WAR was now 300,000 people.
While a loss of 500,000 subscribers in a few months isn’t exactly the thing MMO dreams are made of, it is probably safe to say that WAR has pushed through initial exuberance into reality. 2008 was an incredibly turbulent year for MMOs, with the two big-name up-and-comers, Age of Conan and WAR, running headlong into the juggernaut that is World of Warcraft (WoW). In between the two EA announcements was Wrath of the Lich King, the WoW expansion that has brought a lot of players back to the fold.
2009 is a very different year. The big-name games in development are still at least a year away, with smaller MMOs like Champions Online and Aion due rather than anything with pretences of WoW-killing. There is no WoW expansion due, just the patch-based content drops that every MMO does as a matter of course nowadays. This means that those who have stuck with WAR will likely stay around.
A nasty side-effect of this subscriber drop is that Mythic is shedding more staff. Cuts were mentioned by EA, and Joystiq has gone further, estimating between 60-130 staff let go, including design and senior management staff. In attempts to quell complaints, Mark Jacobs has explained that the cuts are a natural part of moving to a post-launch environment.
All in all, it doesn’t mean a huge amount for people still playing WAR. Mythic has extensive experience with ongoing support for MMOs and, as Jacobs points out, the staffing on WAR is larger than it was for its long-running Dark Age of Camelot. The only bit of his announcement that smells of marketing spin is attributing lessened support demand to players becoming more familiar with the game. Dropping 500,000 subscribers would certainly have a direct impact on demand for support, and this is a much more likely cause than a simple de-noobifying of the audience.
While many see these numbers as doom and gloom for WAR, in reality, it is a very impressive subscriber base for an MMO. If Mythic can sustain and perhaps build upon the audience, then it bodes well for a long and productive run.
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