Legion, the latest expansion to World of Warcraft, which was released in August, has been met with rave reviews, reviving interest in the 12-year-old MMORPG.
In an interview with Pixel, a Polish video game magazine, World of Warcraft game designer Tom Chilton reportedly said that with the release of Legion, the number of subscribers for the MMORPG increased to more than 10 million subscribers, a number that is almost double compared with the 5.5 million reported gamers early this year under the Warlords of Draenor expansion.
In the translation of the interview, which was posted on the NeoGAF forums, Chilton said that the current subscriber number for World of Warcraft is at about 10.1 million, adding that it is hard to say what the future holds for the long-running MMORPG. Chilton believes that the number of subscribers could be boosted to over 12 million though despite there being an internal competitor in first-person shooter Overwatch, as there are more than 100 million accounts in total for World of Warcraft.
Reaching 10.1 million active players for World of Warcraft upon the release of Legion would be great news to both Blizzard and gamers alike, as it speaks about the longevity of the game and the support that it still receives.
However, Blizzard refuted the number, stating that it was either a misquote or a misunderstanding between Chilton and the journalist who wrote the article.
The publisher did not confirm or deny the said 10.1 million subscribers, as it simply reiterated its policy that it will no longer be releasing subscriber numbers of World of Warcraft.
The peak number of 12 million subscribers for World of Warcraft was reached in late 2010, a figure that has since eluded the MMORPG. When expansions Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor were launched, the game saw an increase of subscribers, but never reached 12 million. In addition, after the initial surge upon the release of a new expansion, the number of subscribers saw steep declines.
The 5.5 million subscribers recorded in early 2016 under Warlords of Draenor was actually the lowest since late 2005, when the game was just a year old and a year before the first expansion, Burning Crusade.
Legion seemingly addressed issues that have been present in previous expansions, which is why the 10.1 million subscribers that Chilton mentioned was believable. With entertaining gameplay, great enemies, a memorable first raid, an impressive new class and massive hidden bosses, Legion certainly has the capability of not only bringing back World of Warcraft gamers into the fold, but also keep them interested.
