Grats Blizzard

noel · Post by **noel** » November 29, 2004, 3:32 pm

Some pretty impressive numbers here... 250k sold, 200k accounts created, and 100k simultaneous users online all in the first day.

http://www.blizzard.com/press/042427.shtml

RVINE, Calif. - November 24, 2004 - Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that World of Warcraft® has become an instant success, achieving epic sales figures in less than 24 hours. Launched Tuesday, November 23rd, the company's subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) sold-through to consumers an estimated 250,000* copies of the game. At retailers across the country, players lined up for blocks at midnight to purchase the game, which sold out in many stores nationwide after only one day on store shelves.

In just the first day alone, over 200,000 players created World of Warcraft accounts, and over 100,000 were already playing the game concurrently as of 5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday. The account-creation and concurrent-user populations are both record numbers for a MMORPG on its first day of launch, making World of Warcraft the fastest-growing online game in history. World of Warcraft is expected to continue to shatter records and achieve a record-setting week-one population in the days ahead. With dozens of World of Warcraft servers already filled to capacity, Blizzard is deploying additional servers rapidly to match the growing player base.

"We had a lot of confidence in World of Warcraft, but the success on day one far exceeded our expectations," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "We are extremely happy that players are enjoying our game, and we are doing everything we can to meet the demand and maintain a fun and smooth game experience for everyone playing."

Lalanae · Post by **Lalanae** » November 29, 2004, 4:47 pm

Its amazing what a good reputation will do. Wonder how those figures stacked up against EQ2?

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » November 29, 2004, 4:55 pm

~$12.5 Million on the first day of sales

at 25% retention at 30 days, = $937,500.00 a month
at 50% retention at 30 days, = $1,875,000.00 a month
at 75% retention at 30 days, = $2,812,500.00 a month

Assuming similar sales from Korea, and similar sales for both Korea and the US through the remainder of the year:

~$50 Million in sales by January 1

at 25% retention at 30 days, = $3,750,000.00 a month
at 50% retention at 30 days, = $7,500,000.00 a month
at 75% retention at 30 days, = $11,250,000.00 a month

If even the most conservative numbers pan out, this game will make a large amount of money in the next six months; I suspect that they will have turned a tidy profit by Christmas.

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » December 1, 2004, 6:03 pm

http://www.blizzard.com/press/041201.shtml

Blizzard wrote:IRVINE, Calif. - December 1, 2004 - Blizzard Entertainment® today confirmed that World of Warcraft® has broken day-one sales records in North America, making it the most successful PC game launch ever. World of Warcraft, the company's subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), sold through to over 240,000 customers at retailers in North America on Tuesday, November 23, selling more in its first 24 hours than any other PC game in history.*

In addition to shattering sales records, World of Warcraft also broke peak concurrency and account creation records for a MMORPG. Within the first day, over 200,000 players created World of Warcraft accounts. By 5:00 p.m. PST, over 100,000 were playing the game concurrently. These two record-breaking numbers made World of Warcraft the fastest-growing MMORPG in history. Within a single day, all original 40+ World of Warcraft servers were filled to capacity, and by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, more than 40 additional servers were deployed to meet the rapidly growing player base, as the number of new accounts and concurrent users continued to grow.

"We were all extremely pleased with the success of World of Warcraft on its first day of launch," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "Once we saw the numbers for the first day, we knew that we had to immediately increase capacity to accommodate the huge numbers of players joining our game. We're glad so many people are enjoying World of Warcraft, and we are dedicated to supporting a fun and smooth game experience for everyone."

Retailers across North America reported that the World of Warcraft launch was unequivocally their biggest day-one sales in PC gaming history. Leading industry retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, EB, and GameStop, all reported that hundreds of their stores sold out of World of Warcraft within the first day.

"World of Warcraft has once again shown that Blizzard consistently delivers the best games in the industry," said Robert McKenzie, vice president of merchandising at GameStop. "It sold better than any other PC game this year - in fact, World of Warcraft enjoyed the best day-one sell-through GameStop has ever seen on a PC title!"

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, players continued to buy World of Warcraft in record numbers, with a total of over 350,000* copies of the game selling through. Blizzard Entertainment and its retail partners expect the remaining supplies of World of Warcraft to sell out soon. Blizzard is currently evaluating its ability to ship additional games to retailers, given the unexpectedly high demand on the servers. The company continues to increase server capacity to accommodate the growing number of players connecting to the game. As the additional servers are brought online and proven stable, additional copies of World of Warcraft will be made available at retail. Blizzard will announce the availability of those additional games as soon as they are on shelves.

In light of this, I would probably venture that my numbers above were underestimate of this year's sales volume. I would cautiously guess 50% more on the box sales over my rough numbers, or:

~$75 Million in sales by January 1

at 25% retention at 30 days, = $5,625,000.00 a month
at 50% retention at 30 days, = $11,250,000.00 a month * my guess
at 66% retention at 30 days, = $14,850,000.00 a month
at 75% retention at 30 days, = $16,875,000.00 a month

noel · Post by **noel** » December 1, 2004, 6:19 pm

I think the retention will be higher than 50%, but that's just me.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » December 1, 2004, 6:27 pm

I personally might have a 200% retention rate =p

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » December 1, 2004, 6:31 pm

If WoW is working anything like EQ did that is more than 40 actual computer systems... I'm guessing 10 to 20 systems per "server." For anyone that works in the industry or outsourcing you probably realize that pretty freaking amazing for 4 days worth of work to have them built, the network and power installed, OS installed, game installed, tested online... VERY impressive!

Marb

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » December 1, 2004, 6:38 pm

Marbus wrote:If WoW is working anything like EQ did that is more than 40 actual computer systems... I'm guessing 10 to 20 systems per "server." For anyone that works in the industry or outsourcing you probably realize that pretty freaking amazing for 4 days worth of work to have them built, the network and power installed, OS installed, game installed, tested online... VERY impressive!

Marb

Disk Images....

noel · Post by **noel** » December 1, 2004, 6:39 pm

Honestly, I think the only potential obstacles to retention rate are:

1. Players who've never MMOGed before letting the technical issues for the first 1-2 months bother them enough to quit.

2. PvP players making bullshit requests and complaints that end up fucking up the normal game.

3. Blizzard not being proactive enough with duping bugs and other cheats.

I don't think 1 or 3 will be much of an issue, but 2 worries me a bit.

Cotto · Post by **Cotto** » December 1, 2004, 10:23 pm

noel wrote:Honestly, I think the only potential obstacles to retention rate are:

1. Players who've never MMOGed before letting the technical issues for the first 1-2 months bother them enough to quit.

2. PvP players making bullshit requests and complaints that end up fucking up the normal game.

3. Blizzard not being proactive enough with duping bugs and other cheats.

I don't think 1 or 3 will be much of an issue, but 2 worries me a bit.

I would think, and hope, that should any dick-head pvp requests be taken onboard, they would primarily, possibly only, be implimented within PvP servers. However, surely they have had dealings with their B.net dicks for long enough to use some sense.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » December 2, 2004, 1:15 am

I agree Arch, or they could have many of them on a SAN and just push everything... still a pretty impress feat IMHO though.

Marb