Blizzard can still "build and sustain" WoW subs base despite decrease

Blizzard International VP and Managing Director Michael Ryder has said that it can still "build and sustain" the subs base for World of Warcraft, despite a decrease in memberships within the MMO.

WoW subs finally reached 12 million earlier this year after the release of Cataclysm last December, but the number shrunk by 900k, with the base at 11.1 million as of last quarter, although Blizzard had said it had seen a significant increase following the launch of the F2P Starter Pack.

Despite that, Ryder still remains optimistic of growth, with Blizzard launching the game in Brazil later this year and the Chinese launch of Cataclysm this past summer in July.

"We are launching in Brazil this year and we have great expectations for that. The numbers you might be looking at from the end of the last quarter, that was before Cataclysm launched in China. That is a big part of our business going forward," he told MCV.

"We also changed the trial mechanism for World of Warcraft, so people trying it can now play in an unlimited way up to level 20. In the past it was time-based. Our data shows when people get to level 20 they’re more likely to stay on, as they have got over that initial learning curve. That will help us build and sustain our player base."