This is the latest data on how many people play World of Warcraft. According to the latest estimates, WoW has around 8.1 million players in 2023 (including Chinese players). This is a huge number, and it’s evidence that the game is still massively popular, even after all these years. The best part? We’ve also included Wow subscription numbers, revenue, and demographics data. Jump to: World of Warcraft player count WoW subscription numbers World of Warcraft revenue World of Warcraft player demographics World of Warcraft was the first popular digital world that came close to the idea of a metaverse. Sure, there were some constraints set by Blizzard, but it proved a bright future for virtual worlds. World of Warcraft Player Count (Quick Stats) According to estimates, World of Warcraft has around 8.1 million monthly players. The estimates for World of Warcraft daily players range from over 620,000 to 1,860,000 players. In 2023 it’s estimated World of Warcraft has around 4.5 million subscribers, according to Statista. World of Warcraft revenue has reached over $14 billion from 2004 to 2022. Around a third of players play WoW Classic. The average age of World of Warcraft players is 31.29 years. The average daily playtime for World of Warcraft is 3.7 hours. World of Warcraft player count According to estimates, World of Warcraft has around 8.5 million monthly players. In the last 4 years, the monthly active players have ranged from 7.2 million (lowest in September 2019) to 9.52 million (highest in February 2023). The number of monthly players should start rising again in October 2023 until the end of winter, based on the estimates from ActivePlayer.io from previous years. Here’s a chart on how many people play World of Warcraft (Active monthly players): A breakdown of WoW average monthly active players per year: YearMonthly active players estimatesJanuary-September20238.13M20228.45M20218.58M20208.49M20198.1MSource: Estimates from ActivePlayer.io Activision Blizzard reported 45 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in December 2022, but not all of those were playing World of Warcraft. This number includes players of other Blizzard games like Overwatch, Diablo III, StarCraft, Hearthstone, etc. A monthly active player logs in to the game at least once in a given month. WoW daily player count The estimates for World of Warcraft daily players range from 620,000 to 1,860,000 players. WoW player count is different between sources: ActivePlayer.io estimates WoW has, on average, over 620,000 daily players. MMO-Population estimates WoW has, on average, around 1,860,000 daily players. Sources: Activeplayer.io & MMO-population The truth is probably somewhere in between. Do people still play World of Warcraft daily, or are they playing more casually? In the last 4 years, the WoW daily player count ranged from 385,000 (lowest) to 853,000 (highest) daily players, according to ActivePlayer.io The daily player numbers are showing no slowing down, as the game has seen a revival with its World of Warcraft Classic popularity. Now WoW still has many players, but the numbers don’t come close to the Among Us or Minecraft, mainly due to freemium mobile gaming players. WoW subscription numbers It’s estimated World of Warcraft has around 4.6 million subscribers in 2022, according to Statista. This is not an exact number as Activision Blizzard has stopped reporting subscriber counts after 2015. All numbers after 2015 are Statista estimates. It’s likely the real numbers are higher. The forecast didn’t consider the popularity of WoW Classic and the pandemic’s rise in players. But there’s no way to know. Here’s a breakdown of World of Warcraft subscription numbers per year: YearWoW subscription numbersExpansionrelease2023estimated 4.5M2022estimated 4.6M2021estimated 4.7M2020estimated 4.9MShadowlands2019estimated 5M2018estimated 5.2M Battle for Azeroth2017estimated 5.4M2016estimated 5.7MLegion20155.5M2014Over 10MWarlord of Draenor20137.8M20129.6MMists of Pandaria201110.2M2010Over 12MCataclysm expansion release200911.5M2008Over 11.5MWrath of the Lich King2007Over 10MThe Burning Crusade2006Over 6M20055MSource: Activision Blizzard Annual reports, approx. end of the year numbers & Statista 2 World of Warcraft subscriber count peaked in 2010 when it had over 12 million players. Over the years, from 2004 to today, over 100m WoW accounts were created. We checked every Activision Blizzard Annual report for subscription numbers until 2015, after which they didn’t report the data anymore. The numbers for the later years as estimates from other sources. After the release of the Legion expansion, there were speculations that the WoW sub numbers reached 10 million again, specifically 10.1M. Blizzard Entertainment never confirmed or denied the number. But they did confirm tying the record sales of the Legion expansion. It sold 3.3 million units at its release, just like Cataclysm back in 2010 when Wow was at its peak. The actual WoW subscriber count may be higher than estimated. The most successful World of Warcraft expansion, according to initial sales, was Shadowlands which sold 3.7 million units. Here’s a table of the most sold WoW expansions on the release day: Expansion (Year of release)Copies sold on release dayShadowlands (2020)3.7 millionBattle for Azeroth (2018)3.4 millionLegion (2016)3.3 millionWarlords of Draenor (2014)3.3 millionMists of Pandaria (2012)2.7 millionCataclysm (2010)3.3 millionWrath of the Lich King (2008)2.8 millionThe Burning Crusade (2007)2.4 millionSource: Statista 1 One logical explanation for high sales of the latest expansions is that only the most hardcore World of Warcraft players stayed in the game. And those are more likely to buy expansions as they come out. World of Warcraft broke records on its own. It was released on November 23, 2004. In the same year in 2004, WoW sold 240,000 units in 1 day, faster than any other PC game in the United States. World of Warcraft revenue World of Warcraft revenue has reached over $14 billion from 2004 to 2022. This estimate is based on subscription numbers, $13.5 avg. subscription per month, and Chinese player value estimates. See the math below. We estimate Blizzard earned $13.766 billion from subscriptions and royalties alone. You’d also have to add all the WoW merchandise sales and in-game paid services for which we have no data. Therefore, assuming the overall WoW revenue has reached over $14 billion is reasonable. As Blizzard never reported the numbers, here’s the math and reasoning behind it: We can do a rough estimate based on sub-numbers. We took the end-year subscription numbers and assume half of the players paid $15 per month (The other half are Chinese). Some people pay upfront for the discounted 6-month subscription. For this reason, we’ll assume 10% less for the monthly subs revenue ($13.5 instead of $15). The other half of the subscribers are Chinese players who pay less money. They pay on an hourly basis. 30 yuan ($4.3 USD) for 45 hours or 15 yuan ($2.15 USD) for 22.5 hours. Blizzard allegedly gets 50% royalty. That means for each Chinese WoW subscriber, they get around 14% to 33% of a regular monthly subscriber. So, from $2.1 to $5 per month. We assumed the middle value ($3.55) for simplicity. How much money does WoW make annually? Here’s a table with a rough estimate of revenue per year: YearSubscriptionnumbersSubscriptionrevenueChineserevenueCombined20224.60M372.6M97.98M470.58M20214.70M380.7M100.11M480.81M20204.90M396.9M104.37M501.27M20195.00M405M106.5M511.5M20185.20M421.2M110.76M531.96M20175.40M437.4M115.02M552.42M20165.70M 461.7M121.41M583.11M20155.5M445.5M117.15M562.65M201410M810M213M1023M20137.80M631.8M166.14M797.94M20129.60M777.6M204.48M982.08M201110.20M826.2M217.26M1043.46M201012.00M972M255.6M1227.6M200911.50M931.5M244.95M1176.45M200811.50M931.5M244.95M1176.45M200710M 810M213M1023M20066M486M127.8M613.8M20055M405M106.5M511.5MCumulative/10902.6M2866.98M13769.58MBased on Annual reports & estimates Merchandise sales related to the Warcraft universe can’t be solely attributed to World of Warcraft and were omitted from the calculation. The fantasy playing world was first created for previous games like Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II, and Warcraft III strategy games. How many people play WoW classic? Around a third of players play WoW Classic. This is quite considerable and points at the popularity of the classic World of Warcraft world without all the expansions. While the regular WoW servers still have more players, the Classic attracted a considerable number of people. Source: MMO-population/Classic World of Warcraft player demographics The average age of WoW players is 31.29 years. This is quite old compared to other games’ demographics. But considering WoW is an old game that was at its peak in 2010, over a decade ago, the previously main player base has gotten older. Here are other findings on who plays World of Warcraft: The majority of the players are white, with an 82.89% share (excluding Chinese players). WoW players ethnicityShareWhite82.89%Hispanic/Latino8.57%Asian3.53%Other6.57%Source: SAS study 2020 93.12% of female players also play a female character in the game. While only 65.73% of males also play male characters in the game. Younger than 26 years and older than 58 spend more time playing the game than those in between the age range. It seems younger and older people have the most time to play WoW. Average time playing WoW The average daily playtime for World of Warcraft is 3.7 hours. ¾ of players play for more than 1.9 hours per day, and the other ¼ play for more than 4.9 hours per day. This equals the average weekly WoW playing time to more than 25 hours per week (25.9h/week). Average WoW playtimeTimeDaily3.7hWeekly25.9hSource: Sinica.edu Here’s a table of daily WoW playtime by quantiles: QuantileDaily WoW playtime5%0.5h25%1.6h50%3.1h75%5.1h95%8.8hSource: Sinica.edu 50% of players are subscribed for more than 500 days; that’s over 16 months. It proves the game is highly addictive. Which country plays WoW the most? Chinese players present about half of the WoW players, while the United States players are 2nd in numbers. WoW is played per hour in China, and they don’t have a monthly subscription program like in other countries. Here are the countries that play WoW the most, excluding China: CountryShare of playersUnited States22.54%Russia9.58%Germany8.81%France5.55%United Kingdom4.94%Source: PlayerCounter Read more: Rocket League Facts: Player Count & Rank Distribution Minecraft Statistics: Sales, Revenue, Demographics, Player Stats What headsets did PewDiePie wear over the years? Conclusion What do you think about the latest World of Warcraft statistics? While the latest data is mostly estimated, it gives us a good idea of how well this popular MMORPG is doing. It has fallen off its peak popularity, but it’s here to stay for at least a few years. While some may say that the player base is declining, there’s no denying that WoW is still one of the most popular online games. Sources: Activision Blizzard Annual reports ActivePlayer.io MMO-population MMO-population Classic Statista 1 Statista 2 SAS study 2020 Sinica.edu PlayerCounter Matija FerjanMatija Ferjan is a seasoned audio enthusiast reviewing headphones since 2015. He has personally tested hundreds of headphones and earbuds. He’s an active member of the Headphone Audio community and a true nitpicker, always looking for the “best-value-for-money” headphones.
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