Here in the first world, most of us have the luxury of looking upon $15 dollars as a small fee, hardly enough to buy dinner for two at a restaurant slightly more fashionable than McDonald’s (Actually, you probably won’t get a combo meal for two for $15 at McD’s either). When it comes to MMOs and subscriptions, however, people seem less keen to offer up their hard earned cash.
Which segues into Blizzard and the most popular MMO on earth, World of Warcraft. I think Blizzard would see a massive influx of profit and subscribers if they were to lower the monthly subscription price to $9.99, out of the enormous amount of new and alternate accounts that would be created. It seems like a slight change in price, however to the consumer’s psyche, ten dollars feels like a lot less than fifteen. To put it into perspective, whenever the store I work at has a sale on Vitamin Water, the price drops to 10 for $10, or $1 a bottle. The price, without sale, is $1.02 per bottle. For the fact that it’s a two cent drop in price, the sale (the image “sale”) always generates a massive response that knocks the product out of stock after just a couple of days. Without fail, every time. After about five sales this past year, no one has apparently caught on.
Lowering the subscription rate on World of Warcraft would effectively knock off the numerous players who are sitting on the fence about starting/restarting their Azeroth adventures, and what better time than right before the release of a new expansion? Try the new and improved World of Warcraft, now at a cheaper rate! It is the most popular, now it’s among the cheapest!
More after the break…
Before anyone brings it up, Blizzard does not spend much on World of Warcraft compared to how much they make. Since 2004, World of Warcraft has cost Blizzard $200 million to keep going, less than the company makes in a single quarter’s revenue. Sure, World of Warcraft has 11 million “subscribers”, but technically only three million actually pay the $15 a month subscription fee. The rest are located in Asia, where monthly subscription has been replaced with purchasing hours, and is considerably cheaper than the western markets (approximately 6 cents per hour in China)
More importantly, I’ll point out that this isn’t the cry of some cheapskate who wants to play WoW for a decreased price. As many of you know, I am obscenely subscriber-happy with my MMOs, and am currently playing Alganon, City of Heroes, Champions Online, Darkfall, Runescape, Age of Conan, and beta testing Star Trek Online. Granted only a few of those actually require me to pay monthly (Runescape, Darkfall, and Alganon). I, personally, have no investment in World of Warcraft, nor intention on getting back into the title, even if it were to go free to play. I am happily retired after an unconfirmed number of years on and off.
What does the rest of the MMO community think? Any reasons you think people would actually leave WoW over this decision? Would this give WoW too big of a market share?
MMO Fallout 
Na I think the subscription plan for most sub based MMOs is fair and just about right, if anything WoWs competition should lower their prices due to inferior products.
The way I look at it is £8.99 or $15 is very good value for an almost unlimited amount of game time that month. Say you buy a single player game for £30 or $60, unless its like a Dragon Age or Bioshock I wouldnt think you would get the same return on your money as you do with MMOs i.e they will maybe last you a week if your playing 4-5 hours a night and have little replay value.
It is interesting that you mention the competition. Ragnarok Online and Requiem just lowered their subscription prices.
I’d like to think Ultima Online holds some of its players due to its lower-than-standard pricing, and Dungeons and Dragons Online saw a 40% increase in paying subscribers after going free to play. Runescape carries on about $7 a month, and Eve Online allows you to pay your subscription through in-game cash.
I’m putting out a spotlight at the end of the month for 2010, where I mention several games I think would be in their best interest to go free or at least lower the subscription rate.
Although you are absolutely right. World of Warcraft has a wealth of content for $15 a month, so much so that I believe lowering the monthly price has a heavy risk of knocking the competition out of the water. I have no doubts that if WoW were to change to $10 a month, you would see Warhammer Online and several other MMOs shut down over the course of a year. People like simplicity with added difficulty, and that is exactly what World of Warcraft has to offer. Easy to dive in, smooth sailing.
And again, thank you for your comment.