MMOData Charts version 3.2 is Live !

The MMOData Charts are currently running in maintenance mode.

This means that I will add all official datapoints that I receive from the stakeholders ( Devs, Publishers, ... ) directly. On top of that I will add datapoints that are easily verified ( for example the official Blizzard press releases ). And datapoints that are send to me by mail from one of the fans, if this includes the source and easely usable datapoints.

What I will not do anymore ( for now ) is make estimates, derivations, heavy research to find new sources and datapoints, etc. Because these things take too much time.

This will also result in data that is even more accurate ( will do only accuracy A and B ) and the mmo's that do not get updated are probably not doing great ( otherwise they would boast about it ).

Version 3.2 notes :

General Changes :

- Added subscription datapoints for following MMO's :
EVE Online, World of Warcraft.
- Added PCU datapoints for following mmo's :
Second Life
- Added the MMOData.net Masthead to the frontpage.
- Rearranged the frontpage.

Internal Changes :

- Added Source links for following mmo's :
EVE Online, Second Life, World of Warcraft, Vanguard.

Second Life does no longer provide PCU numbers

Second Life does no longer provide PCU numbers in their reports or xml.

This probably means that their numbers are declining. It is not so good news for MMOData.net. The latest number I got, 71k, derrived from Dwell on it, confirms that assumption. Furthermore Linden also stopped publishing monthly logins since october 2010.
Dwell on it seems still able to get the 14-day PCU numbers.

Either way, I will try to contact Linden Labs to see if I can get some more information.

On a brighter note, Perpetuum Online has contacted me to provide numbers, they are small, but it does not matter, and they use the same server strategy as EVE Online, so that may become interesting.

Version 3.2 of MMOData.net is on the way

Hey all,

Just letting everyone know that I am still alive and started working on the next verion of MMOData.net

EVE Online, Plex for Remaps canned!

Good news and not so good news.

The good news is that after pressure from the playerbase and the CSM ( Counsil of Stellar Management ), CCP finally decided to let the plans for Plex for Remaps go, and also stated they will not do any gameplay influencing microtransactions nor any additional remaps.

Yep, that is right, they do listen !

Now the bad news is that cosmetic microtransactions are still possible in EVE and more specifically in Incarna ( Walking in Stations ).

I'll keep fighting the good fight against microtransactions, but to be able to do that I had to resub to EVE :p But besides that, it is just a fact that CCP has been listening to the players, and they are focussing more on the quality of the game.

That and alot of good devblogs have been published outlining their plans and their fixes.

To read some more about the microtransactions ( or lack thereoff ), you can check this link :

CCP Devblog about Microtransactions

CCP is going to introduce microtransactions in EVE

Here is the source :

Eurogamer

So after DAoC with ToA and NF, SWG with the CU and NGE, now EVE will have Microtransactions and Dust514.

Another sad day for complex mmorpg's with an equal playing field, or lack thereoff.

MMOData Charts version 3.1 is Live !

I mainly released this version to rectify a mistake with EQII on version 3.0

Version 3.1 notes :

General Changes :

- Revised datapoints for EQII, rectified a mistake.
- Slightly revised latest LOTRO datapoint.
- Changed Genre chart title.
- Changed PCUShard title.
- Removed trendlines from WoW chart.
- Revised description of Shard in the Glossary.
- Moved the "PCU : Largest Shards" up in the list of charts.
- Fixed the links to the "PCU : 500k - 3m" and "PCU : 0 - 500k" charts so that they now once more show the correct chart.

MMOData Charts version 3.0 is Live !

A few key changes and thoughts :

I added Star Trek Online to the charts, it started not so bad at a bit over 100k in the first month, but declined in the following months.

A remarkable recovery can be seen by Age of Conan, which dropped to an estimated low of 79k but then revived to around 115k. It seems the dev team is focussed on improving the game and it pays off.

Lord of the Rings online had a serious drop in subs since last datapoint from June 2009, so it was only logical Turbine introduced the free to play ( try ) model, especially as it worked so well with Dungeons and Dragons Online. If LOTRO has the same increase in subs as DDO had, then we may look at a 400k subs game this time next year.

EVE Online had it's biggest increase ( 40k ) of month over month since it's release, which is pretty amazing for a 7 year old game. It now has 361k subs. Do note that there were some special marketing actions running, and CCP expects to lose many of the newcommers, still if they can hold on to half of them they will have around 340k subs which is still more than the previous high of 329k in March.
They also scored a new PCU record of 60k.

Second Life PCU is going back up well, still not at the same level as before the new bot policy and enforcement, but they will get there eventually I am sure.
Also got 2 numbers which I can't put in a chart yet but are interesting nonetheless : Unique residents spending L$ per month is at 517k and Monthly Unique User Repeat Logins per 30 days is at 826k. Especially the 517k is interesting because it is similar to subscription based numbers and can be used to give an idea how many "subs" second life has.

Aion looks to hold steady now after a bit of a decline, while Warhammer Online keeps going down.

Version 2.9 - 3.0 notes :

General Changes :

- Added Star Trek Online to the charts.
- Added and/or revised subscription datapoints for following mmo's :
Age of Conan, The Matrix Online, Star Trek Online, The Lord of the Rings online, Everquest II, Warhammer Online, Aion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Everquest, EVE Online.
- Added PCU datapoints for following mmo's :
Second Life, EVE Online.
- Added WoW datapoints representing the extended China downtime during 2009.
- Renamed PCU on the largest single cluster shards into PCU on the biggest shards.
- Removed some spam/advertisement comments/posts from the site.
- Fixed some spelling errors.
- Expanded the date range for several charts.
- Revised market share genre chart.
- Improved some color codings.
- Made the site better viewable for resolutions of 1200 x 900 or higher.
- Made a seperate section for the site hit counter.
- Re-ordered mmo's from charts Subs-40k-150k and Subs-0-40k into Subs-50k-150k and Subs-0-50k.
- Renamed the links to most of the charts, if you directly linked to the charts you will need to update most links, I made the names more universal so I don't have to rename them in the near future when individual charts expand or collapse.

Internal Changes :

- Added and revised notes and/or links to datapoints for several MMORPG's.
- Added xfire information.
- Added MUURL datapoint for Second Life.
- Added Unique Residents Spending L$ per Month datapoints for Second Life.
- Expanded all sheets to Juli 2010.
- Revised Cas Derivations sheet.
- Changed names of internal charts for easier updating.

New version 3.0 will be released this week

I have a bit delay with getting the new version ready, but I am confident I will release it somewhere this week.

New EVE numbers and next release of MMOData.net

I just received new numbers from CCP and they look very good, they actually have their biggest increase in active payed subscriptions, month over month, for this month ( Juli 2010 ), since the release of EVE Online.

EVE Online now has 361,389 active paying subscriptions.

EVE is slowly becomming an unreplicated success story in the MMORPG genre. After LOTRO going free to play and even WoW declining in numbers, EVE remains as one of the few, if not the only, premium MMORPG that is still growing.

Realising the biggest increase in subscriptions 7 years after release is something to be proud off, and therefore I congratulate you CCP, for doing this and most importantly for how you did it.

Edit : I just got word from CCP that the increase in subs is due to a reactivation campaign and a $2 Steam offer, so add to that the Tyrannis expansion and that explains the big increase. We will have to wait and see how much they can keep from that, but I have no doubt it will be still more than their last high.

I will release the numbers in v2.9 of the MMOData charts, which I hope will be live on Sunday 18 Juli.

So Tobold questions my WoW numbers ...

And is certain I made them up : Tobold's numeracy, but perhaps he should have done some research first.

And right when I want to make a reply on his blog, he locks it because someone apparently was critisizing it ... mmkay then.


Either way, here are the sources :

Links for 11,5m subs on Jan 10 2010 :
http://seekingalpha.com/article/203610-activision-blizzard-q1-2010-earnings-call-transcript?source=bnet
and
http://kotaku.com/5469063/world-of-warcraft-no-growth-since-2008
and
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98245-Only-30-Percent-of-WoW-Players-Get-Past-Level-10

Link for 11,6m subs on may 2009 :
http://www.blizzplanet.com/blog/comments/e3_2009_blizzard_accepts_guinness_world_record_awards/

Link for 12m subs on January 2009 :
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL246439220090302?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
and
http://kotaku.com/5469063/world-of-warcraft-no-growth-since-2008

Link for 11,5m subs on December 2008 :
http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?081223

Furthermore, even tho WoW has been down due to some difficulties in China, it was only down for a month and there were people playing in both June and July ( downtime was from June 7 till the end of July ).
But in July it was closed beta ( free to play ), so I agree technically it was incorrect to not show it on the graphs.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25337
http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=149114_0_5_0_M
Commercial operation relaunched in Sept 19 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0245010720091102

I will change my charts on the next update to represent the downtime, so the critics have even less basis to their arguments.

EVE Online breaks PCU record !

The new record is 60,453 pilots online at 19:53 GMT on 6 Jun 2010.

Source :

http://www.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=3934&tid=1

MMOData Charts version 2.8 is Live !

A few key changes :

- Finally added the datapoints showing the decline of WoW.

- Added and revised various new datapoints and games.

- Added and revised the requirements to make the charts, also made a definition of "subscribers". You can find this under the "MMO and Accuracy list".

- Because of this revision, some mmo's had to be removed from the charts until some day more and/or better info is available.

Version 2.8 notes :

General Changes :

- Added following MMORPG's to MMOData.net ( Datapoints to the "PCU chart" and ratings to the "MMO and Accuracy list" ) :
Ask Tao, Yu Yan, Tian Long Ba Bu, Fantasy Journey Online, Wu Lin Wai Zhuan, The First Myth, Zhen Feng Shen.
- Added subscription datapoints for following games :
World of Warcraft, Dofus, Final Fantasy XI, Warhammer Online
- Added PCU datapoints for following games :
Yulgang, Zengthu Online, Shou Xue Fei Teng, Fantasy Westward Journey, Giant Online, Dofus, EuDemons, Shaiya, Westward Journey Online II, World of Warcraft.
- Revised subscription datapoints for following games :
FFXI.
- Revised PCU datapoints for following games :
Fantasy Westward Journey, Zengthu Online, Westward Journey Online II, World of Warcraft, Eudemons.
- Updated the "Total MMOG active subscriptions" chart.
- Reclassified MMO's between the 0-500k PCU and 500k-3m PCU chart.
- Added following requirements to the "MMO and Accuracy list" :
B. Need to have at least 2 good datapoints.
C. PCU datapoints validity.
D. MMOData.net Subscriber Definition.
- Added translated, native and previous ( old ) names to some MMO's on the "MMO and Accuracy list".
- Moved following mmorpg's from the public charts to internal only charts because only 1 datapoint is available :
Wen Dao, Soul of the Ultimate nation, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Sphere.
- Revised the "MMO and Accuracy list".
- Expanded most charts to June 2010.
- Made various cosmetic changes to the PCU and Subscription charts.
- Revised the Glossary.

Internal Changes :

- Added FFXI PCU datapoint
- Expanded most sheets to may 2010
- Added following mmorpg's to the MMOData charts internal only because they do not yet meet status or datapoint requirements :
Zhengtu Online Green, Heroic Island, Journey to the west, Shu Men Online, Tian Xia II, Legend of Stardust, Zhu Hou Online, Westward Journey Wai Zhuan, Concerto Gate II, Zhengtu Online Classic, Dragon Knight, Yi Tian Jian Yu Tu Long Dao, Hero Online II, Fire Narrows, Tian Ji Online, Cabal Online, Uncharted Waters Online, Feng Yun Online, Age of Armor, Magic World online, DOL Online, Cronous, Tian Shi Zhi Lian Online, HX 2 Online, Neo Steam, Da Tang Feng Yun, King of Kings 2, Archlord, Datang, Fate of Dragon Online, Dekaron, Shaolin Online, QQ Fantasy, Seal Online, World of Qin, Sanguo Heroes Online, Blade Online, Sheng Xiao Chuan Shuo, World of Kungfu, Zhu Xian Online, Perfect World II, Voyage Century
- Added various source and informational links.
- Added datapoints for Second Life.
- Fixed some CAS errors.
- Made Various other internal changes.

Update to v2.8 is in progress

So if you see any strange things, come back in 30 minutes :p

MMOData charts v2.8 expected release date

Update : I won't be able to make the deadline, next ETA is 16/05/2010

Hey all,

Just to let you know that I am alive and busy on the next release of the MMOData charts v2.8

I hope to have it ready and released by 09/05/2010

Most important news is of course the decline of WoW, while this is old news by now, you will finally be able to see the decline on the charts.

I made some new rules for admittance on the site, one of them being that an mmo needs at least 2 usable datapoints, mmo's with only 1 datapoint have been removed ( until I someday get 2 or more ).

Finally I have added a bunch of new mmo's, mostly Asian PCU's.

It is a work in progress and more changes and updates may be made, if anyone has any interesting numbers, feel free to mail me at cyberwiz@mmodata.net

World of Warcraft in decline, but perhaps not for long ...

Hey all,

Yep, World of Warcraft subscription numbers are declining for the first time in it's history.

In december 2008 WoW had 11,5m active subscribers, in may 2009 it was already clear WoW was stagnating with 11,6m active subscribers and now Blizzard Top Dog, Mike Morhaime, says WoW is stable with 11,5m active subscribers, which is actually a small decline of 100k subs.

However, meanwhile the GAPP ( Chinese government ) finally approved The Burning Crusade, so WoW China is back on track, and will probably bolster Chinese WoW numbers in the near future.

Add to that the upcomming expansion Cataclysm in the West and one can see that WoW still has a strong future ahead.

Update :
It seems WoW has actually been on 12 million players around January 2010, this means that their current numbers are a bigger drop than first assumed.
You can check this link : WoW and Vivendi at Reuters
At first I was reluctant to use this number, but after comparing them to the PCU numbers I got it looks to be valid after all.

MMOData Charts version 2.7 Live !

Hey all,

A few key changes :

- In previous update I removed the Top 10 chart and now I removed the Market share chart. This because I feel that atm I do not have enough mmo's listed and many mmo's are not up to date to keep the TOP 10 and Market Share charts relevant.
This also means I am less pressured to make an estimate, if the last mmo datapoint is old, it does not matter as much as before, so I can make an estimate when I feel I have enough information.

- I have reviewed all MMO's, estimates and accuracy ratings.

- I divided the PCU chart in 2 charts, similar to the Subscription charts, so it will be less cluttered and more easely readable.

- I have added and revised many datapoints and mmo's, a lot of Q3-09 and Q4-09 info was processed and many charts and sheets were expanded to Januari 2010.


Version 2.4-2.7 notes :

General Changes :

- Added PCU datapoints for EVE Online.
- Added Subscriptions datapoints for EVE Online.
- Added "Giant Online" to the PCU chart.
- Added "Shou Xue Fei Teng" to the PCU chart.
- Added "Conquer Online" to the PCU chart.
- Added "Zero Online" to the PCU chart.
- Added PCU datapoints for WoW.
- Added PCU datapoints for Westward Journey Online II.
- Added PCU datapoints for Fantasy Westward journey.
- Added PCU datapoints for Eudemons.
- Added, Revised and Updated Aion datapoints with the Q3-09 NCSoft report and Conference call findings and other new information.
- Updated WAR estimated datapoint.
- Slightly revised estimated EQ datapoint.
- Added estimated datapoint for AoC, based on the Q3-09 report's financial data.
- Combined WoW China and WoW West PCU datapoints.
- Split PCU chart into 2 charts : 0-500k and 500k-3m.
- Expanded axis to 2010 for some charts.
- Completed Glossary page.
- Removed some MMO links from the frontpage.
- Forwarded http://mmodata.net to the news page instead of the general page.
- Removed Market Share Chart.
- Removed Contribution Chart.
- Removed WoW from genre chart ( it is now once more included in Fantasy ).
- Reviewed Accuracy ratings.
- Made various other cosmetic changes.

Internal only Changes :

- Expanded all the sheets to Januari 2010.
- Made seperate EVE Online Sheet.
- Moved, added and revised EVE comments, they are now all on the seperate EVE Online sheet.
- Added Monthly PCU, PCU Peak, Monthly Trials, Monthly Subs and Monthly Active players to the EVE Online sheet.
- Revised WoW comments.
- Moved all WoW comments to WoW Sheet.
- Added WoW PCU datapoints to WoW sheet.
- Moved all SL comments to SL Sheet.
- Added datapoints to SL.
- Compared PCU Cluster sheet with SL sheet and added missing datapoints.
- Made various other internal changes.
- Added more source links and information for Aion, LOTRO, EVE Online and some others.