The MMO trends in November show a clear picture. While World of Warcraft experienced a significant increase in playtime thanks to Warlords of Draenor compared to October, the sandbox MMO ArcheAge saw a substantial decrease in playtime after a difficult month.
The numbers from ratpr measure how many hours players have spent in PC games while running the program “raptr”. Since there are no official numbers on how many active accounts most games have, the ratpr numbers are the next best approximation for a trend.
However, it is important to note that games that invite players to spend many hours in them are preferred. Naturally, MMOs are therefore far ahead.
World of Warcraft increases by 70%
The MMORPG World of Warcraft saw the expected massive increase in playtime that was anticipated from the expansion Warlords of Draenor, which launched in mid-November. It increased by more than 70% compared to October. Even then, there was an increase.
However, the accumulated hours of WoW players are not enough to reach the top.
In December, the number is likely to drop slightly again. Most players have their main characters at the maximum level of 100 and are now focused on raids. They are playing “normally” again, which should still be substantial with the mass of players, but probably not enough to challenge League of Legends.
ArcheAge loses 40%
The sandbox MMO ArcheAge was a pleasant surprise in the past two months, initially skyrocketing in player favor with the release and even climbing higher in October.
ArcheAge is still in a strong position in 6th place, making it the second most-played MMO on the list.
However, the trend has clearly taken a downward turn, more than pure placement might suggest. Players have spent 40% fewer hours in ArcheAge. November was anything but positive.
The boost that the big content patch Auroria was supposed to bring does not seem to have worked, especially since the release of Auroria was accompanied by significant problems. The server downtimes at the end of November did not help either. After two months, a decline in the player base is noticeable for every MMO.
It can be assumed that ArcheAge will continue to decline in December.
War Thunder appears in the Top Twenty
Otherwise, little is happening in the list, at least among the games we cover at mein-mmo.de.
In Hearthstone, November was relatively calm and stable, but December could change that with the release of Goblins vs Gnomes. Similar to Guild Wars 2, it has lost some playtime compared to October, even though its rank has increased.
Star Wars: The Old Republic lost two ranks in November. This could very well change with the expansion now in December.
The trend looks different for Final Fantasy XIV and World of Tanks. Here, the numbers were slightly better than in October. For FF XIV, they even increased by 20%, possibly thanks to the Game-of-the-Year edition with free playtime, as well as the new patch and hotfixes.
Smite is surprisingly strong as well. And it now breaks into the top 5 for the first time. Perhaps the game will establish itself as a third force in the MOBA area. Although Blizzard with Heroes of the Storm might have something to say about that in the not too distant future.
And for MMO fans, positively: War Thunder secures a spot in the top 20.
How did it go in the last few months?
- Raptr trends in October: ArcheAge after World of Warcraft most played MMO in October
- Raptr trends in September: ArcheAge the big winner
- Raptr trends in August: Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, World of Tanks, World of Warcraft strong
- Raptr trends in July: WildStar and The Elder Scrolls Online fall, FF XIV rises
- Raptr trends in June: WildStar up, The Elder Scrolls Online down
