When passionate WoW gamers talk to others about their favorite MMORPG, the common argument used is “World of Warcraft has the most players!” So far, it seemed that this was indeed the case on the surface. But how does the following headline fit in, which is currently circulating on the internet: Dota 2 reportedly has 7.86 million users who play the MOBA regularly – and that’s more than WoW?!
Shock… Breathlessness… Silence… and then reflection. As a passionate Wow player, I immediately ask myself:
What kind of comparison is this?
Dota 2 is a completely different game with a different mechanic, from another genre. In short: This is a comparison of apples and oranges from the start! And: Not only are the 7.6 million Wow players paying fees, while anyone can play Dota 2 – the MOBA doesn’t even earn as much through microtransactions (e.g. pets, mounts, etc.) as Blizzard! According to a market study by SuperData Research, Blizzard is among the top earners in additional paid services in the MMO genre. In 2013, they generated $213 million from it (besides, for example,
- Wargaming with World of Tanks ($372 million) or
- EA with SWTOR ($139 million).
Dota 2 doesn’t even appear on this list. It may now be that 200,000 more players are playing Dota 2 compared to Wow – but the comparison is still severely flawed! The player numbers are hopefully going to increase significantly with the release of the next expansion Warlords of Draenor. But considering how many players Blizzard has kept engaged over the years, that’s quite an achievement.
Now all Wow fans can sit back with a slightly bruised ego and relax with a pat on the back: World of Warcraft is, despite all the doomsaying, still not dead!!!
PS: This article is of course not against Dota 2! But this had to be clarified!
