Blizzard Hoards $1.2 Billion in 2007

January 30, 2008 2:06 PM

Ever wonder what those record World of Warcraft subscription numbers translate to? Over a billion dollars in revenue, according to a Vivendi financial statement released today.

Vivendi subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment posted revenues of $814 million euros (US $1.2B) last year, up 58 percent over 2006.

The numbers are attributed to the first quarter release of the company's first MMO expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, in addition to an all-time high of 10 million worldwide Warcraft subscribers.

In comparison, other Vivendi companies, including Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online, and Vivendi Games Mobile, only brought in a total of $204 million euros (US $301M) in revenue.

Blizzard could see the release of two titles this year, as both the second World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King and its anticipated StarCraft sequel are readied for publishing.

Nick Breckon

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nutcrackr

 reply
January 30, 2008 2:07 PM

so that makes PC gaming in 2007 at least $1.73 Billion dollar industry
- re4ctor
  
   reply
  January 30, 2008 2:14 PM
  
  The entire industry was something like $18 Billion last year, so the PC market makes up at least 10%. I would guess that with everything all in, the PC industry is around 25% of the market. Its still viable, and profitable.
  - nutcrackr
    
     reply
    January 30, 2008 2:34 PM
    
    That included hardware, software was only 9.5 billion. If you include gaming hardware for consoles, then you should included PC gaming hardware like the 8800gt, and PC would be well ahead.
    - hawke
      
       reply
      January 30, 2008 4:39 PM
      
      Or at least not so far behind.
- TheFatMom
  
   reply
  January 30, 2008 2:14 PM
  
  wait, WoW is gaming ?
- unholydonuts
  
   reply
  January 30, 2008 2:15 PM
  
  At the very very least, I'd say total PC gaming revenue for the entire industry has to be around 5 billion. That includes MMO subscriptions, digital distribution, hard copy purchase (who buys games the old fashioned way anymore??) and micro transactions. A good year to be sure.
  - unholydonuts
    
     reply
    January 30, 2008 2:15 PM
    
    Oh, 18 billion, I was way off. Christ. Someone wanna give me a million dollars? Blizzard mayhaps? Sure they can spare it.
    - Sturm08
      
       reply
      January 30, 2008 2:28 PM
      
      Revenues don't equal profits...though I imagine WoW has pretty good margins.
      - Toth21
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 2:46 PM
        
        How the hell wouldn't they?
        
        Sturm08
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 3:25 PM
        
        Customer support, live update teams, accounting, GMs, testing...it's not cheap to run an MMO. But, I imagine the longer it's out, the cheaper it gets (like many things). It's not like they can just make the game and rake in the profits.
        
        Toth21
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 6:32 PM
        
        So yeah $520 million in profit... for one game company... who makes one game every like 4 years. Thats pretty good, yeah?
        
        Sturm08
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 9:19 PM
        
        Oh most definitely.
      - Porkasaurus
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 3:27 PM
        
        Profits are listed here:
        
        http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc2007123_075300_page_2.htm
        
        Sturm08
        
         reply
        January 30, 2008 3:33 PM
        
        Nice, thanks for the link.