The rankings of the top twelve MMORPGs as determined by the players
of the Xfire community from play on Sunday, 21 April 2013. For more
details about the methodology, click here. Historical data can be found here.
| Rank | Prev Week | Game | Score | Hours Played | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | World of Warcraft | 40.4 | 22,509 | -6.1 |
| 2 | 2 | Guild Wars 2 | 18.3 | 10,175 | +6.0 |
| 3 | 3 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | 12.7 | 7,088 | -0.9 |
| 4 | 4 | Tera | 5.8 | 3,222 | -0.5 |
| 5 | 6 | Aion | 4.7 | 2,596 | +8.6 |
| 6 | 5 | Eve Online | 4.0 | 2,215 | -7.4 |
| 7 | 7 | Lord of the Rings Online | 3.1 | 1,752 | +11.7 |
| 8 | 9 | Planetside 2 | 2.7 | 1,507 | +18.1 |
| 9 | 11 | APB: Reloaded | 2.3 | 1,285 | +10.4 |
| 10 | 8 | Runescape | 2.3 | 1,255 | -4.4 |
| 11 | 10 | Need For Speed World | 1.9 | 1,068 | -11.0 |
| 12 | 12 | Metin 2 | 1.8 | 1,015 | -8.1 |
Total Digital Dozen Hours: 55,687
The time the Xfire community spent playing the 12 most popular MMORPGs remained fairly stable Sunday, only declining by 1.2% compared to the previous week. Games experiencing the greatest gains in popularity were Planetside 2 (18.1%), Lord of the Rings Online (11.7%) and APB: Reloaded (10.4%). The only game experiencing a double-digit percentage decline was Need For Speed World (-11%).
Still The 800 Pound Gorilla - While World of Warcraft's days of topping the Xfire charts with 6-figure are over, the game still dominates the genre. Take for example Sunday. The other 11 games on The Digital Dozen saw a 2.4% increase in hours played but WoW's 6.1% decline turned a possible positive gain into a 1.2% decline.
Burn Eve? - Eve Online's 7.4% Xfire decline corresponded with the lowest peak concurrent user number for a Sunday since the launch of the Retribution expansion. While the mass movement of players to Reykjavik for Fanfest 2013 that began this weekend might explain some of the numbers, a more plausible explanation was the Burn Jita 2 event. We'll see if the numbers rebound next weekend if Goonswarm and friends stop their attacks on shipping in Eve Online's main trade hub.
Still The 800 Pound Gorilla - While World of Warcraft's days of topping the Xfire charts with 6-figure are over, the game still dominates the genre. Take for example Sunday. The other 11 games on The Digital Dozen saw a 2.4% increase in hours played but WoW's 6.1% decline turned a possible positive gain into a 1.2% decline.
Burn Eve? - Eve Online's 7.4% Xfire decline corresponded with the lowest peak concurrent user number for a Sunday since the launch of the Retribution expansion. While the mass movement of players to Reykjavik for Fanfest 2013 that began this weekend might explain some of the numbers, a more plausible explanation was the Burn Jita 2 event. We'll see if the numbers rebound next weekend if Goonswarm and friends stop their attacks on shipping in Eve Online's main trade hub.
 |
| I am there! |
Take note that GW2 had a free weekend event this sunady. That is the reason for the 6% gain. the interesting thing is see how many players that experienced the game for free will buy a copy. In general, we see the players that tryed the free weekend saying good things about the game.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! I forgot all about that.
DeleteBut lots of players like me are abandoning GW2. I and many of my friends got tired of the grind to nowhere. I can't help but wonder if Xfires numbers are even remotely representative. I know lots of people who play MMOs, but few play WoW these days.
ReplyDeleteXFire is a sample, that is the only way to deal with games that have no subscription. No one know how representative these numbers are, but are the best estimates we have. From my personal experience, my server, Tarnished Coast, is really a full server, lots of people in LA and too at the starter zones. Not sure, about the medium servers, so people say they are empty, otehr people say there are enough players there.
DeleteAnyway, 6% up is something we can wait from a GW2 free weekend. So, no real reason for no believe at that numbers. I think it is better believe that numbers than believe at the word of someone signed "anonymous"...
Of 8 people I know who used to play WoW, all 6 have resubscribed since March even after not playing for over a year. Besides that, those who never quit playing are still playing. So, it looks to me like almost everyone I know who ever played WoW are playing it again. I haven't played since before Cataclysm and find Eve and GW2 more than enough.
DeleteI'm sorry, anon, but plural of anecdote is not data. While Xfire data has a bias due to self-selection of people, the group of your friends has one as well (as you probably keep in touch with the friends who play the same game you do) and is, as far as statistical purposes are considered, quite small (even if you may have unusually high number of friends).
DeleteBy the same account, I could complain Xfire fails to reflect popularity of RO - but is it because of Xfire or because I am a former Ragnarok player and still keep in touch even though I've stopped playing? It doesn't make Xfire a 100% accurate reflection of truth but it is much better than someone's - anyone's - group of friends for statistical purposes.