| Rank | Prev Week | Game | Score | Hours Played | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | World of Warcraft | 39.8 | 6,760 | +2.9 |
| 2 | 2 | Wildstar | 13.2 | 2,242 | -18.2 |
| 3 | 3 | Guild Wars 2 | 11.2 | 1,897 | -14.7 |
| 4 | 4 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | 8.0 | 1,351 | -9.1 |
| 5 | 5 | EVE Online | 5.8 | 992 | -5.6 |
| 6 | 6 | Final Fantasy XIV | 5.0 | 848 | -16.3 |
| 7 | 7 | Tera | 3.8 | 638 | -11.1 |
| 8 | 8 | Aion | 3.7 | 620 | -6.5 |
| 9 | 9 | Elder Scrolls Online | 2.7 | 465 | -12.6 |
| 10 | 10 | Runescape | 2.5 | 425 | -16.5 |
| 11 | 11 | Neverwinter | 2.2 | 378 | +0.8 |
| 12 | -- | Need For Speed World | 2.1 | 351 | +64.0 |
Total Digital Dozen Hours: 16,967
Sunday saw the Xfire community spend 7% less time playing its favorite MMORPGs than the week before. World of Warcraft (+193 hours) managed to buck the trend while Wildstar's performance (-500 hours) managed to lead the way for the second week in a row. Maple Story fell off the list, replaced by a game making its second appearance this year, Need For Speed World.
One Cup To Rule Them All - This week's 7% decline in time played was probably due to the World Cup, which runs until 13 July. Respawn's graph showing the effects that the Uruguay vs. England match had on activity in Titanfall is just one example of the World Cup's effects on gaming activity. Looking at the 12 most popular MMORPGs in Raptr showed a 13.8% decline in hours played from the week before.
Lighting The Way - Blizzard fought off the effects of the World Cup by lighting the bonfires of the Midsummer Fire Festival. Running from 21 June to 5 July, the event offers access to an event-only dungeon, two pets, and many special items.
Staggering Along - Wildstar continues to suffer the bugs associated with the launch of a new MMORPG. Also, despite its first ban wave and the launch of C.R.E.D.D., the game is still beset by hackers, botters, and gold spammers. That combination hurt Elder Scrolls Online. Does Carbine have the capacity to quickly right the ship?
Every week I am tempted to launch Xfire on Sunday. As the total hours/users trend continuously downward, my few hours of play start to seem like they could influence the chart. Well, except for the fact that I played WoW on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what happened with NFSW? I should log in.
I think Wildstar may be seeing a bigger early decline than other recent MMOs did at launch simply because it came with "guest passes" which would've artificially inflated the initial count and then made it fall off quickly when those guests didn't subscribe.
ReplyDelete