Activision Blizzard stock is steadily rising today after the release of WoW Classic yesterday, suggesting that the nostalgia-fueled launch is experiencing success in its early days. WoW Classic was always something of a gamble for Blizzard in the build-up to its release, and it’s viability as a long-term prospect for players won’t be proven until months after its release, once players are tested on just how much they wanted to return to 2006.
WoW Classic is the most dedicated re-release of a game in history, or at least a strong contender for that title. Blizzard went as far as recreating WoW Classic’s bugs to ensure the experience remained as close to the 2006 version as possible, although some aesthetic upgrades were made available in this version. WoW Classic has been a hit in the first day of its release, although it has been experiencing another time-honored problem - the WoW Classic login queues are abysmal on some servers, with some players reporting upwards of 6 hour queue times on the more populous realms.
None of that has appeared to affect the financial success of WoW Classic, though. Activision Blizzard’s stock has seen a steady rise after the release of the game, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down currently. It appears investors are at least somewhat impressed by the ability of the old-school game to draw back users, who must still pay a subscription fee to access the content. Industry analyst Daniel “ZhugeEX” Ahmad commented on the rise on Twitter, noting that it’s the developer’s highest stock price since November 18, 2018, and there were more than 1 million concurrent viewers on Twitch for WoW Classic within minutes of the game’s launch.
It’s easy to see why Activision Blizzard is performing so well right now. The draw to a company that is essentially doubling down on subscription fees monthly - and succeeding, by the looks of the early response to WoW Classic - is undeniably a big one. Although a current WoW subscription gets players WoW Classic for free, there seems to be a big enough population of people exclusively interested in Classic that subscription numbers could rise a lot. If Activision Blizzard can maintain player interest in WoW Classic while continuing to draw close to the same numbers it has been historically sustaining in regular WoW, WoW Classic could be the saving grace for a developer that has struggled in recent months to maintain the momentum it was previously known for having course through each release. It would also give the developer more flexibility to pursue projects like Diablo Immortal without needing to fear public backlash in the same fashion.
It’s still too early to tell just how much people will enjoy WoW Classic. Although it’s a fun experience and offers the rare ability to go back to something years later and have it be almost the exact same, that includes many of the problems 2006 WoW had with its game design. As it stands right now, though, WoW Classic is a smash hit and could proper Activision Blizzard back to the lofty heights the company experienced when it seemed it simply couldn’t release a bad game if it tried.
Next: WoW Classic: Alliance or Horde - Which Faction to Choose?
Source: ZhugeEX/Twitter
