Activision Blizzard says that sales of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight, are lower than Shadowlands, as the Overwatch 2, Diablo 4, and WoW studio announces its fourth-quarter financial results for 2022. Though “community feedback” on the expansion has apparently been “positive,” Dragonflight has financially performed worse than its predecessor, with Activision Blizzard saying that it will release a variety of follow-up content to bolster the MMORPG, alongside a new Call of Duty game supposedly arriving this year.
In our own WoW Dragonflight review, we note how, despite offering a raft of new features, Dragonflight’s endgame content leaves a lot to be desired. Some of these issues are seemingly reflected in the expansion’s sales performance, which Activision Blizzard says is lower than that for Shadowlands.
“In the Warcraft franchise, World of Warcraft delivered significant year-over-year growth in reach, engagement and net bookings in the fourth quarter following the September release of Wrath of the Lich King Classic and the November launch of Dragonflight,” Activision Blizzard says.
“While early Dragonflight sales have not reached the level of the prior expansion, community feedback on the title has been positive. Blizzard has announced plans to deliver substantially more follow-on content for the expansion than in the past, and post-launch subscriber retention in the West is higher than recent expansions.”
The post-launch roadmap for WoW Dragonflight includes Season 2, which will bring a new zone, new raid, and a new PvP season, and launch between spring and summer 2023. Additional dungeons and story quests will also be added throughout the year, with Season 3 arriving between fall and winter, also delivering a new zone and raid.
As well as confirming plans for additional WoW Dragonflight content, Activision Blizzard reiterates that a new Call of Duty game, of some description, will arrive in 2023. Previously, this was anticipated as a substantial add-on for Modern Warfare 2 – in its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2022, Activision Blizzard describes the game as “the next full annual premium release in the blockbuster series.” We will have to wait and see.
Take a look at our WoW Dragonflight levelling guide to rapidly rise through the ranks in Blizzard’s MMORPG. Alternatively, pick out the best class – or see where you currently rank – on the WoW Dragonflight tier list.