Blizzard's Michael Ryder

The company's VP of International on WoW's importance to Activision, its ability to last - and the pressure to perform

Feature by Phil Elliott Contributor

Published on Sept. 7, 2009

The biggest game announcement in the past few weeks, according to GamesRetail.biz data, was that of Fable III - which Peter Molyneux unveiled at Gamescom. But based on traffic that week, news of World of Warcraft's forthcoming expansion, Cataclysm was a close runner-up.

Here, Blizzard's VP of International, Michael Ryder, talks about the ongoing challenge to keep people excited about a product that's nearly five years old, the pressure of fan expectation on the company, and why delaying Starcraft II was the best option in the pursuit of excellence.

GamesIndustry.biz We're just past the first anniversary of the Vivendi Games-Activision merger, and the most recent financials saw World of Warcraft contribute around a third of the company's overall revenues for the quarter. Is that a nice position to be in?

Michael Ryder

I think for Blizzard, we're happy to be in the position we're in, and fortunate because World of Warcraft is continuing to do very well. I have to say that we're pleased with where we are, but we're also looking forward to the new things that we have in the works.

We think the future is even brighter for us moving forward.

GamesIndustry.biz The economy's been a challenge for everybody, and nobody's been too sure how consumer spending on games would be affected - yet World of Warcraft continues to perform. Is it unassailable, with respect to the economy?

Michael Ryder

We're up year-over-year in terms of subscribers on World of Warcraft, so while it's true that while the global economic situation isn't great, we've been able to hold our own.

We've been pretty stable over the recent months, but we also feel that at the end of the day people are attracted to compelling content. We also think that World of Warcraft represents very good value for people in terms of their entertainment - the amount of content, the amount of gameplay that we offer, things there are to do, the attractiveness of the community... all of those things, even during a more difficult economic time, represents something that people are still attracted to.

We feel it's our role to try to do our best, and try to keep that going. We always try to keep the players' interest in mind at the top of the list, so we're doing everything we can to continue to make the game attractive for people.

GamesIndustry.biz Other MMO products have arrived on the market and failed to get anywhere near WoW's consumer base - it's almost tempting to suggest that the only thing likely to get close to it will be Blizzard's next MMO project... is that something you think about, and maybe wonder if you shouldn't develop another product too quickly?

Michael Ryder

First of all, we don't take anything for granted. We have a lot of respect for the other companies in the industry and we know there are some really talented people out there working on projects we need to be aware of.

At the same time, because we're gamers too, we're happy to see other teams make products that are really great - so we're happy to be in the position we're in, but I wouldn't say that we're complacent in any way. We feel like we have to keep doing what we do day in, day out, to maintain the position we have.

And since we don't have any announced plans for any follow-on product right now, we're focused on making sure World of Warcraft continues to be as successful as it has been.