As Titan evolves, Blizzard looks to keep WoW's lifeblood pumping

In an earnings call with investors this afternoon, Santa Monica, CA-based publisher Activision Blizzard revisited its second quarter earnings it first previewed last week when announcing a split from parent company Vivendi. It also took the time to address flagging World of Warcraft subscription numbers, and how the company is looking to prop up its MMO offerings in both the intermediate and long-term. Acknowledging that worldwide subscriptions for WoW had dropped to 7.7 million as of the end of June 2013, Blizzard stated that unlike previous spates of player attrition which favored either the Western or Eastern market, this most recent drop-off was relatively evenly split. Additionally, during the Q&A portion of the call, Blizzard fielded a question concerning its future outlook for WoW, in light of declining activity and with 'Project Titan' still on the horizon. Blizzard answered that it was "committed" to its existing World of Warcraft playerbase, and that it was looking to regaining some of its lost subscribers by enhancing existing social features. On the subject of 'Project Titan,' Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime reiterated that there was no set or anticipated launch date for the project. He did, however, confirm that 'Titan' was "unlikely" to be a subscription-based title -- which more or less implicitly acknowledges that Blizzard is at least aware of changing market norms for online games.