World of Warcraft Once Hoped for $1M Monthly, Ended Up Making $15M

Before World of Warcraft (WoW) became a juggernaut in the MMORPG world, its developers had modest expectations.

In an interview with Retro Gamer, former Blizzard developer Bo Bell recalled early discussions where the team joked about hitting $1 million per month in revenue.

At the time, EverQuest earned about $500,000 monthly.

“We laughed about $1 million, but thought maybe it could happen,” said Bell. Just months after WoW’s launch in November 2004, the game blew past expectations, earning over $15 million per month by early 2005 with more than 1 million subscribers.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, WoW remains a major player in the MMORPG space with an estimated 7 million subscribers—proof of its enduring legacy despite its humble beginnings.