Analysts: Mists of Pandaria sales not so disappointing
Last week an investment firm concluded that World of Warcraft's new Panda-flavored expansion was producing underwhelming sales numbers.
This news was greeted by a collective W.T.F from everyone who has ever downloaded a game over the internet. Lazard Capital Markets estimated that Blizzard moved a paltry (by Blizzard standards) 700,000 Mists of Pandaria retail boxes. This week a separate team of analysts said, in effect, not so fast.
"We think recent reports of weak retail sales for Mists of Pandaria may fail to reflect a channel shift toward a greater percentage of digital sales," Brean Murray, Carrett & Company wrote in its report.
The firm went on to predict 4.5 million unit sales for Mists of Pandaria in the third quarter despite competition from subscription-free titles including Guild Wars 2. The company also estimates that WoW subscribers will number between 9.1 and 9.8 million during the same time period.
