There's a bit of confusion over when these numbers were taken, but if GameSpot is correct, WAR is actually growing from when we last heard they broke the 750,000 subscription mark.

Another high point was the launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, which now boasts 800,000 players on 1.2 million units sold.

Obviously, these numbers have been rounded a bit, but that means WAR has had a 66% retention rate (800k subs via 1.2M copies sold) so far. Selling 1.2M of the total 1.5M units shipped puts them at an 80% sell-through rate, which is a much nicer number.

If I were to think positively here, I would say that that a 66% retention rate is pretty decent considering the largest western MMO is about to launch a highly-anticipated expansion (in certain circles). Mark Jacobs has said EA and Mythic are in it for the long haul, so once these people have had their fix of WoW and Wrath of the Lich King, they could quite easily be tempted to resub to WAR. After all, there are currently 400,000 copies sitting on peoples's shelves. If they can bring back even half of those players, it may push them past the 1M sub mark. There's also the 300,000 copies sitting on store shelves that will likely get sold through during the holiday season.

And just to provide a balanced view here, there's this article which casts a but of uncertaintly as to when this 800,000 figure was actually taken.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.?(BUSINESS WIRE)?Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced preliminary financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended September 30, 2008.

Fiscal Second Quarter Results (comparisons are to the quarter ended September 30, 2007)¡­

The GameSpot article makes it sound like the 800,000 figure was taken yesterday. The Max Console article makes it sound like the 800,000 figure was taken on September 30, 2008. If we are to believe Max Console, there is an entire month of missing data here. This could mean the current subscription figure is higher, but it could also mean it is lower.

Popular belief would point towards the number being lower, but you never know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see from Mark Jacobs or EA's big cheese. Don't hold your breath though. Mark has said in a number of interviews that studios reluctant to share their current subscription numbers are probably in troubled times. He has also said that merging servers is another bad sign. Obviously, there are valid reasons for both with WAR (WotLK launching so soon afterward to reduce current subs and launching with too many servers). I wonder if he'll pipe up anytime soon.

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