Although the total MAUs for the entire Activision Blizzard affiliates reached 435 million in 2021's Q1 period, it dropped off to D2R ladder items 371 million by the time of the end of the year.This suggests that Shadowlands was the subject of a brief growth, but with a few disappointing games like Chains of Domination, it did not live up to the hype.

People have been quick explain why statistics are like this in response to a lack entirely new content as one of the primary reasons for a decline in interest.

"Nothing that is actually new has been released. Diablo 2 [Resurrected], Burning Crusade Classic, and the "content" of 9.1.5 was outdated Legion content. Are you in need of new content?" is the message of one.

Another observes that despite global woes, Blizzard still struggled to gain traction despite limitations causing "an increase in MAUs to many other games from the other firms."

Following the Microsoft buyout, it'll be fascinating to see how things evolve in 2022. With a new WoW mobile game due for release, and Diablo Immortal and Buy D2R items Switch a confirmed survival game, things seem to be looking a bit brighter. Only time will tell.