We wrote recently that World of Warcraft subscriber growth is tapering off. Today, Blizzard Entertainment released another ominous piece of news.

Only 30% of new players make it past level 10 and the other 70% are likely to stop playing: “Our research shows that trial players who play World of Warcraft pass level 10 are much more likely to stick with the game for a long time. Currently, only about 30% of our trial players make it past this threshold. So anything we can do to improve the new player experience is a huge opportunity for us.”

Blizzard is focusing on offering other services to boost sales: “In parallel with the development on Cataclysm, we’re continuing to create additional value-added services for our players. One of the new services we’re looking forward to introducing soon is the ability for players to access the in-game auction house from outside of the game. “