14 DAY TRIAL // It was only a matter of time really. A press release I just happened to stumble upon today says that Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft has reached a new milestone, as far as its subscribers are concerned. As the headline reads, the MMORPG's player base is now totaling more than 9 million subscribers worldwide. More than that though, Blizzard is currently working with its partner for World of Warcraft in China, The9, to prepare the game's expansion pack (The Burning Crusade), for launch in mainland China and anticipates an influx of new and returning subscribers in conjunction with that event.
"We're thrilled that gamers around the world have continued to embrace World of Warcraft so enthusiastically," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment?. "We've worked hard to provide a compelling experience for our players, and we plan to continue updating the game with exciting new content for them to enjoy for many years to come."
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and has remained at or near the top of the weekly PC-game sales charts for much of 2007 as well. Blizzard's Burning Crusade expansion released to critical acclaim in several regions earlier this year and shattered PC-game sales records in North America and Europe, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of release and approximately 3.5 million in its first month, the report informs. World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and, in addition to North America and Europe, is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Good thing people stopped dying from it. Not that banning it or introducing restrictions on gameplay hours is the key either, but it finally looks like everyone's settled down a bit. Congrads Blizzard, 9 million users sounds great! Not many developers can enjoy such popularity.