14 DAY TRIAL // World of Warcraft last made news because of the number of people playing it in late 2008, when the MMO managed to pass 11.5 million players for the first time. Since then, the audience has not been expanded in any significant way due to problems with running the title in China, one of the biggest markets for MMOs. But a Blizzard executive believes the company's main revenue source will be making headlines in 2010 because of audience growth.
When asked about whether World of Warcraft had peaked, Frank Pearce, the vice president of Blizzard in charge of development, answered, “I don't think at all. In China, for example, we haven't even launched Wrath of the Lich King yet, and that expansion is already 18-plus months old. They're still playing The Burning Crusade there, because we're waiting for approval for Wrath from the appropriate agencies. And once we get that approval and launch Wrath in China then I think we will see growth.”
Of course, China is just part of the issue, Blizzard also getting ready to launch the third expansion pack for World of Warcraft, called Cataclysm. This means that those who have abandoned the game for lack of content will be coming back to see what is changed and to level up their characters, while other players will be drawn in by the hype linked to the launch.
Cataclysm marks the return of an ancient dragon, Deathwing the Destroyer, which breaks the barrier between dimensions in order to return to Azeroth and sparks great changes linked to the areas of the game that players have already explored.
There are also two new races being introduced to the MMO by Blizzard and a host of changes will be coming to all classes and skills. Cataclysm is at the moment in alpha stage, with the client leaked to the outside world. No launch date has been announced yet.