WoW! Ten Million People Who Don't Go Outdoors
Blizzard Entertainment announced yesterday that their MMORPG game World of Warcraft passed the ten million subscriber mark. Interestingly, 5.5 million of those users are in Asia, with 2 million in Europe and 2.5 million in North America.
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 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.* In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.* Development is underway on World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King™, which was unveiled at the company's BlizzCon™ gaming festival in August 2007.
World of Warcraft is currently available in seven languages, with a Russian version in development and scheduled for release later this year. In addition to North America and Europe, World of Warcraft is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
If Blizzard can expand the international reach of online gold swapping mixed in with factional fighting and cheating, perhaps we can close down the United Nations and let diplomats play World of Warcraft instead. Same thing, really, and cheaper.
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 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.* In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.* Development is underway on World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King™, which was unveiled at the company's BlizzCon™ gaming festival in August 2007.
World of Warcraft is currently available in seven languages, with a Russian version in development and scheduled for release later this year. In addition to North America and Europe, World of Warcraft is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
If Blizzard can expand the international reach of online gold swapping mixed in with factional fighting and cheating, perhaps we can close down the United Nations and let diplomats play World of Warcraft instead. Same thing, really, and cheaper.
