World of Warcraft Hits 9 Million Subscribers

n the run up to Blizzard Entertainment's second Blizzcon, the developer has announced that its tremendously popular MMO World of Warcraft as reached a new milestone, surpassing 9 million customers worldwide.

The subscription-based MMORPG launched in 2004 in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and has since been released in multiple countries throughout Europe and Asia. World of Warcraft is currently 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.

The company also plans to bring its World of WarCraft expansion pack The Burning Crusade soon in mainland China through its recently announced partnership with Chinese online game publisher The9, which Blizzard anticipates will introduce “an influx of new and returning subscribers.”

The Burning Crusade was released in mid-January in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and sold over 3.5 million copies in its first month alone, including 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first twenty-four hours.

“We’re thrilled that gamers around the world have continued to embrace World of Warcraft so enthusiastically,” said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder 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.”