Blizzard reports that it has sold 3.3 million copies of the latest World of Warcraft expansion: Warlords of Dreanor.
It seems that every time the reports of World of Warcraft‘s imminent demise crop up, Blizzard does something to very definitively put the naysayers in their place, and assert its dominance of the King of MMOs. This time, the company has announced that it has sold 3.3 million copies of Warlords of Dreanor, causing the game to yet again break the 10 million active subscribers mark.
It was a very different story a year ago, when World of Warcraft numbers were shrinking month by month, before reaching an all-time low of just 6.8 million in August.
Last we heard, Blizzard was sitting on 7.4 million subscribers, meaning WoD has brought in at least an additional 2.6 million players. It’s worth noting that the previous expansion, Mists of Pandaria, also broke the 10 million milestone, but as the subscriber base pre-expansion at the time was already 9.1 million, it’s not quite as impressive.
“We’re thrilled that so many players jumped in to play Warlords of Draenor on day one and are having a great time with the new content,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment in a press release. “We poured a lot of hard work and passion into this expansion, and we appreciate all the kind words from players and the overwhelming support they continue to show for World of Warcraft.
For the record, Blizzard defines World of Warcraft “subscribers” as “individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access.”
It’s pretty impressive for a game that’s over a decade old to be still pulling in these kinds of numbers. Perhaps the surge of WoD pre-orders is one of the reasons why Titan finally got the axe?
Source: Blizzard
