Blizzard is Skynet, confirmed: World of Warcraft hits 11.5 million subscribers

11:00 AM on 12.23.2008   |   Nick Chester

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Today, Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft's subscriber base has hit 11.5 million players. Wait, hold on -- didn't we just report on October 28 that it hit 11 million? Yikes. 

The spike in subscribers is being attributed to the success of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, which launched on November 13 to record-breaking sales. GameStop is reporting that not only is the expansion doing well, but the base World of Warcraft sales as well as the World of Warcraft Battle Chest are actually selling better than last year. 

"That type of traction is very impressive for a game that is going into its fifth holiday season," says GameStop's senior vice president of merchandising, Bob McKenzie, "and speaks to the enthusiastic player base Blizzard Entertainment products have."

It seems, for the time being, there is simply no ecomonic crisis in the world of Azeroth.

World of Warcraft(R) Subscriber Base Reaches 11.5 Million Worldwide

Wrath of the Lich King(TM) expansion fuels
growth with record first-month sales of more than 4 million

IRVINE, Calif., Dec 23, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft(R), its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now played by more than 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. This new high was reached following the November 13 release of the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King(TM).

Within its first 24 hours of availability, Wrath of the Lich King sold more than 2.8 million copies, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. In addition to winning a number of editor's choice awards from major gaming publications, the expansion has now gone on to sell more than 4 million copies in its first month, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales. Both sales records were previously held by World of Warcraft's first expansion, The Burning Crusade(R).*

"We're pleased to welcome the new and returning players who have helped World of Warcraft reach these new milestones, and we appreciate the enthusiasm and support that the game's global community has continued to show," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment(R). "We look forward to providing all of them with an excellent entertainment experience for a long time to come."

"Not only is Wrath of the Lich King still doing well, the base World of Warcraft game and the World of Warcraft Battle Chest(R) are performing better than last year," said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop. "That type of traction is very impressive for a game that is going into its fifth holiday season and speaks to the enthusiastic player base Blizzard Entertainment products have."