World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Breaks More Records
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WORLD OF WARCRAFT®: THE BURNING CRUSADE™ CONTINUES RECORD-BREAKING SALES PACE
Subscriber base for bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006* passes 8.5 million as expansion set continues to build on day-one sales momentum
IRVINE, Calif. March 7, 2007 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ sold through approximately 3.5 million copies within one month following its mid-January launch in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.* This includes more than 1.9 million sold in regions that play on North American realms, including more than 100,000 copies in Australasia, and nearly 1.6 million in Europe. World of Warcraft's worldwide subscriber base now numbers more than 8.5 million and is continuing to grow as new and returning players join existing players in the game.
Blizzard previously announced that this first expansion set for World of Warcraft sold through nearly 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours -- more than any other PC game in history had sold within an entire first month of availability.* With approximately 3.5 million copies sold through, The Burning Crusade has now established the new one-month record for PC-game sales.
"We're thrilled about the overwhelming response that we've received for The Burning Crusade," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "We have worked hard to build upon nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft with this expansion, and it's gratifying to see that players and reviewers are enjoying the new content."
Amazon.com® reported that it received more preorders for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade than for any other PC or console game ever, and Wal-Mart® also recorded similar record-breaking numbers for The Burning Crusade. According to Gary Severson, senior vice president and general manager at Wal-Mart, "Not only was The Burning Crusade the top-selling item in our electronics department the day it released; it had the best day-one sales of any PC-game launch in our company's history."
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is Blizzard Entertainment®'s first expansion for its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. It adds an extensive amount of new content to the game, including an increase in the level cap, complete with new spells, abilities, and talents for players to acquire as they advance their characters; huge new outdoor zones and dungeons for players to explore after they journey through the Dark Portal into the shattered world of Outland; two new playable races; flying mounts; a new character profession: jewelcrafting; and much more.
Following the initial launch of the expansion on January 16, Blizzard held a highly successful open beta test in Korea and then commercially released The Burning Crusade for players there on February 12. The company is currently working with its partners to localize the content into Simplified and Traditional Chinese for mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau and release the expansion in those regions as soon as possible. For further information on World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade, please visit www.worldofwarcraft.com.
World of Warcraft®'s Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include 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. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment® (www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard's track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's free Internet gaming service, Battle.net®, reigns as the largest in the world, with millions of active users.
