World of Warcraft epidemic hits 9 million

World of Warcraft now boasts a player base of over nine million subscribers worldwide, Blizzard has revealed.

While gamers continue to pour cold, hard cash into the game on a monthly basis, Blizzard is currently working with its partner for WoW in China, The9, to prepare the game's first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, for launch in mainland China. Unsurprisingly it anticipates another boost of new and returning subscribers after the launch.

"We're thrilled that gamers around the world have continued to embrace World of Warcraft so enthusiastically," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder 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."

Here are a few facts for trivia fans: since launching in November 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006.

World of Warcraft is 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 orcs are coming to get you next...

July 25, 2007