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After WOW, which games has the highest population?
harrisond
Member Posts: 60
Im wondering because i want to try some other MMO, and prefer high populations for groups and PVP.
Comments
http://mmogchart.com/
WoW - 8 Millions (3.5M US/Eu)
Guild Wars - 3.122.000 boxes sold Prophecies + 2 expansions
Lineage - 1.408.170 (11.953 US/Eu players)
Lineage2 - 1.036.303 (105.039 US/Eu players)
Rune Scape - 781.776 (old numbers i belive that there are much less players now)
FFXI - 500k (More than 50% are Japanese players i dont know the numbers)
Ever Quest - 200k
Ever Quest2 - 175k
City of X - 154.953
EVE - 154k
Ultima Online - 135k (65k US/Eu players)
Dark Age of Camelot - 125k
Star Wars Galaxies - 110k ?
Dungeons & Dragons Online - 90k
Vanguard - 50k - 100k
Matrix Online - 30k
Asherons Call - 30k
Planet Side - 20k
Anarchy Online - 12k
Auto Assaut - 10k
Horizons - 10k
Numbers don't look right. EQ no longer has 200k subscribers, probably less than 100 now. Runescape I think was around 400k. Vanguard 50k? where do you get that from. UO 135k? thought it was a lot more dwarved than that now. Asheron's Call probably about 10k(at least last I heard). Horizons, is that still going? and Auto Assault? DAoC I think dropped a lot less than 125k, thought it was about 10/20k. FFXI was about 600k. Guild Wars is only boxes so doesn't take second place behind WoW for Western Market because it might not have that many actually playing. Lineage1/2 accurate I think.
I agree that some of those numbers do not look right, however besides what is provided in that chart I dont think your numbers are any more correct. Square-Enix stated in their most recent Financial Report that they have 500'000 subscribers. Besides that I think besides official press releases (EvE stated they broke 100'000 a year ago I believe it has only increased since then no hard numbers though) everything else is speculation or an educated guess at best. Most companies arent proud to reveal their subscription numbers unless they are doing really well. Lineage and Lineage II were both the biggest MMOs until World of Warcraft so I would assume they have fallen to second and third place.
My numbers are from NCSoft IR report(lineage,lineage2,CoX,GW), Blizard press relese(WoW),Square Enix news(FFXI),CCP dev blog(EVE).Turbine press(DDO)
Vanguard numbers came from a web site press relese that stated Vanguard sold 100k boxes+- (acording to vanguard players web site only 1.5k players passed level 30 by now) so i dont see many subs after the first free month.
The rest of my numbers are taken from mmrpgchart.com
had heard a earlier report I'll look this up later. No, the guy behind mmorpgchart had more sources than just official
press releases, some have to be guesses but he has a bit more
information if you look under his sources list. Though it should be
noted the chart is now outdated. Which is where you are right I am
putting my educated guesses in. UO doesn't have 125k, DAoC doesn't
have 125k. DDO had 90k but is probably lowered quite a bit. SWG also
would have lowered quite a bit because of the unpopular changes it
did. EQ hasn't been as high as 200k for a while, it is now becomming
dated and more and more people are switching to the newer offerings. It should be noted Lineage and Lineage 2 figures are derived from
internet cafes, it should also be noted that in the West Lineage or
Lineage 2 is not the second biggest mmorpg with more likely EQ2 taking
this place.
Asheron's Call is shown as 10k on the chart. But you are indeed correct that the figures for UO and DAoC are shown as above 100k. I'm amazed UO is still doing that popular, and DAoC I doubt it's above 100k now.
As far as actual "subscribers" go, this game has never had more than 100k or so. However, there is a free version of the game, which has over a million players.
Either way, this game doesn't support grouping and is 99% solo-grinding, so it's a moot argument.
There is a big difference between selling 8 million copies, of your game for two years at a discount, and having 8 million “current” subscription paying and playing customers on line, not to bash WOW any game will due, you need to look at the expansion sales, their the current players of the game. Last I heard WOW sold just over 1.5 copies of Burning crusade, so I would guess there true population to be that or close to it.
The finny thing is if you look at game retention, WOW is pretty, low, that means unsatisfied customers, but game companies don’t care, there money is made on the initial game sales.
I see you are talking without with no facts, BC sold 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours they have 3.5 M subs in US/Eu.
korea and China are w8ing for BC, it didnt relesed there.
I will show facts
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070116.shtml
PARIS, France. – 16 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the first expansion set for the world's leading subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, is now on sale throughout North America and Europe. The expansion will be available in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand on January 17, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
"The Burning Crusade is the single largest expansion we've ever created, and we're grateful for the support shown by our beta testers and the millions of World of Warcraft players worldwide during its development," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "We're excited to share all of the new content with players, and we're certain that they'll enjoy the quality and breadth of new experiences that The Burning Crusade offers."
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade adds a tremendous amount of new features and content to World of Warcraft, including Outland, a massive new continent for players to explore, as well as flying mounts, which will allow players to reach locations in Outland that would be otherwise inaccessible. Over the course of their new adventures, players will be able to take their characters up to level 70, gaining powerful new abilities along the way. Hundreds of new quests and monsters and several unexplored dungeons will offer exciting new challenges, while the new Blood Elf and Draenei races, each with capital cities and starting zones, promise a fresh start to current and new players alike. The jewelcrafting profession, socketed items, and expansive new player-vs.-player features round out the offering in World of Warcraft's first expansion.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is now available at retailers throughout Europe for Windows® 2000/XP and Macintosh®: A special Collector's Edition of the expansion is also available: This limited-edition package includes the expansion on both CD-ROM and DVD, the Art of The Burning Crusade coffee table book, an exclusive in-game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game card packs and three exclusive cards, a map of Outland mouse pad, and the official soundtrack CD. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion requires the original World of Warcraft game, which is now selling for a suggested retail price of 19.99€. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has received a 12+ rating by PEGI (Pan European Game Information).
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070111.shtml
PARIS, France. – 11 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is now played by more than 8 million gamers around the world. World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
"We’re ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "This milestone wouldn’t have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players. With the release of our expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™, coming next week, we’re looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy."
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. Today, World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
World of Warcraft will soon see the launch of its first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which will be available in North America and Europe on January 16, 2007. The expansion will be available in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand the same week, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. The Burning Crusade will add a tremendous amount of new content to the game, including an entire new continent to explore; an increase in the level cap up to 70, complete with new talents and abilities; flying mounts; new quests, creatures, and items; new dungeons; two new playable races; a new profession; and more.
For further information on World of Warcraft, please visit the game’s official website at www.wow-europe.com. Information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade can be found at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070201.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. – February 1, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with The9 for the operation of World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ in mainland China. The9 currently operates Blizzard Entertainment®'s critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, in China, where the game is played by more than 3.5 million subscribers. Localization of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard's first World of Warcraft expansion, into simplified Chinese is underway, and further details regarding the release of the expansion in China will be announced in the months ahead.
The new agreement between Blizzard and The9 includes provisions for hardware upgrades to the existing World of Warcraft infrastructure to enable the best gaming experience possible for players in China. Working closely with Blizzard's global teams, The9 will continue providing local community management, technical support, and 24/7 in-game customer service. The9 also manages distribution of game cards and the physical hosting of World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade on local servers.
"We're fully committed to ensuring that the ongoing operation of World of Warcraft in mainland China will provide an excellent experience for players there for many years to come," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to extending that commitment with this expansion as well as with future Blizzard releases."
Launched in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand in mid January, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade smashed the day-one sales record for PC games, selling nearly 2.4 million copies within its first 24 hours of availability.* World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million subscribers worldwide.
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
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070123.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. - January 23, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ has broken the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe, with a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in the first 24 hours of availability. The Burning Crusade, the first expansion set for World of Warcraft, was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia on January 16, and on January 17 in Australia and New Zealand.
Blizzard had supplied more than 4 million game boxes to retailers worldwide, and more than 5,000 stores throughout the world had their doors open at midnight to welcome thousands of expectant players.
Day-one sales totals on both continents were similar, with an estimated total of nearly 1.2 million copies sold on the first day in North America and an estimated total of more than 1.1 million copies sold in Europe within the first 24 hours of launch.* By the end of the first day of availability on both continents, a total of more than 1.7 million players had already logged in and upgraded World of Warcraft to play The Burning Crusade.
"The Burning Crusade has already exceeded even our most ambitious expectations," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased that so many players are eager to see all of the new content that the expansion has to offer, and we look forward to seeing everyone online as additional players continue to upgrade in the days ahead."
Retailers are continuing to report sustained demand, so if players have not yet purchased their copy of The Burning Crusade, they are advised to call ahead to make sure their store has copies on hand. Additional shipments of the expansion have been routed to retailers to help maintain stock levels.
"The immediate popularity of The Burning Crusade once again shows that Blizzard consistently delivers what gamers want," said Robert McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. "In addition to setting a new day-one PC-game sales record at our GameStop and EB Games stores, the expansion garnered more online pre-orders than any other PC game in our company’s history."
Prior to the launch of The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft was played by more than 8 million players around the world -- with more than 2 million on North American realms and more than 1.5 million on European realms -- making it the most successful subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game in PC-gaming history.
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade.
I see you are talking without with no facts, BC sold 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours they have 3.5 M subs in US/Eu.
korea and China are w8ing for BC, it didnt relesed there.
I will show facts
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070116.shtml
PARIS, France. – 16 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the first expansion set for the world's leading subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, is now on sale throughout North America and Europe. The expansion will be available in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand on January 17, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
"The Burning Crusade is the single largest expansion we've ever created, and we're grateful for the support shown by our beta testers and the millions of World of Warcraft players worldwide during its development," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "We're excited to share all of the new content with players, and we're certain that they'll enjoy the quality and breadth of new experiences that The Burning Crusade offers."
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade adds a tremendous amount of new features and content to World of Warcraft, including Outland, a massive new continent for players to explore, as well as flying mounts, which will allow players to reach locations in Outland that would be otherwise inaccessible. Over the course of their new adventures, players will be able to take their characters up to level 70, gaining powerful new abilities along the way. Hundreds of new quests and monsters and several unexplored dungeons will offer exciting new challenges, while the new Blood Elf and Draenei races, each with capital cities and starting zones, promise a fresh start to current and new players alike. The jewelcrafting profession, socketed items, and expansive new player-vs.-player features round out the offering in World of Warcraft's first expansion.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is now available at retailers throughout Europe for Windows® 2000/XP and Macintosh®: A special Collector's Edition of the expansion is also available: This limited-edition package includes the expansion on both CD-ROM and DVD, the Art of The Burning Crusade coffee table book, an exclusive in-game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game card packs and three exclusive cards, a map of Outland mouse pad, and the official soundtrack CD. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion requires the original World of Warcraft game, which is now selling for a suggested retail price of 19.99€. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has received a 12+ rating by PEGI (Pan European Game Information).
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070111.shtml
PARIS, France. – 11 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is now played by more than 8 million gamers around the world. World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
"We’re ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "This milestone wouldn’t have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players. With the release of our expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™, coming next week, we’re looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy."
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. Today, World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
World of Warcraft will soon see the launch of its first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which will be available in North America and Europe on January 16, 2007. The expansion will be available in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand the same week, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. The Burning Crusade will add a tremendous amount of new content to the game, including an entire new continent to explore; an increase in the level cap up to 70, complete with new talents and abilities; flying mounts; new quests, creatures, and items; new dungeons; two new playable races; a new profession; and more.
For further information on World of Warcraft, please visit the game’s official website at www.wow-europe.com. Information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade can be found at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
And there in Large Red print is the key to WoW's success.
Don't get me wrong WoW is a great game for the market it wants to hit. Which is primarily (sp?) the Battle.net players. But anyone that says WoW is actually a great game on its own inovation and merit is blinded by their love of the game. Pretty much everything in the game is from a previous game just polished and placed in the warcraft world. I would love to see if the exact same game with nothing changed in gameplay design, art design or anything of the actual game would of done as well if it had been released by say SOE. Alot of World of Warcraft's success can be attributed to the Brand name that is Blizzard and the advertising machine that is Vivendi (sp?).
TO the OP I say wait for the next batch of MMOs to come out. LOTRO, WAR, AoC, etc. You will probably not enjoy getting into a MMO currently if you like PVP that is older. It makes it extremely hard to be competitive with the older players. If you can not wait to play a new game I would suggest something that is a hybrid game as opposed to a straight open FFA pvp game such as lineage 2. Maybe something like DAoC if you never played it might fit what you are looking for. It has a small community but adequete (sp?) on the classic servers to get groups. The leveling is a lot faster then old DAoC due to the new content and task dungeons. I personally can't get back into it currently because the UI is too dated for my tastes. But the graphics are really actually pretty nice on their new engine.
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
Well some of those numbers are correct i can tell you that it is possible to inflate numbers just to keep the stockholders happy.My own research from blizzard itself shows WOW has only 1.5 mil NA and 1 mil euro.Dragon quest just one of the games put out by square enix has sold over 40 million copies and final fantasy over 68 million.
By those more accurate numbers ,it doesn't show that big of a player base for a game that is totally bent on grabbing the north american public.Remember there was no NEW competition for WOW at the time of its release,most EQ players were mad at the changes eq2 brought about or were just tired of playing the same game and wanted a change.The badwagon soon filled up for WOW as there really was no other option except maybe FFXI but that was game not many of the new MMO genration even knew about,and it didnt offer a free trial.There was a huge player base blizzard had to draw from there free to play battle.net.THis is the type of crowd WOW drew its masses from.Blizzard had enough clout to really hype up and market there game,with no other competition out there hyping up the north american market.Games over sees tend to stay over sees and only recently lineage and some others are starting to hit mainstream north america.None of these products will for the near future get the marketing hype that a local company such as blizzard will in the north american community.
Just as an example look at a game that didn't even have a forum here >>SILKROAD.A game not hyped here at all but had 9 local servers all maxxed out pretty much 16 hours of the day.Now i think the game has like 16 servers or so and are adding another.My point is not to say its a great game,but those kinda numbers are massive when comparing a korean based game against a north americanized based game.They have even more servers in japan and korea for that game.Over sees where the true gaming masses are ,there is far more competition for gaming and alot more gamers playing.They are spread out amongst more games than the very small market north america has to offer.Just now we are seeing DDO/LOTR join into the NA market,but there isnt enough gamers this side yet to make any big numbers.
Another huge factor into WOW player base,was at the time ALOT of people were starting to grasp the RMT scene.People in other games saw this as an opportunity to not be an average player on there MMO but a NEW god on a new game.They see WOW as an opportunity to make RMT and alot of people were starting to think about how easy it was to make a high level player that you could sell.To this day WOW has the largest amount of RMT activity so i would say this is an accurate assesment of the games populace.Numbers alone do NOT mean anything as IMO WOW stands for alot of what a MMO should not be.[RMT magnet/design attracts a very young immature player base/solo based ]just to name a few.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
good points, i guess i should have asked which MMO has the highest volume of player per server
What are you talking about?
WoW is one of the smallest population MMORPGs in existence. Each server can only support like what 2000 simultaneous connections? And of coruse you have two sides which halves that for available teaming, not to mention the level-based restrictions.
Also you might want to think about rewording that little "God *amung* mortals" thing. I would think someone proud enough to make that statement would have better than a 2nd grade literacy level. †
†That means it's spelled "among".
As far as actual "subscribers" go, this game has never had more than 100k or so. However, there is a free version of the game, which has over a million players.
Either way, this game doesn't support grouping and is 99% solo-grinding, so it's a moot argument.
i think theres around 4 million players (6 million+ accounts), with around 1 million members. Jagex has never released numbers though, so my numbers come from other sites, whihc could not be 100% reliable.
I see you are talking without with no facts, BC sold 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours they have 3.5 M subs in US/Eu.
korea and China are w8ing for BC, it didnt relesed there.
I will show facts
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070116.shtml
PARIS, France. – 16 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the first expansion set for the world's leading subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, is now on sale throughout North America and Europe. The expansion will be available in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand on January 17, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
"The Burning Crusade is the single largest expansion we've ever created, and we're grateful for the support shown by our beta testers and the millions of World of Warcraft players worldwide during its development," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "We're excited to share all of the new content with players, and we're certain that they'll enjoy the quality and breadth of new experiences that The Burning Crusade offers."
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade adds a tremendous amount of new features and content to World of Warcraft, including Outland, a massive new continent for players to explore, as well as flying mounts, which will allow players to reach locations in Outland that would be otherwise inaccessible. Over the course of their new adventures, players will be able to take their characters up to level 70, gaining powerful new abilities along the way. Hundreds of new quests and monsters and several unexplored dungeons will offer exciting new challenges, while the new Blood Elf and Draenei races, each with capital cities and starting zones, promise a fresh start to current and new players alike. The jewelcrafting profession, socketed items, and expansive new player-vs.-player features round out the offering in World of Warcraft's first expansion.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is now available at retailers throughout Europe for Windows® 2000/XP and Macintosh®: A special Collector's Edition of the expansion is also available: This limited-edition package includes the expansion on both CD-ROM and DVD, the Art of The Burning Crusade coffee table book, an exclusive in-game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game card packs and three exclusive cards, a map of Outland mouse pad, and the official soundtrack CD. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion requires the original World of Warcraft game, which is now selling for a suggested retail price of 19.99€. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has received a 12+ rating by PEGI (Pan European Game Information).
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070111.shtml
PARIS, France. – 11 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is now played by more than 8 million gamers around the world. World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
"We’re ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "This milestone wouldn’t have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players. With the release of our expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™, coming next week, we’re looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy."
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. Today, World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
World of Warcraft will soon see the launch of its first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which will be available in North America and Europe on January 16, 2007. The expansion will be available in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand the same week, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. The Burning Crusade will add a tremendous amount of new content to the game, including an entire new continent to explore; an increase in the level cap up to 70, complete with new talents and abilities; flying mounts; new quests, creatures, and items; new dungeons; two new playable races; a new profession; and more.
For further information on World of Warcraft, please visit the game’s official website at www.wow-europe.com. Information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade can be found at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070201.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. – February 1, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with The9 for the operation of World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ in mainland China. The9 currently operates Blizzard Entertainment®'s critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, in China, where the game is played by more than 3.5 million subscribers. Localization of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard's first World of Warcraft expansion, into simplified Chinese is underway, and further details regarding the release of the expansion in China will be announced in the months ahead.
The new agreement between Blizzard and The9 includes provisions for hardware upgrades to the existing World of Warcraft infrastructure to enable the best gaming experience possible for players in China. Working closely with Blizzard's global teams, The9 will continue providing local community management, technical support, and 24/7 in-game customer service. The9 also manages distribution of game cards and the physical hosting of World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade on local servers.
"We're fully committed to ensuring that the ongoing operation of World of Warcraft in mainland China will provide an excellent experience for players there for many years to come," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to extending that commitment with this expansion as well as with future Blizzard releases."
Launched in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand in mid January, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade smashed the day-one sales record for PC games, selling nearly 2.4 million copies within its first 24 hours of availability.* World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million subscribers worldwide.
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
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070123.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. - January 23, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ has broken the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe, with a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in the first 24 hours of availability. The Burning Crusade, the first expansion set for World of Warcraft, was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia on January 16, and on January 17 in Australia and New Zealand.
Blizzard had supplied more than 4 million game boxes to retailers worldwide, and more than 5,000 stores throughout the world had their doors open at midnight to welcome thousands of expectant players.
Day-one sales totals on both continents were similar, with an estimated total of nearly 1.2 million copies sold on the first day in North America and an estimated total of more than 1.1 million copies sold in Europe within the first 24 hours of launch.* By the end of the first day of availability on both continents, a total of more than 1.7 million players had already logged in and upgraded World of Warcraft to play The Burning Crusade.
"The Burning Crusade has already exceeded even our most ambitious expectations," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased that so many players are eager to see all of the new content that the expansion has to offer, and we look forward to seeing everyone online as additional players continue to upgrade in the days ahead."
Retailers are continuing to report sustained demand, so if players have not yet purchased their copy of The Burning Crusade, they are advised to call ahead to make sure their store has copies on hand. Additional shipments of the expansion have been routed to retailers to help maintain stock levels.
"The immediate popularity of The Burning Crusade once again shows that Blizzard consistently delivers what gamers want," said Robert McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. "In addition to setting a new day-one PC-game sales record at our GameStop and EB Games stores, the expansion garnered more online pre-orders than any other PC game in our company’s history."
Prior to the launch of The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft was played by more than 8 million players around the world -- with more than 2 million on North American realms and more than 1.5 million on European realms -- making it the most successful subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game in PC-gaming history.
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade.
But that's 2.4 million copies sold between UE and the US, and that says a lot; especially when you look at thier sub break down. Also I read someplace that the China doesn't pay a monthy fee for the game and thier the largest part of WoW's 8 million.
I'm going to do some looking cause the last I saw was the US subs were only at 2mil. Compare that to the 2.4 mil copies of TBC sold between UE and US.
Also Lineage 2 reported selling something along the lines of 12 mil. worldwide.
Edit: I'm not thinking. 2.4 mil sold in 24 hours. Still that's between all of UE and the US. Also took a line out I didn't feel like explaining; sufice it to say there is a better regional breakdown available for WoW subs, as over 2 million could be 2,000,100 subscribers and ever 1.5 could be much closer to 2 milion then it says.
Edit again: Also that press release isn't up to date on the subs either. Those numbers were release before the 23rd of Jan. and coinsided with thier marketing for TBC. I'd be more interested in sub numbers after the TBC launch cause I got a feeling Blizz may have lost some subs; this is based on my own personal feelings over the xpac and what I've seen of people I played WoW with for 2 years.
Also you can go into best buys and get a 10 day free trial for something like 2 bucks and apparently it sells rather well in the store in my area. And I put it past NO MMO company to add in any trial keys they have active.
You know, that is an excellent point.
Who cares how many subs other games have, how many of those subs accually play together. Eve beats all hands down.
Never even thought of that.
What are you talking about?
WoW is one of the smallest population MMORPGs in existence. Each server can only support like what 2000 simultaneous connections? And of coruse you have two sides which halves that for available teaming, not to mention the level-based restrictions.
Also you might want to think about rewording that little "God *amung* mortals" thing. I would think someone proud enough to make that statement would have better than a 2nd grade literacy level. †
†That means it's spelled "among".
Wen WoW was relesed, servers handeled 2.5k players, they got new servers and server upgrades and it jumped to 3.2k per server, now at BC relese they upgraded to 3.9k people per server.
EvE had at his prime 34.9k players simultaniously in tranquility,now with the scandal we have at prime 32k.
You can play with all comunity in GW also, and you have a bigger comunity there than in EVE.
I see you are talking without with no facts, BC sold 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours they have 3.5 M subs in US/Eu.
korea and China are w8ing for BC, it didnt relesed there.
I will show facts
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070116.shtml
PARIS, France. – 16 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the first expansion set for the world's leading subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, is now on sale throughout North America and Europe. The expansion will be available in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand on January 17, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
"The Burning Crusade is the single largest expansion we've ever created, and we're grateful for the support shown by our beta testers and the millions of World of Warcraft players worldwide during its development," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "We're excited to share all of the new content with players, and we're certain that they'll enjoy the quality and breadth of new experiences that The Burning Crusade offers."
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade adds a tremendous amount of new features and content to World of Warcraft, including Outland, a massive new continent for players to explore, as well as flying mounts, which will allow players to reach locations in Outland that would be otherwise inaccessible. Over the course of their new adventures, players will be able to take their characters up to level 70, gaining powerful new abilities along the way. Hundreds of new quests and monsters and several unexplored dungeons will offer exciting new challenges, while the new Blood Elf and Draenei races, each with capital cities and starting zones, promise a fresh start to current and new players alike. The jewelcrafting profession, socketed items, and expansive new player-vs.-player features round out the offering in World of Warcraft's first expansion.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is now available at retailers throughout Europe for Windows® 2000/XP and Macintosh®: A special Collector's Edition of the expansion is also available: This limited-edition package includes the expansion on both CD-ROM and DVD, the Art of The Burning Crusade coffee table book, an exclusive in-game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game card packs and three exclusive cards, a map of Outland mouse pad, and the official soundtrack CD. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion requires the original World of Warcraft game, which is now selling for a suggested retail price of 19.99€. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has received a 12+ rating by PEGI (Pan European Game Information).
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070111.shtml
PARIS, France. – 11 January, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is now played by more than 8 million gamers around the world. World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
"We’re ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "This milestone wouldn’t have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players. With the release of our expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™, coming next week, we’re looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy."
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. Today, World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and is played in North America, Europe, mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
World of Warcraft will soon see the launch of its first expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which will be available in North America and Europe on January 16, 2007. The expansion will be available in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand the same week, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date. The Burning Crusade will add a tremendous amount of new content to the game, including an entire new continent to explore; an increase in the level cap up to 70, complete with new talents and abilities; flying mounts; new quests, creatures, and items; new dungeons; two new playable races; a new profession; and more.
For further information on World of Warcraft, please visit the game’s official website at www.wow-europe.com. Information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade can be found at www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade.
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.
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070201.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. – February 1, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with The9 for the operation of World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ in mainland China. The9 currently operates Blizzard Entertainment®'s critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, in China, where the game is played by more than 3.5 million subscribers. Localization of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard's first World of Warcraft expansion, into simplified Chinese is underway, and further details regarding the release of the expansion in China will be announced in the months ahead.
The new agreement between Blizzard and The9 includes provisions for hardware upgrades to the existing World of Warcraft infrastructure to enable the best gaming experience possible for players in China. Working closely with Blizzard's global teams, The9 will continue providing local community management, technical support, and 24/7 in-game customer service. The9 also manages distribution of game cards and the physical hosting of World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade on local servers.
"We're fully committed to ensuring that the ongoing operation of World of Warcraft in mainland China will provide an excellent experience for players there for many years to come," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to extending that commitment with this expansion as well as with future Blizzard releases."
Launched in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand in mid January, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade smashed the day-one sales record for PC games, selling nearly 2.4 million copies within its first 24 hours of availability.* World of Warcraft is played by more than 8 million subscribers worldwide.
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
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070123.shtml
IRVINE, Calif. - January 23, 2007 - Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™ has broken the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe, with a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in the first 24 hours of availability. The Burning Crusade, the first expansion set for World of Warcraft, was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia on January 16, and on January 17 in Australia and New Zealand.
Blizzard had supplied more than 4 million game boxes to retailers worldwide, and more than 5,000 stores throughout the world had their doors open at midnight to welcome thousands of expectant players.
Day-one sales totals on both continents were similar, with an estimated total of nearly 1.2 million copies sold on the first day in North America and an estimated total of more than 1.1 million copies sold in Europe within the first 24 hours of launch.* By the end of the first day of availability on both continents, a total of more than 1.7 million players had already logged in and upgraded World of Warcraft to play The Burning Crusade.
"The Burning Crusade has already exceeded even our most ambitious expectations," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased that so many players are eager to see all of the new content that the expansion has to offer, and we look forward to seeing everyone online as additional players continue to upgrade in the days ahead."
Retailers are continuing to report sustained demand, so if players have not yet purchased their copy of The Burning Crusade, they are advised to call ahead to make sure their store has copies on hand. Additional shipments of the expansion have been routed to retailers to help maintain stock levels.
"The immediate popularity of The Burning Crusade once again shows that Blizzard consistently delivers what gamers want," said Robert McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. "In addition to setting a new day-one PC-game sales record at our GameStop and EB Games stores, the expansion garnered more online pre-orders than any other PC game in our company’s history."
Prior to the launch of The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft was played by more than 8 million players around the world -- with more than 2 million on North American realms and more than 1.5 million on European realms -- making it the most successful subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game in PC-gaming history.
For more information on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, please visit the official website for the expansion at www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade.
But that's 2.4 million copies sold between UE and the US, and that says a lot; especially when you look at thier sub break down. Also I read someplace that the China doesn't pay a monthy fee for the game and thier the largest part of WoW's 8 million.
I'm going to do some looking cause the last I saw was the US subs were only at 2mil. Compare that to the 2.4 mil copies of TBC sold between UE and US.
Also Lineage 2 reported selling something along the lines of 12 mil. worldwide.
Edit: I'm not thinking. 2.4 mil sold in 24 hours. Still that's between all of UE and the US. Also took a line out I didn't feel like explaining; sufice it to say there is a better regional breakdown available for WoW subs, as over 2 million could be 2,000,100 subscribers and ever 1.5 could be much closer to 2 milion then it says.
Edit again: Also that press release isn't up to date on the subs either. Those numbers were release before the 23rd of Jan. and coinsided with thier marketing for TBC. I'd be more interested in sub numbers after the TBC launch cause I got a feeling Blizz may have lost some subs; this is based on my own personal feelings over the xpac and what I've seen of people I played WoW with for 2 years.
Also you can go into best buys and get a 10 day free trial for something like 2 bucks and apparently it sells rather well in the store in my area. And I put it past NO MMO company to add in any trial keys they have active.
At my job people that left WoW, came back to BC, and they like Outland more than Azeroth(me to), and many joined for the first time ,now with the expantion.
The original game(WoW) is on 3rd pace of pc games in most places next to BC, and new Sims Expansion.So i dont beleve subscriptions will go down soon.
You are teling me that many people are not plaing WoW because it only sold 2.4M boxes on the first 24h???LOL