World of Warcraft hits 11.5 million subscribers

Abstract

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft has recently passed 10 million subscribers worldwide since its launch on November 23, 2004. According to Blizzard, WoW now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia. Blizzard also took its customary step of explicitly defining who it counted as subscribers, clarifying that the 10 million number refers to those 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. The count does not, however, include free promotional subscriptions, expired or canceled subscriptions or prepaid cards. Blizzard also counted Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days. The subscribers of its licensees were also counted under the same rules.