Friday May 25, 2012 1:34 AM AEST

Atomic MPC > News > Game > PC Games > World of Warcraft takes massive to a whole new level

PC Games

World of Warcraft takes massive to a whole new level

The MMORPG just keeps getting bigger, breaking yet another record with its latest expansion.

It’s going to be a very merry Christmas at Blizzard HQ, with the news today that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has become the fastest selling PC game of all time, after racking up a massive 3.3 million sales in its first 24 hours of release.

Cataclysm, the third WOW expansion, was released to most major markets, including Australia, on December 7th, and thousands of stores worldwide opened at midnight to give fans the chance to get their hands on the expansion as early as possible. The results speak for themselves.

The results are based on internal records and distributer reports, and include digital pre-sales. We’d suggest that the previous holder of the record might be kicking up a fuss, but given that that was World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - released back in November 2008 - the crown is probably being passed on quite happily.

World of Warcraft now has over 12 million subscribers worldwide and is by far the most popular MMO in the universe.

In a release today Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime thanked ‘new, existing, and returning players throughout the world for their incredible enthusiasm and support’ – so if you were one of the millions who jumped on the new expansion, consider yourself appreciated.

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6 Comments

mudjimba Dec 14, 2010 10:39 PM	Bought it, reactivated my account. Just don't have the enthusiasm for an expansion. It's like updating your phones software. It's exciting at first, but in the end it's just the same phone.
Hawkeye Dec 15, 2010 7:56 AM	Is this a bad time to admit I like updating my phone's software? Have to say, loving Cata. As someone who ditched WoW to play LotRO, then moved away from that... well, I'm paying to play Cata while free LotRO is still languishing on my taskbar :)
Meowkitty Dec 15, 2010 8:11 AM	If they plan it like they did WoTLK then I can also look forward to some nice progression of plot, instance and PvP (not that I pvp myself) Sadly, I will be getting this one for christmas from my family. how dare it be the best gift and I have to wait. (only 4 more sleeps)
alexdtree Dec 15, 2010 12:40 PM	got my collectors edition when it came out ;) Meowkitty there is a lot of plot progression and its done in a way better way better quests, and lots of smaller cinematics that break up the grind really well
Dazerath Dec 16, 2010 2:06 AM	I'm loving cata, Haven't touched my lvl80s yet, I've been playing with my worgen, I did an all nighter during the release with a friend, its was crazy!!! could barely get on the server, WORGENS RULE!! Dazerworg~CAELESTRASZ
Antraman Jan 3, 2011 12:38 AM	"is by far the most popular MMO in the universe." Some pretty expensive market research involving inter-stellar travel must have been carried out to be able to say this with any accuracy....

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Atomic Magazine

Issue: 137 | June, 2012

Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.

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