Blizzard Entertainment has announced that its cross-platform massively multiplayer online role playing (MMORPG) game World of Warcraft has passed 10 million subscribers. It’s the most number of subscribers an MMORPG has ever generated.
First introduced in 2004, World of Warcraft was released simultaneously for Mac and Windows computers, and has been updated continuously for both platforms since then. It’s generated an expansion pack — The Burning Crusade — and another one that’s currently in development (Wrath of the Lich King).
The game takes players to the fantasy world of Azeroth, populated by humans, orcs, dwarves and numerous other species roughly aligned into two factions — the Alliance and the Horde. Players can name their own characters, create unique appearances, and determine what skills and characteristics their players will excel in. Then, as heroes of each individual race in the game, they fulfill missions and quests on their way to fame and glory, interactive with computer-controlled characters and other human players alike. The game incurs a monthly usage fee that allows players to compete and collaborate online.
World of Warcraft has more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and about 5.5 million in Asia, according to Blizzard. The game has been regionalized in seven languages; a Russian version is now in development.