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IRVINE, California - 14 June, 2005; Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft, the company's highly acclaimed subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed two million paying subscribers worldwide*. As the game's worldwide population continues to grow, so does the game itself: Blizzard recently introduced the highly anticipated player-vs.-player (PvP) Honor System and the game's first two Battlegrounds, Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch. These new PvP battlefields offer a variety of fast-paced combat and some of the most valuable rewards yet seen in the game.
"World of Warcraft continues to surpass all expectations as gamers around the world embrace it with overwhelming support," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We want to thank our players for their incredible response, and we promise to continue supporting World of Warcraft with more updates and content. The new Battlegrounds are just the beginning of greater enhancements to come."
World of Warcraft recently surpassed the two million mark for paying subscribers. Already the largest MMO in both North America and Europe, Blizzard expects to see even greater growth with the recent commercial launch in China on June 7, 2005. Anticipation for World of Warcraft was already at an all-time high in China, with peak concurrency during the open beta test topping 500,000 players, nearly equal to World of Warcraft's peak concurrency in all three current markets combined. Blizzard expects to see the new mark of two million subscribers shattered quickly with the arrival of players from China in the coming weeks.
Later in the year, World of Warcraft will also launch in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Even as World of Warcraft debuts in new markets, Blizzard continues to develop new content to keep the game relevant and exciting for current and incoming players. The recent deployment of Battlegrounds illustrates Blizzard's commitment to enhancing the World of Warcraft experience for all its players worldwide. Additional Battlegrounds and more content updates are scheduled throughout the year and beyond.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
Comments
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
Im one of these people that made this possible !!!
Lots of people listen to Britney Spears, does that make her great? Numbers don't mean jack.
This is awesome news.................. for Blizzard.
Now they can confidently kick back their feet and forget about ever implementing the endgame they advertised, safe in the knowledge that there will always be enough easily pleased children to keep their business venture afloat.
Whoever's left behind at Blizzard HQ have a lot to thank the team who originally developed WoW for.
My subscription expired three days ago.
Just wait until all those people get to lvl 60 and see how fast their suscriber numbers fall. This game was pathetic considering the talent and budget Blizzard had. No end-game and absolutely NO originality equals a flop in my books. Numbers don't prove anything. The biggest blockbuster boxoffice movies are rarely the best movies made. The most popular maybe, but not the greatest. It is often the non mainstream films that are the greatest (at least to me). I am personally kind of suprised to see that they have that many suscribers. I will admit I was a rabid fan until not long ago when I realized that after lvl 60, this game is strictly for the hermits with bloodshot eyes with that unhealthy pale electromagnetic glow with no real life and no real job. I was dissapointed and I am sure many of these 2 million other suscribers will be too.
Sorry for the negativity, Im just bitter because this game had such great potential.
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Science has never proven that what we see in front of us is in fact real.
I agree firemagic. Everyone should be kinda bummed about this because like fire said, it shows Blizz can just sit back and know they don't have to improve the game. If the numbers were lower you could bet your ass they'd be on top of fixing any problems they came across. I palyed WoW for a little while and enjoyed it, but I did expect more from Blizzard.
Im serious, some of you guys just dont get it! Over the past 5 months Ive hear this game sucks , this game blows , blah blah blah. And yet it has grown and is still growing well past release date, and im talking before the european release. This game IS really good, it isnt really good for hardcore players.....but guess what? Blizzard wasnt shooting for you guys. The mainstream player IS casual or medium and not hardcore.
And as far as Blizzard just sitting back and watching the money roll in. Are you insane? Of course they are going to keep updating and finding new things to constantly add to the game. You think for a second they are just going to watch the #1 mmorpg just go down the toilet now. They will do everything they can to keep it where it is.
Awesome! 2 Million players!
Now just get the developers to stop releasing bugging updates, and providing shitty technical support!
Worthless.
Bama, you're exactly what Blizz wants in a customer. As long as your happy paying for unfullfilled promises, that's just what you're going to get. I never said the game sucked. I said it is over hyped for what it is which is very true. And for the record I'm not a hardcore player eithier. I'm very casual. But playstyle has nothing to do with what were talking about.
If you wanna keep coughing up $15 a month for WoW, that's your decision. But don't try to tell me Blizz hasn't had quite a few mess-ups along the way.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
You actually think O'Reilly is worth listening to?...
This place is full of tree-huggers and tofu fartn' faeries...
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
Wow, I haven't been active for a while, but weren't you a extremely vocal World of Warcraft supporter just a while back, slaying every negative bit of information about it, even those saying "WoW has no endgame"?
Don't take this post as a negative post to you or anything, and I understand how people can change their minds. But was just a bit surprised reading this from you.
Edited to make it not sound so bad: As another poster said, wait until those casual/medium players finally hit 60. Some of the things that make it perfect for those type of players end at 60.
What a lot of you fail to realize is that you're thinking a lot of casual/new gamers are going to think hitting 60 is the end. This is so far from the truth it hurts and very bias. Not everyone shares your mentality of 60=the end. Most people have entirely different agendas when playing for the first time and I'd say fighting in BG along with a few of their friends and guildmates was what they are looking for.
Hell I was in one session of BG where it took damn near all day to finish, people kept coming and going and no side could get a good hold on the GYs. I must say I was shocked. It really felt like an epic battle. Some guys please get your heads out the sand and take a look around. WoW is still breaking numbers and it's the first NA game to do so. And that's a LOT to be proud of in a world that veiws my country in a negative way.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Yeah, but Ramonski7 - imagine the utter frustration of unhappy SWG and EQ2 players. They look over and see a game where the majority of people are having a hell of a lot of fun. SoE is probably wondering "where did we go wrong?".
I mean look at all the advantages/resources SoE had. EQ was a household name when it came to MMORPGs but yet despite the HUGE backing by Sony in terms of advertising, development, etc for EQ2 and SWG - you just can't polish a turd; you can't make icecream out of sh*t. I could honestly care less because I can pretty much guarantee that every time I log into WoW I'll have a lot of fun, as opposed to LFG for hours, pulling my hair out, wondering when the next big "revisioning" is coming, etc.
The sad thing is that until SoE's developers figure out how to develop a clue, they will have to be content to publish and maintaining mediocre games. Sad for their customers, it really is. It still blows my mind how you can take the Star Wars franchise and bungle it so horribly.
My two favorite games currently are WoW and L2. I play WoW to have a nice relaxing alternative, and L2 when I want to get my hardcore PvP on, lol.
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
Wow, I haven't been active for a while, but weren't you a extremely vocal World of Warcraft supporter just a while back, slaying every negative bit of information about it, even those saying "WoW has no endgame"?
Don't take this post as a negative post to you or anything, and I understand how people can change their minds. But was just a bit surprised reading this from you.
You obviously have a selective memory since I've criticized Blizzard's handling of WoW on several occasions. I don't remember ever shouting anyone down who said "WoW has no endgame" so I'd need to see a quote if you have one.
Yes I enjoyed WoW immensely while I played it, but it was always because I was convinced I was levelling my chars to play an awesome endgame that never came, and never will come.
I personally think Blizzard's worst mistake was selling to Vivendi. They lost their independence and have now basically become SOE Junior.