When Activision-Blizzard goes big, they go real big. The third World of Warcraft expansion, titled Cataclysm, is no exception. On midnight of December 7th, Blizzard released their expansion for their immensely popular MMORPG simultaneously in eleven different countries. Ten thousand stores opened up their doors for midnight releases, with fans impatiently waiting to jump into the newest page of Azeroth’s story. About 15,000 fans attended Blizzard launch events, which were hosted at retailers and partners in over ten countries!
All of these are great, eye popping numbers, but the biggest number of them all has to do with sales. In business terms, Cataclysm was more than a success, selling over 3.3 million copies of the expansion within just the first 24 hours of release, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time! Passing none other than, wait for it, Blizzard’s second World of Warcraft expansion. Wrath of the Lich King sold a smaller sum of 2.8 million copies back in 2008.
Mike Morhaime, CEO and Co-founder Blizzard said:
That’s quite the statement from a man at the head of a team who continues to grace our PC’s with the most quality of RPG and RTS gaming experiences available. Blizzard has to-date recorded thirteen #1 selling titles along with numerous Game of the Year awards.
“We had to bring Azeroth to the brink of destruction in Cataclysm, but the result was our best expansion yet.”
Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising at GameStop continues:
World of Warcraft has been around for years, taking away countless hours of time spent exercising, studying, and working. It has become a powerhouse of PC gaming as we know it. Prior to its December 11th release, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm had racked up 12 millions subscribers. That’s a lot of gamers out and about in Azeroth, and they come from all around the world.
“World of Warcraft: Cataclysm delivered even bigger day-one sales than we experienced with StarCraft® II: Wings of Libertyâ„¢ in July,” … “making this a record year for Blizzard Entertainment at GameStop.”
Mike goes on to say this to each of the fans purchasing Blizzard products:
No doubt about it, Cataclysm rocks our socks off with the addition of both Goblins and Worgens as playable character races. It seems like everything Blizzard touches becomes a quality video game product, and its addictiveness rivals any of a wide variety of hobbies, or maybe even drugs.
“We want to thank all of our new, existing, and returning players throughout the world for their incredible enthusiasm and support, and we look forward to hearing what they think about all the new content.”
With StarCraft 2 hitting last July, Diablo 3 under development, and WoW:Cataclysm making its way into all our computers this holiday season, the sky is the limit for the guys at Blizzard. Following up these blockbuster titles is a daunting task of near insurmountable proportions, but Blizzard just keeps grabbing more ladders to continue setting the bar higher, over and over again. There are also plans for a World of Warcraft movie in the future, meaning all signs point to a long and successful future for Activision-Blizzard.
Ranters, what do you think of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm? Does Blizzard have you stuck to your swivel chair leveling up Goblins and Worgens or racing to the new level cap? What kind of things do you think we’ll see in the future from Blizzard? More information on the latest expansion can be found on the Activision-Blizzard website.
