Blizzard Entertainment, creators of some of the most popular games ever to hit the computer, announced on Monday their “World of Warcraft” game hit 5 million players worldwide. The top-selling, subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) took off a year ago and has been incredibly successful.
World of Warcraft’s growth continues to exceed all our expectations,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We want to reiterate our thanks to the millions of players worldwide and to all the retailers who have enthusiastically supported the game over the past year.
“Our commitment to continue growing World of Warcraft is stronger than ever, with development on future content patches and on our 2006 expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, well underway. We look forward to offering even more content for current customers in the months ahead and welcoming new players into the world this holiday season.”
The “World of Warcraft” and games like it have come to be a powerful force on the Internet. Blizzard’s burning hot game is a multi-billion dollar venture that continues to do well.
The game has had its down points too. Gaming addiction has become a popular buzzword in some places and lawsuits have even been filed. Last month, a Chinese family filed suit against Blizzard claiming their son’s leap from a 24-story building happened as a result from his exploits on the “World of Warcraft.”
Despite the problems though, these MMORPGs continue to make money and Blizzard leads the pack. The five million mark comes after only four months after they hit the four million mark.
To play the game, there’s the initial hit for the cost of the game and then there’s the monthly fee. The game itself runs about $50 and the monthly fee runs from $12.99 to $14.99 depending on the chosen payment plan.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
