World of Warcraft hits 8 million subscribers

World of Warcraft, the online multiplayer fantasy game, now has more than 8 million players. This is according to Blizzard Entertainment who released the game just over two years ago on November 23, 2004. The players include more than 2 million North American players, along with 1.5 million in Europe and an incredible 3.5 million in China.

At any one time several hundred thousand players are playing WoW and during peak times in the evenings the wait to enter the servers can stretch beyond thirty minutes.

The million of players are eagerly awaiting the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion pack which will be released on January 16th. The expansion adds two new races, along with a new continent. Level caps will be raised to 70.

Blizzard counts a player as any person who is paying a subscription fee or using a pre-paid game card. Gamers in China who pay by the hour are also counted.

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Screenshots from World of Warcraft Burning Crusade expansion