As World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King was released, it was expected to be a success, but who knew it would now be the fastest selling PC game of all time? Yup, folks, it has, as the one of the successful games releases its second expansion pack. Here is the full article:
IRVINE, Calif. - November 20, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®'s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King™, has sold more than 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability*, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. This eclipses the previous record of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in 24 hours, set in January 2007 by Blizzard's first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade®. Wrath of the Lich King was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Chile, Argentina, and Russia on November 13; Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on November 14; and South Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18.
In celebration of the launch, more than 15,000 stores throughout the world had their doors open at midnight to welcome thousands of expectant players. Several of these locations were attended by Blizzard Entertainment representatives, who met players and signed copies of the game.
"We're grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we’ve created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead."
"After a single day of availability, Wrath of the Lich King is already the bestselling PC game of 2008 at GameStop and ranks as one of our top-selling products so far this year," said Bob McKenzie, GameStop’s senior vice president of merchandising. "In keeping with the tradition established by their previous releases, Blizzard Entertainment has again created a product that not only reflects their high standards of quality but is clearly an instant hit with gamers around the country."
Prior to the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, World of Warcraft’s subscriber population had grown to more than 11 million players, further strengthening its position as the world's most popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. More information about the new expansion can be found at the official Wrath of the Lich King website: www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath.
Kind of crazy for an expansion pack to get this much attention. But it has, and it's still growing. But this game marks an end to the World of Warcraft series for now, as Blizzard has it's full attention on Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2, and World of Warcraft is now one of the most played games on PC. What a spectacular finish! And we hope to keep playing WoW forever.
But still, WoW has just become one of the best selling games of all time. And it now holds the record for the most copies sold on release night, which is kind of crazy.
Starcraft II will break that record with ease (Korea), and Diablo III will break that record.
But thats not a big achievement because its a record for an expansion. I'm not sure any game will touch wow sales for a while.
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"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
This isnt surprising in any way lmao.......gonna take a pretty sickk ass game to be beat those numbers......Im thinking sc2 MIGHT beat out those numbers....d3 wont even come close tho
there's still at least 2 more expansions to come for WoW. Nothing came to an end just yet. The WoW team isnt moving to the next-gen MMO, that team is being hired right now. They might go help when things are almost done, but it just barely started.
Blizzard said they will support WoW even at the time the next MMO is out and that they hope it will remain strong. That said, i dont think we wont see another expansion within the next 4 years (minimum) till the release of the next MMORPG.
I dissagree, I believe that there will be one more WoW expansion (My estimates are in two and a half years) before the next MMO. That way, there will be more money coming into WoW and they can begin hyping the next MMO 6 months later and give themselves a year to play with. (That's of course assuming the MMO comes out in 4 years.)
Either way though, my bet is that a WoW expansion comes out in 2 and a half years.
Diablo III will not beat the 1-day sales record. WoW got the record because they have a huge online-population, and a lot of those people need the expansion to further their experience. Diablo III won't come close to beating it.... But maybe it's expansion will
and why do of all games you think that diablo 3 might fail miserably? why not the next WoW expansion? or starcraft 2? or the next MMO? there is always a possibility that it could fail but let's be really serious. is diablo 3 going to fail? hell no, and you know it
Okay, imagine that you're a concert pianist. At first, you dwell in the shadows but finally, light shines upon you, and you're noticed. You play perfectly, and you release your first album and it was great success. You start to get noticed, and you keep getting better and better. Each concert you play is flawless. But then, all of sudden, you are asked to play at the White House. And what do you do? You just keep working and keep trying to make sure you please everyone. But as you walk in the room, you feel the pressure fall on you. Everyone knows you. They have expectations. They expect great things from you, since you never screwed up on a piece in your life. So natually, you play the worst performance in you life.
This is how Blizzard feels right now: enormous pressure because of the great success of WotLK, and that they haven't paid any attention to a game in 6 years.
I'm not saying the game is going to be a failure, I'm saying that it has the highest chance to be so.
yeah man, but I think that people over there know how to handle pressure. they've been in the business since february 1991. doesn't that mean anything?
as for the last sentence, it depends on what do you mean by failure. money-wise not. people are going to buy it you cannot argue with that, but as for the overall quality of the game I've already said it...
Failure might be a little of an exxageration (spelling?). Disapointment would fit better.
I think it could break the record. I mean, Diablo 3 is probably the most anticipated game sequel ever. We've been waiting for it a long time, the second part is a law, it is made by blizzard, there is no way it could possibly fail and people know it. how often do we get to buy games which we are sure are great and have no doubts about riding the hype train?
They had games that were crap before though. Battle Chess and Battle Chess 2 comes to mind as mediocre games. Then theres J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I which isn't fit for a landfill, let alone a video game. Plus they have Justice League Task Force in which they have hero's fighting each other for information. Umm, what?
Anyway, Blizz has made there fair share of mediocre games as well as shitty games. Just because the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchise's haven't failed doesn't mean Blizz hasn't.
Quote from "Ferret" »
I kinda agree with Linkx on the number of expansions left. I wouldn't mind two more expansions, but I simply have my doubts as to how long Blizzard can keep WoW alive. At the moment its definantley not dying, but two years is a long time in the game industry.
I can see WC4 after the fourth WoW expansion, opening the doors to WoW2.
They had games that were crap before though. Battle Chess and Battle Chess 2 comes to mind as mediocre games. Then theres J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I which isn't fit for a landfill, let alone a video game. Plus they have Justice League Task Force in which they have hero's fighting each other for information. Umm, what?
Anyway, Blizz has made there fair share of mediocre games as well as shitty games. Just because the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchise's haven't failed doesn't mean Blizz hasn't.
Well that doesn't count as every new company makes bad games in the beginning. The true pressure starts when they release their first good dame, so you can see whether or not it was an accident or something. But Blizzard so far proved that they are flawless. But now reading all the comments, I don't know whther I was right about Blizzard effing up Diablo 3 since it does look even more flawless then Diablo 2 as we were waiting for that to be released by Blizzard North.
Quote from "LinkX" »
I can see WC4 after the fourth WoW expansion, opening the doors to WoW2.
I think Blizzard is done for WoW until they can truly make perfect graphics for that game. But I agree with you when you say that WC4 should be released next.
battle chess games and LotR were ports so not actually their games. but yes, Fighting League is their own game and it was mediocre but after it, flawless I guess they learned a lot from those games. what not to do maybe
The wierd thing is that Justice League Task Force and Lost Vikings 2 were released after Warcraft, maybe it was because they already made it and wanted to make some extra cash, but after that, there was not a single mention of those previous games and then the production of Starcraft and Diablo came and then we have the so-called flawless Blizzard Entertainment.
@deathMars: I don't see them succumbing to 'pressure' with their new WoTLK expansion. WoW has beaten all records, then TBC came and beat the previous records, and now WoTLK came and broke the records as well as pushing their standard up a notch. Blizzard has been a loooong way from the concept pianist a long time ago and they never ever failed. They are planning to put even more effort into everything they do, and eventually reach their goal of releasing one WoW expansion every 12 months. Why do you think it took them longer than that last two times? Because they have no pressure. They have the money, the unlimited resource and all the time in this world.
After a couple of years, if Diablo 3 doesn't meet their highest standards, they will rather have flushed it and called it quits than released it in any other form and compromised their good name. They've already done so in the past. Besides, what are you talking about? We've got a little taste of the game already, we know it's looking to be their best game so far.
Quote from "LinkX" »
I can see WC4 after the fourth WoW expansion, opening the doors to WoW2.
WoW 5, you mean? You do understand that WoW 2 is called The Burning Crusade? They all count as separate games.
Not really. They have HUGE expectations and pressure for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I personally have lowered my expectation so I could surprised more and so I could enjoy them both more. I personally don't know. This is a just a guess since the chances of a disapointing game goes up as they keep making flawless games.
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Respectful is a strong word...
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Kind of crazy for an expansion pack to get this much attention. But it has, and it's still growing. But this game marks an end to the World of Warcraft series for now, as Blizzard has it's full attention on Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2, and World of Warcraft is now one of the most played games on PC. What a spectacular finish! And we hope to keep playing WoW forever.
But thats not a big achievement because its a record for an expansion. I'm not sure any game will touch wow sales for a while.
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
Either way, I don't have a 70 so I am not seeing most of the new content. Q.Q
Blizzard said they will support WoW even at the time the next MMO is out and that they hope it will remain strong. That said, i dont think we wont see another expansion within the next 4 years (minimum) till the release of the next MMORPG.
Either way though, my bet is that a WoW expansion comes out in 2 and a half years.
I on the other hand, am not surprised.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
As much as I hate to say it, Diablo 3 will not even come close. It's just not popular enough.
Okay, imagine that you're a concert pianist. At first, you dwell in the shadows but finally, light shines upon you, and you're noticed. You play perfectly, and you release your first album and it was great success. You start to get noticed, and you keep getting better and better. Each concert you play is flawless. But then, all of sudden, you are asked to play at the White House. And what do you do? You just keep working and keep trying to make sure you please everyone. But as you walk in the room, you feel the pressure fall on you. Everyone knows you. They have expectations. They expect great things from you, since you never screwed up on a piece in your life. So natually, you play the worst performance in you life.
This is how Blizzard feels right now: enormous pressure because of the great success of WotLK, and that they haven't paid any attention to a game in 6 years.
I'm not saying the game is going to be a failure, I'm saying that it has the highest chance to be so.
Failure might be a little of an exxageration (spelling?). Disapointment would fit better.
They had games that were crap before though. Battle Chess and Battle Chess 2 comes to mind as mediocre games. Then theres J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I which isn't fit for a landfill, let alone a video game. Plus they have Justice League Task Force in which they have hero's fighting each other for information. Umm, what?
Anyway, Blizz has made there fair share of mediocre games as well as shitty games. Just because the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchise's haven't failed doesn't mean Blizz hasn't.
I can see WC4 after the fourth WoW expansion, opening the doors to WoW2.
Well that doesn't count as every new company makes bad games in the beginning. The true pressure starts when they release their first good dame, so you can see whether or not it was an accident or something. But Blizzard so far proved that they are flawless. But now reading all the comments, I don't know whther I was right about Blizzard effing up Diablo 3 since it does look even more flawless then Diablo 2 as we were waiting for that to be released by Blizzard North.
I think Blizzard is done for WoW until they can truly make perfect graphics for that game. But I agree with you when you say that WC4 should be released next.
Here is the list of games made by Blizzard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_Entertainment#Titles
The wierd thing is that Justice League Task Force and Lost Vikings 2 were released after Warcraft, maybe it was because they already made it and wanted to make some extra cash, but after that, there was not a single mention of those previous games and then the production of Starcraft and Diablo came and then we have the so-called flawless Blizzard Entertainment.
After a couple of years, if Diablo 3 doesn't meet their highest standards, they will rather have flushed it and called it quits than released it in any other form and compromised their good name. They've already done so in the past. Besides, what are you talking about? We've got a little taste of the game already, we know it's looking to be their best game so far.
WoW 5, you mean? You do understand that WoW 2 is called The Burning Crusade? They all count as separate games.