World of Warcraft series sales hit 8.59 million in US

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jul 30, 2009 1:50 pm PT

NPD breaks down US life-to-date sales of Blizzard's MMORPG empire: Burning Crusade sell 2.27 million, Wrath of Lich King 1.91 million, Battle Chest 740,000, and WOW proper 3.66 million.

With World of Warcraft still offline in the massive Chinese market, Blizzard Entertainment hasn't released worldwide subscriber numbers since last December's 11.5 million-plus figure. However, the NPD Group has provided GameSpot with an authorized breakdown of the game's life-to-date retail sales in the US market. The figures do not include direct digital sales from the Blizzard Store.

This party of adventurers has acquired quite the pile of loot.

According to the industry-research firm, some 8.59 million units of boxed World at Warcraft games have been sold domestically since the game launched in November 2004. The original stand-alone game, GameSpot's 2004 Game of the Year, has sold 3.66 million units at varying price points. It currently costs $19.99 a la carte, but is also included in the $39.99 World of Warcraft Battle Chest, which has sold 740,000 units domestically since going on sale in October 2007.

The World of Warcraft Battle Chest includes the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game's expansion packs, The Burning Crusade. By itself, the add-on sold 2.27 million domestically since its release in January 2007 and currently costs $29.99 solo. The second WOW expansion, the $39.99 Wrath of the Lich King, has sold 1.91 million units since it launched last November. During that launch, it moved over 2.8 million copies worldwide in 24 hours, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time.

Though retail sales do generate revenue, Blizzard's big money earner is the subscription fee--$14.99 in the US--each World of Warcraft player pays monthly. In May, the developer-publisher's parent company, Activision Blizzard, reported quarterly MMORPG income of $314 million, or more than $100 million per month.

163 Comments

  • MrHatnClogs

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 11:41 am PT

    Whats the average number of WOW Addicts?

  • WolfGrey

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 11:31 am PT

    Like i said, Runes of Magic , no money needed

    But good for them.Just let me know when Diablo 3 will ever come out and im happy.

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 2:16 am PT

    Wow... That's an insane amount of sales... just imagine all those boxes lined up in a room. I'd play if it wasn't so ridiculously overpriced.

  • modernwarfare3

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 12:59 am PT

    okay GameSpot i get it ok IT'S GOOD!!

  • MALMSTEEN4774

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 6:49 pm PT

    the thing is wow is awesome!!! blizzard desrve to get million of dollars !!

    this game is so much fun. and u ask me why it is the fastest selling pc game?

  • alvin201

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 12:37 pm PT

    Fun game just to dam expensive

  • TheHunt3D

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:21 am PT

    How could it possible be so popular? I find it to be nothing but a chore!

  • chappy_man

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 9:23 am PT

    @jrxbond

    I can agree with that, it does sometimes come across as a mindless game, until you get into raiding and alot of the later pvp stuff, grinding is mindless no matter what you do.
    Now Dynasty Warriors, theres a mindless game and I am not fully convinced WoW is anywhere as bad as that.

  • ajpopa

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 9:58 pm PT

    I loved vanilla WoW. BC followed by WotLK ruined the game for me, haven't been playing now for almost 6 months. But when you see these kinds of figures you can understand that when a company has a cash cow like this you have to keep the masses happy. Unless you are just really that into WoW the hardcore move on.

  • WolfGrey

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 6:37 pm PT

    @cparker2510

    Well with a very large community i really wanted to give it a chance.I made some good friends on there and they moved on with me to some new mmorpgs.

  • cparker2510

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 5:15 pm PT

    @WolfGrey

    i can understand hating a three-month long prison stint...but i can't understand choosing to do something that you hate for any extended period of time. sure, i know you don't want to judge something too quickly...but...three months?

  • WolfGrey

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 4:16 pm PT

    I played it for 3 months and hated it.As great as the gameplay may be, i cant get over how terrible the character models look.So cartoony and somehow they ended up stretched out too.Extra long or extra short faces.Ill give them thumbs up for gameplay but thumbs down for looks.Runes of Magic is a far better game, and its free to play.There is micro-transactions but you dont need them at all.Its alot like a combo of guild wars and WoW.Primary and secondary classes, great looking character models.Not to mention graphics that easily surpass WoW.Its just better overall.I recommend looking it up all.

  • Sovereign_13

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 3:31 pm PT

    WoW, Blizzard practically has a money farm!

  • jrxbond posted Aug 1, 2009 2:16 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    jrxbond

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 2:16 pm PT (hide)

    World of Warcraft is for people who like mindless gaming. Or played with a lot of dolls when they were a child. Take your pick.

  • saturo123

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 2:08 pm PT

    WoW was cool in 2005

  • dwd_27

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 1:44 pm PT

    world of warcraft 1 of the best games of all time and everyone who play's enjoy's and get's the control in less than 2 miniutes of playing!!!!!

  • Ebag3587

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 10:06 am PT

    World of Warcraft had mentioned that they only include active accounts in their figures. At least that's what they say. Who knows what they do now since the game has reached astronomical popularity.

  • peter_the_hun

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 8:15 am PT

    @Tyson. The difference in the 11.5 million and the 8.6 million are also because the 11.5 million is worldwide sales and the 8.6 is domestic (US only) sales.

  • SmokinDankNugz

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 7:40 am PT

    Blizzard truly is a remarkable company... I mean they spent millions of dollars and thousands of man hours on Ghost, and they figured it would suck so they didn't release it! They just DO NOT release anything short of an amazing product.

  • silentkillah

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 1:57 am PT

    @ Nightrain50

    Just because people didn't buy WOTLK, doesn't mean they aren't a paying/playing subscriber! There are still people who don't own any expansion that play WoW.

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