WoW Breaks European Records News

The phenomenal success of World of Warcraft continued upon the recent European launch of the MMORPG, with a jubilant Blizzard celebrating a sell-through rate of 280,000 copies on launch, selling more units in one day than what was previously considered to be the overall cumulative size of the European MMORPG market.

By the end of the opening weekend the figure rose to more than 380,000 units being sold, smashing all records and shattering previous records for the highest number of account created, concurrent user population and servers created.

During the opening weekend, more than 290,000 players created WoW accounts, with 100,000 of those playing concurrently on the first day. A first time ever peak concurrency of 180,000 players across Europe was reached during the first weekend, with over 80 servers deployed at Paris and Frankfurt to handle the demand. To cope with the huge popularity, Blizzard assures us that more servers are on standby as new comers subscribe to the game.

â??We are extremely pleased by the launch of World of Warcraft in Europe,â? said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment. â??Our experience of launching World of Warcraft in North America last year has helped us to prepare for Europe by providing more boxes at launch than we had previously planned and deploying more servers from the start, which we hope will allow us to provide a smooth and fun game experience from the outset for everyone playing.â?

Retailers across Europe have reported outstanding demand for the title:

According to Lou Triche, Senior Vice President of International Operations for EB Games, â??World of Warcraft has become the fastest selling PC game to date for EB Games in Europe. The game has set new sales records for units sold during its first weekend of release.â? In the UK, Tricia Brennan, Head of Buying, GAME, said: â??World of Warcraft was passionately anticipated by customers and staff alike. Yet again, Blizzard has delivered a superb game and we are delighted with the success of the title.â?

A similar success story was experienced in France where Jean Marc Martel, Games Buyer of the countryâ??s leading PC retailer, FNAC stated, â??I'd like to thank the Blizzard team for their professionalism in making the launch of World of Warcraft a real event at FNAC. We look forward to partnering with Blizzard Entertainment on future releases.â?