WoW Population Passes 8m

That's bigger than Switzerland, if you need a comparison.

Every night World of Warcraft players around the world turn on their computers and enter a very different reality, one where they are free to from themselves and determine their future. It's this and the community that has gathered around the massively multiplayer online game that has made World of Warcraft such a success.

The migration to Azeroth, the game's world, was rapid, but it was when its borders were opened to MMOG-mad China in June 2005 that the population expansion took off.

World of Warcraft now has 8 million residents, Blizzard said this week. The bulk of those, 3.5 million, are in China, with Europeans numbering 1.5 million and North Americans another 2 million.

What keeps them playing? For one, Blizzard has consciously maintained a relationship with its customers over the past nearly-two-years, updating World of Warcraft nearly a dozen times since launch and each time growing the world and the options available to its citizens.

Until now, veteran players have been constrained in how far they can take their characters. Come next week and the arrival of the first full expansion pack, Burning Crusade, players will at last be able to take characters currently capped at level 60 higher still.

Celebrations are being planned across Europe to usher in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade. In London, Blizzard has teamed up with High Street chain HMV for a midnight launch event at its flagship store at 150 Oxford Street. The party starts at 11pm, meaning for one night at least people are going to have to give their characters a rest.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo