World of Warcraft -- the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from Blizzard Entertainment -- has reached 1.5 million subscribers worldwide.
As previously reported, the game was well received on release. It sold in excess of 600,000 copies over the 2004 holiday season, following its 23 November launch in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The game launched in Europe on 11 February and sold an estimated 280,000 copies, reaching 180,000 peak concurrency -- the number of players online at the same time -- in its first weekend.
"All of us at Blizzard are extremely gratified and amazed at the international demand for World of Warcraft," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment in a statement.
"From region to region, we've seen a phenomenal level of enthusiasm for World of Warcraft, and we're absolutely thrilled people are enjoying the game so much."
According to the statement from Blizzard, global peak concurrency was currently more than 500,000.
Vivendi Universal Games, distributors of the game in Australia, were unable to provide Australian subscriber and concurrency numbers at the time of writing.
World of Warcraft is being prepared for a launch in China set for 2005, with launches in Taiwan and other Asian regions to follow.
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