Rob Fahey 13:17 (BST)
07/03/2007

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Blizzard has announced that sales of The Burning Crusade expansion pack for World of Warcraft have topped 3.5 million units - with the pack as yet unlaunched in the enormous Chinese market.

The game has sold some 1.6 million copies in Europe to date, with 1.9 million copies shifted in countries which play on the North American servers - including Australasia (some 100,000 copies), Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

All the hype surrounding the expansion pack hasn't hurt subscriber numbers for World of Warcraft itself, either; the game has now topped 8.5 million active subscribers worldwide, revealing continuing rapid growth which is edging the game closer and closer to being the world's first MMOG service to boast 10 million subscribers.

The Burning Crusade sold almost 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours on sale, making it into the fastest-selling PC game ever by a vast margin; in fact, it sold more copies in its first day on sale than any other PC title has sold in its first month.

The success of the expansion pack comes despite the fact that it has yet to launch in China, which is the single largest market for World of Warcraft. Blizzard is currently working with its partners in the region to translate the game and prepare it for release in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

The game also launched late in South Korea, another major market for MMOGs, where it appeared on February 12th. Blizzard has yet to announce any figures related to the Korean launch.

"We're thrilled about the overwhelming response that we've received for The Burning Crusade," commented Blizzard president Mike Morhaime. "We have worked hard to build upon nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft with this expansion, and it's gratifying to see that players and reviewers are enjoying the new content."