World of Warcraft hits 5 million subscribers mark

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the number of subscribers to World of Warcraft, the hit massively multiplayer online RPG, has topped 5 million following the launch of the game in Asia.

WOW launched around a year ago in North America and in Europe last February. It was released in Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong on November 8th, where it has established a solid fan base, and Blizzard now says the game is "the world's most popular MMORPG."

"World of Warcraft's growth continues to exceed all our expectations," said Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime.

"We want to reiterate our thanks to the millions of players worldwide and to all the retailers who have enthusiastically supported the game over the past year. We look forward to offering even more content for current customers in the months ahead and welcoming new players into the world this holiday season."

Blizzard will release a new expansion pack, titled World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, in 2006. The expansion will feature new lands, quests, monsters, items and spells, new player races and professions, and will raise the level cap to 70.