Nothing gets fans of Blizzard Entertainment Inc.’s “World of Warcraft” riled up like an apocalyptic bit of marketing.
“The ‘Cataclysm’ is nigh!” is the latest call to arms for the addition to Blizzard’s blockbuster PC video game released on Monday.
“Cataclysm” is what’s called an “expansion pack”—which tacks on new levels, lore and playtime to “World of Warcraft.”
“‘Cataclysm’ is the most ambitious expansion we have done to date,” said Tom Chilton, game director for “World of Warcraft.” “It’s really exciting to finally see it all come together and get it in the hands of the players.”
“World of Warcraft,” Blizzard’s flagship game, involves millions of players facing off in epic battles over the Internet. Blizzard’s customers pay roughly $15 a month to play the game, which has some 12 million players and counting.
In “World of Warcraft,” two fictional races fight for control of a fantasy world that pits armies of orcs, trolls and ogres against humans, dwarves and elves.
There’s big revenue to be made by Blizzard with expansion packs.
They help drive subscribers to the game and also lure back players who may have let their subscriptions lapse.
“Subscriber growth is very content driven,” Chief Executive Mike Morhaime said. “Expansions tend to bring back people who may have left. It also tends to bring in new people and generates interest around the game. We’ve seen that with each of our previous expansions and we expect to see that again with ‘Cataclysm.’”
The game sells for $40. A collector’s edition goes for $80.
Expansion packs also give longtime players something new to buzz about.
Blizzard revamped what’s called the Old World—levels one to 60 of “World of Warcraft”—and added five new levels for “Cataclysm.”
“It is an important part of making sure the game stays fresh for our players,” Chilton said. “We try to make sure people don’t get bored and make sure they have new things to conquer.”
Blizzard, part of Santa Monica’s Activision Blizzard Inc., is Orange County’s biggest software maker with some $1.3 billion in yearly revenue.
Activision Blizzard, itself part of France’s Vivendi SA, is known for such titles as “Call of Duty,” “Tony Hawk” and “Guitar Hero.”
Activision Blizzard’s shares are roughly flat in the past 12 months on a recent market value of $15 billion.
Timing
Sales of “Cataclysm” may get an extra boost from holiday shoppers.
“I think we are in time to capture a lot of that,” Chilton said.
Past “World of Warcraft” expansion packs have shattered sales records for games of its type.
“Wrath of the Lich King,” which went on sale in late 2008, sold nearly 3 million copies on its first day.
It went on to sell more than 4 million copies in its first month, setting a new record for monthly PC game sales. Both sales records previously were held by another “World of Warcraft” expansion pack, “The Burning Crusade.”
Chilton declined to make any kind of sales projections for “Cataclysm.”
“It’s super hard to predict,” he said, adding that beating “Lich King’s” sales records “is not outside the realm of possibility.”
Data on pre-orders for the game are kept close to the vest by Blizzard.
“Cataclysm” caps a big year for Blizzard.
2010 was the first time in more than a decade that the company had two major game releases.
In July, Blizzard released “StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty,” the first in the “StarCraft II” trilogy.
The game sold 1 million copies within the first 24 hours, making it the best-selling PC game of 2010.
It went on to sell a total of more than 1.5 million copies in its first 48 hours, setting the record for fastest-selling game of its type.
“Cataclysm” had been in the works since 2008.
Blizzard “teased” its fans with previews and playtime of the game at its annual fan conventions in Anaheim in the past two years.
The company doesn’t like to plan its game release schedule too far ahead.
It’s unknown how many expansion packs Blizzard has in the works for “World of Warcraft.”
“We usually have a very vague idea or set of ideas for our next expansions, but we try not to make highly detailed plans into the distant future,” Chilton said. “We want to be agile and responsive to our players.”
In typical Blizzard style, “Cataclysm” sales kicked off with a series of midnight parties at retailers all over the world, including in Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and Taiwan.
Locally, Blizzard developers greeted hardcore fans at Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley.
They were treated to an exclusive live performance by The Artist Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, Blizzard’s “in-house” band fronted by Chief Executive Morhaime.
