Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc., the top maker of online video games, said Thursday it now counts 12 million players of its “World of Warcraft” game.
Blizzard, part of Santa Monica’s Activision Blizzard Inc., is Orange County’s biggest software maker by revenue, with some $1.3 billion in 2009 sales.
“World of Warcraft” is what’s called a “massively multiplayer online role playing game.”
It’s a fantasy-themed, online game within a highly social world in which millions of players face off over the Internet.
Subscribers in the U.S. pay about $15 a month to play. They also have to pay to download digital copies of the game or purchase them on disc in stores.
Subscription growth for “World of Warcraft,” once thought to be recession-proof, had stalled some during the downturn.
Blizzard’s subscribers grew at a frantic pace until December 2008, when they seemed to max out at 11.5 million.
Growth seems to have been kick-started by last month’s launch in mainland China of the latest expansion to the game, dubbed “Wrath of the Lich King.”
Blizzard also credits its upcoming release of the game’s third expansion, “Cataclysm” in December for the boost.
“World of Warcraft” debuted in North America, Australia and New Zealand in 2004.
It was the worldwide bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006.
It finished in 2007 just behind “The Burning Crusade,” the first expansion for the game.
For 2008, the “World of Warcraft” series represented three of the top five bestselling PC games, with “Wrath of the Lich King” finishing the year at No. 1.
In 2009, “World of Warcraft” titles claimed three of the top six spots.
Activision Blizzard, which itself is part of France’s Vivendi SA, had a recent market value of about $13.5 billion.
