65% of WoW Users Bought ‘Crusade’ in First 24 Hours

Blizzard sold 2.4 million copies of the Burning Crusade expansion pack for World of Warcraft in North America and the EU in the first 24 hours alone, making it the fastest-selling PC game ever. At $40 a pop, that equates to $100 million in sales in one day, which is exceeded only by Microsoft’s $125 million first-day total for Halo 2, its powerhouse Xbox title.

Of the 8 million subscribers to WoW, there are 3.5 million players in China, 2 million in North America and 1.5 million in Europe. That means only 3.5 million current subscribers live in areas where the Burning Crusade went on sale. This suggests that up to 65 percent of WoW subscribers in those areas bought the expansion pack on the first day. By the end of the first day of availability on both continents, a total of more than 1.7 million players had already logged in and upgraded World of Warcraft to play The Burning Crusade. Even if we assume that some of the buyers were new players, that’s an incredible buy rate on a $40 product.

“The Burning Crusade has already exceeded even our most ambitious expectations,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re pleased that so many players are eager to see all of the new content that the expansion has to offer, and we look forward to seeing everyone online as additional players continue to upgrade in the days ahead.”