See you in line!

Four years ago it took the world by storm, and in a matter of days the saga continues in Wrath of the Lich King. World of Warcraft is a big deal, so what kind of sales numbers can we expect from the expansion in the first month?

The number-crunchers from Activision Blizzard are predicting five million. Let’s see, the official active subscription count was last at eleven million. If those sales numbers are achieved it will be staggering, perhaps record breaking. In retrospect nearly 2.4 million copies of the Burning Crusade were sold in the 24 hour launch window and 3.5 million at the end of its first month.

(If you are wondering why five million sales doesn’t add up the total subscription count it’s because mainland China and a few other territories around the world are left out due to licensing and localization development.)

What the analysts didn’t disclose is the cataclysmic destruction wreaked upon the servers due to overloaded strain! Expect daunting wait times to log on, and if the servers aren’t imploding players will be stacked up on top of one another in all starting areas. Fast spawn times will help, but even with several starting areas and the Death Knight class waiting lines to complete certain quests are likely. Hopefully the doom and gloom scenario won’t occur thanks the 3.0.2: Echoes of Doom patch, which proved to be a sort of testing ground for server stability and early-on transition, but with several more million players this time around there will be hustle and bustle never before seen.


There’s really nothing players can do to minimize the risk on their own if they don’t already play a low populated server. If you are taking off work or school to indulge in an early head start you may want to consider if you play on realm like Proudmoore and Blackrock, both heavily populated with players from Australia and North America.

Be sure to grab Wrath of the Lich King the second it comes out. There will be a huge event at the Sydney EB games, located at 340 George Street, Sydney CBD this Thursday, November 13th. The event kicks off at around 9:30pm and will feature contests and panels to keep the geeks fixated. Melbourne's Swanston Street EB and Brisbane's Albert Street stores will also be holding launch parties, with other stores nationwide opening at midnight to sell you your next fix.