WoW reaches 8 million subscribers

Blizzard's MMO, World of Warcraft, is now played by more than 8 million subscribers, the company has revealed.

Figures for specific regions reveal that there are more than 2 million players in North America, over 1.5 million in Europe and more than 3.5 million players in China.

"We're ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," commented co-founder of Blizzard, Mike Morhaime.

"This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players."

The latest expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, is due to launch next week in Europe, with Blizzard and publisher VU Games holding midnight launch events across Europe, on January 16.

"With the release of our expansion pack next week, we're looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy," said Morhaime.