Despite predictions to the contrary, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion for the MMO has sold nearly three million copies in its debut. This sales boost had previously been predicted to be markedly smaller by industry analysts immediately following the expansion’s release.
With the 2.7 million sold, World of Warcraft pushes back above 10 million subscribers, but it’s unclear how many will stick around once the Panda craze dies down in Aezroth. “With Mists of Pandaria, we set out to expand on the sense of fun and discovery that’s always been at the heart of World of Warcraft — in addition to adding a huge variety of new content and features to the game,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “It’s been gratifying to see the results of all of the work we put into this expansion and to hear all of the positive feedback from players so far.”
It is worth noting that Activision says the 2.7 million sold only represents the release outside of the October 2nd Chinese release of the game, so these figures could be substantially higher with that region included.
Mists of Pandaria offers a wide variety of content for new and returning World of Warcraft players. Features include a new playable race (the pandaren) with its own starting zone and quests, a new character class (the monk), and an expansive new continent for players to explore as they adventure to the new level cap of 90. The expansion also includes a host of new gameplay elements designed to give players even more ways to enjoy the game, including scenarios — a flexible new kind of cooperative PvE trial; challenge modes, which offer high-prestige rewards for mastering Mists of Pandaria’s 5-player dungeons; and an all-new pet battle system.
