World of Warcraft hits over 10 million subscribers as Warlords of Draenor launches

We suspected the launch of the World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor expansion was popular given the well-documented server problems surrounding it. Now we're beginning to get an idea of just how popular.

According to a press release sent out by Blizzard today, the Warlords of Draenor expansion sold more than 3.3 million copies in its first 24 hours, and sent the game's subscriber base rocketing past 10 million.

For comparison, back in August Blizzard said the subscriber base had dipped to 6.8 million. The MMO was already beginning to see a resurgence of players as the expansion approached; Activision's Q3 earnings release said it had grown back up to 7.4 million as of Sept. 30.

World of Warcraft's previous expansion pack, Mists of Pandaria, also saw a subscription increase over 10 million in 2012, although from a much closer 9.1 million prior to its launch. World of Warcraft's peak for subscribers remains 12 million back in 2010.

Blizzard says the new 10 million subscriber number represents "growth across all major regions," including North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The Warlords of Draenor expansion has officially launched today in several more regions, including South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

You can watch us checking out the expansion in the video below.