World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Becomes Fastest-Selling PC Game of All Time
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment’s latest release achieves sky-shattering sales record with more units sold through as of first day of launch than any other PC game in history.

Player engagement in World of Warcraft reaches highest levels in a decade

IRVINE, Calif.—December 8, 2020—Starting November 23, World of Warcraft® players around the globe began their journey into the unknown reaches of Azeroth’s afterlife in Shadowlands, the game’s highly anticipated eighth expansion. Today, Blizzard Entertainment announced that as of the first full day of Shadowlands’ launch, more than 3.7 million units had sold through globally, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time industry-wide.

The previously announced industry record-holder, Blizzard’s own Diablo® III, sold through more than 3.5 million copies as of its first day of release. Today’s announcement confirms that Shadowlands has surpassed that milestone as well as any other reported sell-through achievement for the same time frame among all PC games historically.

In addition, World of Warcraft has continued to see strong engagement from the global community franchise-wide.

In the months leading up to the expansion’s release and the time since launch, the game reached and has sustained its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions compared to the same period ahead of and following any WoW expansion in the past decade, in both the West and the East.

Players have spent more time in Azeroth year to date than in the same period of any of the last 10 years.
In addition, total player time in game this year to date has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.

“It’s been a huge thrill to enter this whole-new dimension of the Warcraft universe together with millions of players around the world,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “It’s been equally rewarding to see players enjoying all of the new features and content in Shadowlands—whether they’re exploring new aspects of their characters with the Covenants or setting foot in WoW for the first time with the new-player experience in Exile’s Reach—and there’s much more to come.”

The launch of Shadowlands is just the beginning of an adventure unlike anything ever before experienced in World of Warcraft, with much more in store for players in the weeks and months ahead. Starting today, Shadowlands Season 1 commences when the gates to the expansion’s first raid, Castle Nathria—the gothic stronghold of Revendreth—open in Normal and Heroic difficulties. Mythic Keystone dungeons will also become available, tempting Azeroth’s heroes with greater rewards for taking on increased challenges. This season’s dungeon affix, Prideful, turns heroes’ own sense of accomplishment against them in the form of ego-wrought manifestations. In addition, players will be able to put their skills to the ultimate test in Arenas and Battlegrounds as the expansion’s first Rated PvP season begins.


About World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Shadowlands is the eighth expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Launched worldwide starting on November 23, Shadowlands sends players to the unexplored expanse of Warcraft’s afterlife, where the machinations of Sylvanas Windrunner and the malevolent Jailer threaten the very balance of life and death. There, players will explore disparate realms of wonder and horror; forge a bond with one of the Shadowlands’ four ruling Covenants in exchange for otherworldly power; delve into the Maw to rescue wrongly tormented souls; and ascend the twisting Tower of the Damned in search of legendary gear to help them restore balance to the beyond.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is available digitally in multiple editions, including the expansion-only Base Edition ($39.99); the Heroic Edition ($59.99), which also comes with a Shadowlands-level character boost and Ensorcelled Everwyrm mount—additionally offering a quest to earn a new transmogrification set; and the Epic Edition ($79.99), which adds the Anima Wyrmling pet, Wraithchill cosmetic weapon effect, Eternal Traveler’s Hearthstone, and 30 days of game time.

To learn more about World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and for additional details on the different editions available, visit the official World of Warcraft website at www.worldofwarcraft.com.
This article was originally published in forum thread: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Becomes Fastest-Selling PC Game of All Time started by Stoy View original post
Comments 303 Comments
  1. Msi's Avatar
    And people are saying WOW is dead lol, nahh WOW is doing way better than before.
  1. Varodoc's Avatar
    WoW is dead by the way.
  1. Season2mask's Avatar
    Covid related?
  1. TheTieThatBinds's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Msi View Post
    And people are saying WOW is dead lol...
    Activision says, "Hold my beer..."
  1. Oholyknight's Avatar
    But I thought wow died?
  1. Aggressive's Avatar
    WoW is Dead. Not covid related. But developer related.
  1. TickTickTick's Avatar
    Is pre-order included in the "1st day" sales?
  1. Pulp5850's Avatar
    More money for Blizzard, more ways to fire and close offices around the world.
  1. Moi2003's Avatar
    I like how they say in the last decade, meaning it is below what it was at its peak in Wrath. Also curious to see if the those sales include any pre-orders or is that how many they actually sold the first day.
  1. shadowmatrix's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Season2mask View Post
    Covid related?
    Partially, video games in general have benefited from the lockdown.
  1. TheFirstOnes's Avatar
    Funny, considering all the Classic Andy's like Shadowlands.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Moi2003 View Post
    I like how they say in the last decade, meaning it is below what it was at its peak in Wrath. Also curious to see if the those sales include any pre-orders or is that how many they actually sold the first day.
    Or, they're just comparing it to...well...other numbers from the past decade, which at most could be comparing it to its peak, which is WoTLK.
  1. shadowmatrix's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Moi2003 View Post
    I like how they say in the last decade, meaning it is below what it was at its peak in Wrath. Also curious to see if the those sales include any pre-orders or is that how many they actually sold the first day.
    First day numbers always include preorders since preorders can be refunded before the game releases.
  1. Askyl's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by TickTickTick View Post
    Is pre-order included in the "1st day" sales?
    Yes, all pre orders and purchases made within the first 24 hours from release.
  1. Biglog's Avatar
    I think an exceptionally slow holiday game release season helped Shadowlands. Most Oct-Nov months are jam packed with AAA PC releases. Really about all gamers got this year was AC: Valhalla. And Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed until now also helped. But the big litmus test for is an expansion being good is how many players are still around more than a month after release. Checking back ~January and seeing are most people still playing or is it a ghost town will really give us the verdict on Torghast, the Maw, etc.
  1. Zenfoldor's Avatar
    Good. It's a good xpak so far, they deserve some credit.

    Does it really need to be said that it isn't perfect?
  1. aeuhe4yxzhds's Avatar
    Well, yeah? Cant buy it anywhere other then their store.

    Always the same crap, they make up the rules and push it as something amazing.
  1. Big Thanks's Avatar
    LOL this is funny (>_<)
  1. razorpax's Avatar
    People literally couldn’t wait to leave BfA
  1. Zenfoldor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biglog View Post
    I think an exceptionally slow holiday game release season helped Shadowlands. Most Oct-Nov months are jam packed with AAA PC releases. Really about all gamers got this year was AC: Valhalla. And Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed until now also helped. But the big litmus test for is an expansion being good is how many players are still around more than a month after release. Checking back ~January and seeing are most people still playing or is it a ghost town will really give us the verdict on Torghast, the Maw, etc.
    I'll give it a guess. Torghast and the Maw are infinitely better content than island expeditions and Warfronts. So much so, that I consider Island Expeditions to be a less than zero sum addition to the game. Having absolutely zero content in the place of them, would have improved the game. Also, there seems to be a perfect balance between what the game asks one to do weekly and what one can reasonably accomplish, evidenced by complaints on both sides about the length of said content, with no clear consensus.

    So whatever bar we set, "better than BFA" is already achieved, imo. Honestly, it does feel like a solid expansion, making me worry that the filler/a team theory actually held true again....even if it is a coincidence...and it makes me worry the next one will be filler.
  1. Nerovar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by TickTickTick View Post
    Is pre-order included in the "1st day" sales?
    Yep, pre-order is included in day one and more people pre-ordered because Blizzard actually gave you stuff in BfA if you pre-ordered Shadowlands.

    In the months leading up to the expansion’s release and the time since launch, the game reached and has sustained its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions compared to the same period ahead of and following any WoW expansion in the past decade, in both the West and the East.
    Looks like Classic will be carrying for years to come. Many servers on retail are still extremely empty though.

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