World of Warcraft hits 12m subscribers

More than 12 million people subscribe to fantasy role-playing MMO World of Warcraft, developer Blizzard has announced.

The astonishing number was reached in the wake of the Chinese launch of second expansion Wrath of the Lich King.

"The support and enthusiasm that gamers across the world continue to show for World of Warcraft reaffirms our belief that it offers one of the best entertainment values available today," said Blizzard co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime.

"We are as committed as ever to taking the game to new heights, and we look forward to demonstrating that with Cataclysm in December."

Cataclysm is WOW's third expansion, and will no doubt catapult the MMO's subscriber number to even greater heights.

WOW is the most popular subscription-based MMORPG in the world. It defines a subscriber as "individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access".

Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last 30 days are also counted as subscribers. Players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards, are excluded.

Oli re-reviewed WOW in 2008, giving it 10/10.