World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm has set a PC gaming record for sales in 24 hours after its midnight release, managing a whopping 3.3 million sales. The expansion, bringing an overhaul to Azeroth as well as new content such as two new races, has managed to break WoW’s previous expansion Wrath of the Lich King which sold 2.8 million in its first 24 hours.
An impressive feat, however it wasn’t enough to shift Call Of Duty: Black Ops off the top spot in the UK or even to push EA’s brilliant FIFA 11 from second place. Instead Cataclysm debuted at third spot knocking Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Gran Turismo 5 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit all down a place in the chart. Blizzard are still more than happy with their record breaking debut, “We had to bring Azeroth to the brink of destruction in Cataclysm, but the result was our best expansion yet,” said Mike Morhaime the co founder of Blizzard Entertainment and CEO.
Cataclysm couldn’t have came at a better time for Blizzard as subscriptions to the MMORPG had began to plateau over the last few months as Rob Pardo confirmed in an interview recently with Edge Magazine. It will be interesting to see how the expansion affects subscriptions over the next few months.
The UK top 10 for this week reads:
1. COD: Black Ops
2. FIFA 11
3. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
4. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
5. Gran Turismo 5
6. Just Dance 2
7. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns
9. Professor Layton & the Lost Future
10. Wii Fit Plus