When Blizzard titled their [i]Warcraft[/i]-themed MMORPG [i]World of Warcraft[/i], they weren?t kidding. Launching a new phase in Blizzard?s quest for world domination, Blizzard has announced that they shall release [i]World of Warcraft[/i] in three new locations: Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. Players in these three areas can now buy the game at either their local game retail store, or via direct download from http://www.wowtaiwan.com.tw/06Download/SupportTools/supporttools.asp.
Prior to Blizzard?s decision to launch the game in these territories, the game underwent an open beta period to gauge the game?s appeal in these regions of the world. It proved to be highly successful, with a peak player amount of over 140,000 players logged on simultaneously, with a total player base of over 800,000. The new numbers to be brought in to [i]World of Warcraft[/i] from these regions will add to an already impressive worldwide subscription total of around 4.5 million accounts.
Handling the distribution and the online logistics in these regions for Blizzard are two companies: Soft-World, and its subsidiary, Game First International. The two companies will handle content synchronization between Blizzard?s North American home base and the servers in these three areas, delivering player feedback to the original developers at Blizzard, and staffing of local call centers.
Blizzard could not be reached for comment regarding their forthcoming position as masters of the world.