'World of Warcraft: Cataclysm' becomes fastest-selling PC game

By Hector Cortez Dec 14, 2010, 4:00 GMT

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sold more than 3.3 million copies in the first 24 hours of release.

Blizzard today announced that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the third expansion for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, sold through more than 3.3 million copies in its first 24 hours of release, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time.
 
This milestone eclipses the previous record of more than 2.8 million copies sold in 24 hours, set in November 2008 by Blizzard’s second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was simultaneously released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on December 7, and in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on December 9. More than 10,000 stores throughout the world capitalized on the buzz by opening their doors at midnight, allowing eager gamers a chance at being mong the first to obtain a copy of the expansion.

"We had to bring Azeroth to the brink of destruction in Cataclysm, but the result was our best expansion yet," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We want to thank all of our new, existing, and returning players throughout the world for their incredible enthusiasm and support, and we look forward to hearing what they think about all the new content."