Today Blizzard Entertainment announced that the total worldwide count of the paying customers for its popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft, has reached and surpassed four million. Incidentally, over one millon of those paying players reside in North America. According to Blizzard Entertainment, paying customer include, "...individuals who have paid a subscription fee or purchased a prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the installation box bundled with one free month access. Internet Game Room players having accessed the game over the last seven days are also counted as customers." This does not include players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired pre-paid cards.

Says Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, "It's very rewarding to see so many new and returning players logging in to play World of Warcraft daily. With the continued support of our retail partners, World of Warcraft has reached more than one million paying customers in North America well before its one-year anniversary in November. We would like to express our appreciation to both the players and our retail and license partners for helping us make World of Warcraft one of the most popular online games in the world."

The best-selling MMORPG in North America since its release in November 2004, World of Warcraft has continued to grow in popularity throughout the world ever since, reaching such the shores of Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Europe. Recently release in China and Singapore, the title is now slated to hit Taiwan later this year. For more information on this title, check the official website or RPGamer's MMORPGamer section.