World of Warcraft: on the rise

World of Warcraft is now bigger than Austria or Switzerland and, were it not made up of mere pixels, would no doubt prove more than a match militarily.

The online game boasts more than 8.5 million subscribers. If it were a country, it would be the 91st largest, fitting into the CIA’s world population table between Rwanda (8.6 million) and Haiti (8.3 million). Austria and Switzerland would be relegated to 93rd and 97th respectively.

Its nearest virtual rival, Second Life, has just under 4.6 million players, putting it in 120th position, between Norway (4.6 million) and Bosnia Herzegovina (4.5 million).

The real world will have to boost birth rates quite spectacularly if it is to compete – World of Warcraft attracted 3.5 million new players in a month with its Burning Crusade edition. Without Malthusian constraints of land and resources, the virtual worlds are likely to continue their ascent of the league table.

Comments

[World of Warcraft Cheats]

second life doesn't really impress me as it seems to the rest of the world.

[Gamefreak]

im one of the proud habitants of World of Warcraft.
I can't believe there are still ignorant persons around who try to compare second life with World of Warcraft.

[Big G Makes WoW Gold]

You can measure the success of a 'virtual world' game by the volume of ads selling that game's currency on eBay. :) WoW wins.