WoW's Cataclysm demolishes Lich King sales record
The runaway freight train that is World of Warcraft's third expansion has obliterated the 24-hour sales record set by the preceding WoW update. Cataclysm moved 3.3 million copies in its first day on the market, whereas 2008's Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies in its opening 24-hour salvo (a mark that established the record for the top-selling PC game in history at that point).
"We had to bring Azeroth to the brink of destruction in Cataclysm, but the result was our best expansion yet," said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. Even so, the expansion failed to top the current 24-hour record of 5.5 million copies set last month by Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops.
