World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria sells 2.7 million copies in first week as subscribers flock back

It looks like World of Warcraft isn't dead after all. In its first week of availability (prior to its release in China), World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, the new expansion to Blizzard's long-standing MMORPG, has sold 2.7 million copies. The announcement comes just a week after Lazard Capital Markets analyst described Mists of Pandaria's sales as "disappointing".

Aside from the sales numbers, Mists of Pandaria has led to a subscriber growth across "all major regions". World of Warcraft's subscribers have dropped the past few months to a low of 9.1 million; however, Mists of Pandaria has led to a growth in subscribers with Blizzard now reporting a player base of over 10 million. It remains to be seen how many of those returning or new players continue to stay subscribed after the initial hype of a new expansion.

"With Mists of Pandaria, we set out to expand on the sense of fun and discovery that's always been at the heart of World of Warcraft — in addition to adding a huge variety of new content and features to the game," said Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime. "It's been gratifying to see the results of all of the work we put into this expansion and to hear all of the positive feedback from players so far."

It doesn't stop here either. Blizzard announced that the World of Warcraft dev team is already "hard at work" on the first major post-launch content update. Further details, including features and release timing, will be provided "in the weeks ahead."

For those who haven't yet checked out the new expansion, Mists of Pandaria is available for $39.99. The expansion adds a wide variety of content including a new playable race (the pandaren) with its own starting zone and quests, a new character class (the monk), and an expansive new continent for players to explore as they adventure to the new level cap of 90. The expansion also includes a host of new gameplay elements designed to give players even more ways to enjoy the game, including scenarios — a flexible new kind of cooperative PvE trial; challenge modes, which offer high-prestige rewards for mastering Mists of Pandaria's 5-player dungeons; and an all-new pet battle system