World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria week one sales less than Cataclysm's day one
2.7 million in seven days compared to 3.3 million in a day.
World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria has failed to match the sales records set by previous add-on Cataclysm.
Pandaria sold 2.7 million copies during its first week on sale. That's nothing to be scoffed at - but certainly nowhere near the 3.3 million Cataclysm sold during its first day.
The launch of Pandaria has - for now - boosted player numbers back above the magic 10 million user mark, Blizzard announced.
The amount of active players has been on the wane for some time. 10.3 million were subscribed to the role-player in November 2011. A year earlier, monthly subscribers were totalled at 12 million.
Numbers had fallen even further earlier this year, to just 9.1 million at the end of Q2.
"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," Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime said.
"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."
Eurogamer's John Bedford - who spent most of the Expo locked in a dark room until he reached level 90 - awarded the expansion 8/10. "Pandaria doesn't quite feel like the finished product - and it still clings doggedly to questing crutches that the likes of Guild Wars 2 have begun, gleefully, to kick away," he wrote in our World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria review.
"Thankfully there are treasures in abundance at the end of that often frustrating adventure - even if most of it lacks the fiendish fever to accompany the fun."