Blizzard announced today that World of Warcraft is now played by 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. This should really come as no surprise to anyone since the game surpassed 11 million subscribers in October, but it does continue to demonstrate WoW's immense popularity when it can gain 500,000 subscribers in about two months. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards."

The newest expansion pack moved 2.8 million copies in its first 24-hours, setting a record for most copies sold in the first day of launch. Blizzard says that the expansion pack has sold over 4 million copies to date. It’s hard to believe that WoW added 500,000 users in about two months.

You can read the full press release after the jump. For those of you who are curious what exactly being a subscriber entails, here's the definition: "World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access.