Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed 1.5 million paying customers in China following the game's launch on June 7.

The critically acclaimed World of Warcraft has now achieved another significant milestone as the largest MMORPG in the world, with more than 3.5 million global customers.

"World of Warcraft's success in China has quickly exceeded our expectations, and seeing Chinese gamers respond so enthusiastically to the game has been extremely gratifying," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment.

"We thank the players for embracing World of Warcraft, our partner The9 for helping to make all of this possible, and the Chinese authorities for supporting Blizzard Entertainment."

Michael Fong, Blizzard Entertainment managing director, Greater China, added: "Chinese gamers across the country have embraced World of Warcraft."

The 1.5 million paying Chinese customers now join the two million players in North America, Europe, and Korea who are already paying to play World of Warcraft.

Blizzard Entertainment said it plans to continue expanding World of Warcraft with upcoming launches in Taiwan and other parts of Asia.

For more information on World of Warcraft in China, including pricing and gameplay features, visit the official Chinese website at www.wowchina.com