Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft, its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has officially launched in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Players in these territories can now purchase the game at retail or download it from www.wowtaiwan.com.tw/06Download/SupportTools/supporttools.asp, create their accounts, and then log on to experience the epic adventure of the Warcraft series in an immersive and continually evolving online environment.

The commercial launch of World of Warcraft in the region of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau follows a highly successful open-beta period. During the open-beta test, World of Warcraft reached a peak concurrency (the total number of testers playing simultaneously) of more than 140,000 players, with a total open-beta base of more than 800,000 players.

Worldwide, the game has a total of more than 4.5 million customers.

"Gamers in these regions have always shown great support for Blizzard games, so it was important for us to launch World of Warcraft there as quickly as possible," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

"We're now looking forward to seeing all of our newest players online and providing them with an unsurpassed gaming experience."

To maintain a safe and secure game environment for players, Blizzard has implemented a CD-key-based authorization system for World of Warcraft. This system will help protect the game from malicious hack programs that could negatively affect players' enjoyment of the game. Only players who have purchased an authorized CD key will be able to activate their accounts and enter the game.

Each CD-key package costs 168 NTD/42 HKD and includes 99 free World of Warcraft points, which are used for game time. Points expire at a rate of 5 per hour (5 NTD/1.25 HKD per hour). Additional World of Warcraft point cards can be purchased for 150 NTD/37.5 HKD and 300 NTD/75 HKD. There is also a monthly card available at 450 NTD/112.5 HKD, which provides unlimited play time for a period of one month.