Blizzard Entertainment announced their latest World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion has shattered its own PC Game sales record with 3.3 million copies sold worldwide in the first 24 hours.

The previous world record was won by the Burning Crusade expansion with 2.8 million copies sold within the first 24 hours.

It’s a very sweet record shattering considering Cataclysm is the third expansion of the popular MMORPG. Calling it an expansion can be somewhat misleading, because it’s basically a brand new game with a revamped world built from scratch, and new level 1-60 quests.

It’s no wonder old players are returning to World of Warcraft to explore a devastated Azeroth.

Blizzard Quote:

Latest expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game reaches a record 3.3 million copies sold through as of its first 24 hours of release.

PARIS, France. — December 13, 2010 — Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®: Cataclysm™, the third expansion for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), sold through more than 3.3 million copies as of its first 24 hours of release*, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. This milestone eclipses the previous record of more than 2.8 million copies sold in 24 hours, set in November 2008 by Blizzard’s second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King®.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was simultaneously released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on December 7, and became available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on December 9. More than 10,000 stores throughout the world opened their doors at midnight to welcome players who wanted to be among the first to obtain a copy of the expansion. In addition, more than 15,000 players attended official launch events hosted by Blizzard and key retail partners in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the region of Taiwan.

“We had to bring Azeroth to the brink of destruction in Cataclysm, but the result was our best expansion yet,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We want to thank all of our new, existing, and returning players throughout the world for their incredible enthusiasm and support, and we look forward to hearing what they think about all the new content.”

Prior to the launch of Cataclysm, World of Warcraft’s subscriber population had grown to more than 12 million players globally, further strengthening the game’s position as the world’s most popular subscription-based MMORPG. More information about the new expansion can be found at the official Cataclysm website: eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/games/cataclysm/.

To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard Entertainment® games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on career opportunities available at Blizzard Entertainment can be found at eu.blizzard.com/jobs/.