Just as growth of the two-and-a-half-year-old, 4000,000-player EverQuest is likely nearing its peak, Blizzard is entering the scene with Worlds of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer game based on the Warcraft series. The company says sales of the original game, Warcraft, which debuted in 1994, totalled almost 5 million copies. Warcraft was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is scheduled for 2002 release. No doubt the millions of followers of the series will give the game a try.

Blizzard announced Worlds of Warcraft at a press conference this week at the European Computer Trade Show, and already has a number of marketing tools up and running, including a cinematics trailer and a movie showing gameplay footage on the Blizzard Website.

 

"World of Warcraft is our largest undertaking to date," stated Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder. "We are extremely focused on increasing the scope of the Warcraft universe, giving gamers an incredibly dynamic online gaming experience complete with endless possibilities."

 

The game sounds similar to the other online worlds, with combat systems, a storyline and questing systems. There are customizable character classes, races, thousands of weapons, changes of clothes, weather, and times of day. The company says it has developed an intuitive user interface, and the architecture is capable of supporting thousands of players in a world simultaneously.

The release date has not yet been announced.

Blizzard, a division of Vivendi, is best known for its Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo games as well as its Battle.net multiplayer service.