1994-1998

Blizzard Entertainment is formed in 1994 and has a series of hit games including Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. In January 1997 it releases Diablo alongside Battle.net, an online gaming service. At the beginning of the following year, Battle.net hits 1.5 million users and Blizzard has its biggest launch yet — StarCraft sells one million copies in three months.

1999-2001

Further success with Starcraft expansion packs and Diablo II.

July 2002

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos becomes Blizzard’s fastest- selling PC game. Many of the locations, characters and concepts in Warcraft III will go on to feature in World of Warcraft.

July 2003

The Warcraft III expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, becomes Blizzard’s eighth No 1 game.

November 2004

World of Warcraft is launched in North America. Europe would follow three months later, with versions in English, French and German.

March 2005

The game surpasses 1.5 million subscribers worldwide.

June 2005

Launch in China, and the first Battlegrounds, competitive team matches in which players battle one another for rewards, are added to the game as a free update.

December 2005

The number of subscribers worldwide passes the five million mark.

January 2006

European subscriptions surpass one million.

January 2007

The game tops eight million subscribers worldwide.

January 2007

The Burning Crusade expansion pack is released at midnight launches across Europe and the US, selling nearly 2.4 million copies on the first day. It sold approximately 3.5 million copies in Europe, the US and Australasia in one month.