World of Warcraft Seizes the Globe

The New York Times has posted a two-page article that takes a closer look at the worldwide success Blizzard has achieved with World of Warcraft.

(World of Warcraft is an incredibly polished entertainment experience that appeals to more sorts of different players than any game I’ve seen,) said Rich Wickham, who heads Microsoft’s Windows games unit. (It’s fun for both casual players and for the hard-core players for whom the game is more just than a game: it’s a lifestyle. Just as important, Blizzard has made a game that has a broader global appeal than what we’ve seen before.)

Perhaps more than pop music or Hollywood blockbusters, even the top video games traditionally have been limited in their appeal to the specific regional culture that produced them. For example the well-known series Grand Theft Auto, with its scenes of glamorized urban American violence, has been tremendously popular in the United States but has largely failed to resonate in Asia and in many parts of Europe. Meanwhile many Japanese games, with their distinctively cutesy anime visual style, often fall flat in North America.