It's rare for any online service to be able to boast 8 million total customers, especially when the service costs users roughly $15/month.  It's even rarer in the Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming world.  Rare though it may be, Blizzard Entertainment announced today that their flagship online game; World of Warcraft, passed the 8 million subscriber mark.

This news comes just over 2 years after the initial commercial release of the game, and less than a week before the launch of its first expansion; The Burning Crusade.

So lets do a little math on this...
8 million subscribers
Average montly fee is $14.95

8 million x $14.95....$119,600,000 in subscription income per month!

Now imagine just half of those people purchase the expansion next week, which is going to cost $39.95.  That's an additional $159,800,000!

I hear Blizzard execs blow their noses on $100 bills.