World of Warcraft (commonly known as WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). It is Blizzard Entertainment's fourth game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, first introduced by Orcs & Humans in 1994.Excluding expansion packs and the canceled Lord of the Clans. World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release, The Frozen Throne. Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001. The game was released on November 23, 2004, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise. It is currently the world's largest MMORPG in terms of monthly subscribers."[LINK: http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html] MMOG Active Subscriptions 21.0", MMOGCHART.COM, June 29, 2006