World of Warcraft subs actually increased last quarter

World of Warcraft enjoyed a significant uptick in subscribers over the past three months, presumably in anticipation of Warlords of Draenor.

WoW: Warlords of Draenor isn't due till next month, but subscriber levels have hit 7.4 million, Blizzard announced today.

That's up 600,000 from the 6.8 million figure announced at the end of the last quarter, when subscribers had declined by 800,000 in the preceding three months.

This is great news for Activision Blizzard as WoW subscriptions have been in general decline since the 12 million peak in 2010. Although major upswings are expected whenever an expansion launches, this resurgence of interest even before Warlords of Draenor hits is a very positive sign.

Last time the publisher updated us, Warlords of Draenor had attracted 1.5 million pre-orders, so we can probably expect at least 900,000 more subscribers come November 13.