Blizzard Sends 'Word of Warcraft' Statues To Early Subscribers On The Game's Tenth Anniversary

In PHOTO: A visitor walks past a placard of 'World of Warcraft' at their exhibition stand at the Gamescom 2010 fair in Cologne August 18, 2010. The Gamescom convention, Europe's largest video games trade fair, runs from August 18 to August 22. Reuters/Ina Fassbender

Blizzard has a pleasant surprise in store for loyal "World of Warcraft" fans. Subscribers of the wildly popular MMORPG will be receiving a special surprise from the company. The occasion happens to be the 10th anniversary of the game. For those unaware of the legendary status of the game, "World of Warcraft" is one of the oldest and most popular MMOs. Apart from having a subscriber count of over 10 million, it is also the most popular of its kind.

To commemorate this, Polygon reports players will get the impressive statue modelled after an Orc from the game. The company is giving it out as a gesture of gratitude to subscribers who had joined the game when it was first released in North America or Europe. This means that, if you registered a "World of Warcraft" account anytime between Nov. 23, 2004 and Feb. 11, 2005, you are eligible to receive the gift.

Those who are eligible will soon be notified through the email that was registered for their Battle.net accounts. So if you are eligible but haven't received an email yet, don't panic. According to a post on MMO Champion forum, some day one subscribers from the U.S. have been notified by the UPS courier service of an impending shipment from Blizzard HQ. The forum post further states that their European counterparts will receive the same as and when their gifts are dispatched. Ten years can be a long time, so if have moved in the interim and are eligible for the gift, now would be a good time to inform Blizzard about it.

A Battle.net forum user by the handle Smitti posted photos of the figure, which depicts an orc riding a wolf. It's a replica of the familiar 12-foot tall statue found outside Blizzard's headquarters in California. The forum post depicts the following message from the company: "The orc statue is a constant presence in our life at Blizzard entertainment... As we celebrate ten years of World of warcraft, we present this token of appreciation to you, stalwart adventurer." That's a pretty fitting token of gratitude from a company with a history of keeping its fan base happy.