During the Activison Blizzard Third Quarter Calendar 2019 Results Conference Call, the company confirmed World of Warcraft Classic had the largest growth of subscriptions within a quarter in the history of the franchise.

In the supporting slide presentation on page 7, the segment on World of Warcraft Classic notes the following:

“In Q3, World of Warcraft Classic drove the biggest quarterly increase to subscription plans (Monthly or longer-term subscriptions) in franchise history, in both the West and East

Reach in October remained well above pre-Classic levels, with deep engagement across both Classic and modern World of Warcraft

At BlizzCon, Blizzard unveiled the next expansion, Shadowlands, set to launch in 2020″

The sharp rise is a surprise, especially considering the company’s history in the last month.

After professional Hearthstone player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai stated pro-Hong Kong protest statements in a post-match interview, Blizzard suspend the player and the two casters. Gamers and free speech advocates rallied against the company with protests. Many suspected it was due to Blizzard appealing to or wishing to remain in the Chinese market. We took a look at Blizzard’s financials ourselves to see if that was the case.

Blizzard later made two public apologies, emphasizing the company’s “relationships in China had no influence on [their] decision.”

World of Warcraft Classic is available now on Windows PC.