Mists of Pandaria sales below expectations, says analyst firm

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria has failed to repeat the impressive sales performance of previous expansions, Lazard Capital Markets believes.

The firm's analysts told VentureBeat that they estimate Mists of Pandaria has shifted just 600,000 to 700,000 at retail during launch week so far.

That's about 60% down from Cataclysm, which went on to sell 3.3 million units. Historically, each new World of Warcraft expansions has outsold its precursors to set a new sales record. The firm also noted that digital sales are unlikely to bridge the gap.

Blizzard has not yet made any announcement regarding sales figures; it's probably best to wait for a press release or the NPD's monthly report before cashing in your shares.

World of Warcraft has noted flagging subscriber levels over the past few years and its decreasing performance has made investors wary of Activision Blizzard; the MMORPG accounts for about 25% of its revenue.

Thanks, Blue.