World of Warcraft has hit 12 million subscribers according to a press release from Blizzard Entertainment this past week. Blizzard Entertainment gives a lot of credit to the Wrath of the Witch King, one of the company’s newest releases in China. Blizzard is releasing a sequel called Cataclysm on December 7. [PCWorld]

Hans Olsen is a 12 year old Norwegian boy that used his skills from World of Warcraft to avoid a moose attack. Hans and his sister was going for a walk but accidentally trespassed into moose territory. Right when the moose was about to attack Hans and his sister, the Norwegian boy used the “taunting” Warcraft technique so that the moose would leave his sister alone and run to safety.

Pictured here is a virtual horse that sells on The Blizzard Pet Store for $25. Blizzard made $2 million in sales of the virtual horse within 4 hours. Called the Celestial Steed, it allows WoW players to travel in style. [1up.com]

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has announced that Blizzard Entertainment, the company that designs World of Warcraft has donated $1.1 million. This donation is based on 50% of total sales during November and December 2009 of a special in-game pet called the Pandaren Monk within World of Warcraft. “We’ve had a long relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and we’re proud to support the priceless work they do for children,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players – their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible.” [Blizzard PR]

Greg Canessa is the former VP of PopCap Games.  Earlier this week he announced that he will be stepping down from PopCap to join Blizzard Entertainment.  His position at Blizzard is currently a mystery.

Blizzard Entertainment produces World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.  At PopCap, Canessa was responsible for bringing their games to Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, the iPhone, and the Nintendo DS.

“We are sorry to see him go and we wish him the very best,” stated Garth Chouteau, executive at PopCap. “It’s been a pleasure working with him and his move is largely predicated on it being a big personal and professional opportunity for him. This isn’t going to have any material impact on our console presence and our strategy with respect to the consoles and the DS and the areas that Greg was heading up. We’re still very committed to those.”

[via Ars Technica]