Blizzard Entertainment’s PC MMO World of Warcraft ended September with 7.4 million subscribers, a significant improvement over the 6.8 million it tallied at the end of June. That’s an improvement of 600,000 subscribers, and it bodes well for the franchise overall, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. In a note to investors today, Bhatia said this uptick is “clearly” related to the impending release of the game’s fifth expansion–Warlords of Draenor.

Of course, 7.4 million is still lower than World of Warcraft’s peak subscriber count of 12 million from 2010. But it’s an impressive feat all the same for a game that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

Ahead of Warlords of Draenor’s release on November 13, Blizzard this week launched the free Iron Tide content update for World of Warcraft. It includes the following (via Blizzard’s official descriptions):

• “Iron Horde Incursion” World Event: players looking to upset the Iron Horde invasion can journey to the Blasted Lands to face down the onslaught and venture into the revamped five-player version of the Upper Blackrock Spire dungeon
• New Character Models: several of the game’s original races are new and improved, with increased resolution as well as updated animations and facial expressions
• Interface Improvements: questing is now easier than ever with an updated quest log and inventory changes, including a Toy Box for the fun items players acquire through their adventures
• Character and Class Changes: myriad character- and class-specific updates are now live, making this a great time for players to refamiliarize themselves with their characters ahead of the expansion’s November 13 launch

You can see a full list of changes and features for the Iron Tide update through the patch notes.

In addition, Blizzard has announced another special promotion that it hopes will entice players to pick up a copy of Warlord of Draenor next month. All previous World of Warcraft expansions (The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, and Mists of Pandaria) have been added to all existing World of Warcraft accounts. This means that all current subscribers (and everyone reactivating their accounts) will have access to all the latest content.

For more on Warlords of Draenor, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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