Final Fantasy XIV's Account Registration Numbers Fly to 5 Million

Not long ago, within a specific piece, it was mentioned that WoW was indeed the "WoW Killer." From poor expansion releases to broken promises to aging, it's hard to deny that subscription numbers are dropping like flies slamming into a bug zapper. But while WoW is struggling with the decline despite retaining the highest number of subscriptions and account registrations, Final Fantasy XIV, with its subscription model, is growing remarkably well with its own registration numbers. 

Considering Final Fantasy XIV's far-less-than-stellar-more-like-abysmal original lagtastic launch (for very good reason) five years ago, its rebirth have proved to be a massive turnaround.
 
Last February, it was noted that there were 4 million accounts registered, but that number since increased to 5 million. So yes, there has been a 1 million registration growth within just a few months. These numbers include players worldwide--even China--but excludes those with a trial account (Editor's Note: Does this include those with a 30-day trial and 1.0 registrations?).

If comparing to WoW, Final Fantasy XIV has a long way to go in terms of lifetime registrations, considering that WoW, last checked, had over 100,000 lifetime registered accounts. However, if we just focusing on Final Fantasy XIV, it's doing extremely well, especially for being soon in its second year... if we just refer to A Realm Reborn.

In the back of my head, however, I can't help but wonder how many of the numbers consisted of players who bought additional copies for the purpose of the Recruit-a-Friend Campaign (c'mon, Twintania mount is sweet) or Eternal Bonding (Ceremonial Chocobo). So the real question is, how many unique account registrations are there? Additionally, how many of these accounts are currently under active subscription? Well, there is a site that actively kept track of the accounts, including active accounts, but unfortunately it's under construction.

Back in April, however, it was noted via Reddit that there were a little over 730k active subscribers. Since the release of Heavensward, it probably jumped to a cool 1 million. Nevertheless, FFXIV is doing great, and I am definitely looking forward to how innovative Final Fantasy XIV can be in the future... crossing my fingers for Blitzball and/or Snowboarding.