Speaking by use of his Twitter account, Aaron Forsythe, Director of R&D, said:

When asked for further information or numbers he provided the following tweet.

In response to critics who stated their belief that Innistrad's attendance increase over Scars of Mirrodin was due to Scars being a worse set, Mr. Forsythe noted that Innistrad's pre-release was larger than any other set's pre-release as well.

This lends credence to the belief some hold that the attendance issues, causing stores to turn away customers at their pre-releases is less to do with the loss of regional events and more to do with a growth in attendance and expansion of the game. However it cannot be dismissed that events with larger quantity limits would have alleviated concerns and issues in areas such as New York City, where stores have less space and are forced to keep small events despite high demand.

It will be interesting to see how future pre-releases do, will Innistrad soon be eclipsed? Perhaps as soon as next year by Dark Ascension? What do you think?

Update

Wizards has issued the following statement concerning the pre-release attendeance:

“We’re so excited to see players and stores so engaged in these fantastic pre-release events,” said Elaine Chase, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. “We’re attributing the increased player and store participation to an awesome set combined with the addition of Planeswalker Points, which has really encouraged people to get to their stores and experience all that Magic has to offer.”