Woltk Release Date Announced *Official*

[Air]

[blizzard] WORLD OF WARCRAFT®: WRATH OF THE LICH KINGâ,,¢ IN STORES STARTING NOVEMBER 13, 2008

The second expansion to Blizzard Entertainment®'s massively multiplayer online role-playing game will be available in standard and special collector's editions

IRVINE, Calif. - September 15, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: Wrath of the Lich Kingâ,,¢, the second expansion for its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), will arrive in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18. Details regarding the launch of Wrath of the Lich King in mainland China will be announced at a later date.

"We're looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Until then, we'll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."

World of Warcraft®: Wrath of the Lich Kingâ,,¢ sends players to the cold, forbidding continent of Northrend, where the fearsome Lich King Arthas Menethil, last seen in Warcraft® III: The Frozen Throne®, works from his secluded citadel to bring all of Azeroth under his twisted dominion. Players will battle the Lich King's undead army from the shores of Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra to the seat of his unholy power in Icecrown Glacier. In addition, players will be able to advance characters to level 80 and gain powerful new abilities while exploring several new zones and dungeons. The expansion also introduces a number of exciting new features, including an achievement system, expanded player-vs.-player combat options such as siege weapons and destructible buildings, and the game's first Hero class -- the necromantic death knight.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will be available on DVD-ROM for Windows® XP/Windows Vista® and Machintosh® in two packages: a standard edition, which will sell for a suggested retail price of $39.99, and a special Collector's Edition (in select regions) priced at $69.99. The limited Collector's Edition package will contain:

    * The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
    * An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
    * A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director's commentary and more.
    * The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
    * A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
    * Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legionâ,,¢, starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition.

The Wrath of the Lich King expansion requires the original World of Warcraft game, available now for a suggested retail price of $19.99, along with World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®, which sells for $29.99. These two products are combined in the World of Warcraft Battle Chest®, are available for $39.99. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has received a Teen rating from the ESRB.

Since launching in November 2004, World of Warcraft has become the world's most popular MMORPG, with more than 10.9 million subscribers. The game's first expansion, The Burning Crusade, broke PC-game sales records in North America and Europe by selling nearly 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million copies in its first month.

For more information on World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, visit the official website at www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath. With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous positions currently available. Visit www.blizzard.com/jobs for more information and to learn how to apply.

World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition.
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accesed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®, and the Warcraft®, StarCraft® and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. www.blizzard.com, a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Blizzard Entertainment generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming,” and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Blizzard Entertainment’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Blizzard Entertainment’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Blizzard Entertainment’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Blizzard Entertainment, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard’s success in integrating the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.[/blizzard]

[Shadowwolf]

I cant see how they can say its from Blizz advertisements because I havent seen anything other than WoWhead which just seems odd to me they would limit it to there.

With only Naxx open and 2 zones still unfinished, idk. Dont think itll happen.

[Shadowwolf]

I think this is a way to build hype honestly. With the release of a few other MMOs somewhat stealing the thunder from WoW lately, the fact that WotLK is still beta and really, imo, doesnt even look close to release, even if 2mos from now, 3.0 hasnt been on the PTR very long. Generally HUGE patches like that sit on the PTR for 3-4 weeks by themselves, leaving roughly 4 weeks after for them to finish the game, and if you factor in packaging and whatnot, even less. I just dont see it. Ill believe it when Blizz themself says it on their site.

[capnpop]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=9956358068&postId=99553824569&sid=1#2

as an official beta tester i feel as though we won't realistically see a release before january.

[Shadowwolf]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=9956327893&pageNo=1&sid=1#1

[blizzard author=Vrakthris link=http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=9956327893&pageNo=1&sid=1#1]Until you see an official post, Zebracakes, any dates released by third party sites are pure speculation. [/blizzard]

[blizzard author=Belfaire link=http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=9956327893&sid=1&pageNo=12]Unless also announced on our main page, any release date from an outside source should be considered speculation. [/blizzard]

[Air]

http://www.wowhead.com/?forums&topic=41032 

This is a legitimate advertisement from Blizzard.

by Skosiris

Dear Blizzard,

I apologize if we released this information earlier than you intended.

Please don't leave us hanging.

Sincerely,
Malgayne.

[Arcdelad]

now officially 11-13-08

...and...

[blizzard]Druids and Shaman can now use items while shapeshifted. [/blizzard]

give me your HS's now!

[Emmalina]

A little MD to the worldofwarcraft.com splash site resolves the issue.

[Emmalina]

And now the main page. Looking forward to those first few weeks when the game is unplayable.

[Arcdelad]

aye....

Quest: kill 20 troggs

<sees 46 people waiting for troggs to respawn>

Oh boy...

NOTE: just requested the 11th-14th off of work

[Lynette]

Looks legit now.

If the first few weeks of BC are any indication, I won't be getting much sleep in mid-November.

[fiere redfern]

Man... right in the middle of term, too. *watches her GPA spiral down the toilet*

[Tolwen]

Man... right in the middle of term, too. *watches her GPA spiral down the toilet*

lol, exactly:(

[fiere redfern]

Also, does it make me an addict if the first thing I did after hearing the date confirmed was ferret out a retailer who had the Collector's Edition up for pre-sale? 

[Lynette]

Back when BC came out, Target had a TON of these for sale the morning it was released.  Dunno if it will happen again but I've decided against preordering.  I can be in the new zones hours before FedEx or UPS shows up.

One thing I do know for certain - I'll be worthless that first week.