IRVINE, Calif. — Blizzard Entertainment today announced several official launch events to celebrate the upcoming release of World of Warcraft®: Cataclysm™, the highly anticipated third expansion for the world’s most popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Starting on the night of December 6, key retail partners in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the region of Taiwan will welcome gamers who want to be among the first to purchase and play Cataclysm. Members of the World of Warcraft development team will be on hand at each of the events to meet with players and sign their copies of the expansion.
In the US, the launch event will take place at the Fry’s Electronics located at 10800 Kalama River Avenue in Fountain Valley, Calif., starting at 9:00 p.m. PST on December 6. Gamers will enjoy an exciting evening of entertainment before the expansion goes on sale at midnight, including a dance contest showcasing players’ favorite moves from the game and featuring great prizes for the winning competitors. There will also be an exclusive live performance by The Artist Formerly Known As Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, Blizzard’s in-house and in-game band. For further details on each of the global launch events, visit www.blizzard.com/company/events/cataclysm-opening/. In addition to the official US launch event, other retail locations around the country will open at midnight to support gamers looking to pick up their copy of the expansion the moment it goes live. Please check with your local retailers for further details.
“After two years of development, we’re excited to now be just two weeks away from releasing our best World of Warcraft expansion yet,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Cataclysm will add a huge amount of new content to the game and change the face of Azeroth forever, and we can’t wait to celebrate this launch with players around the world.”
Attendees at the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm launch events will have the opportunity to purchase the standard edition of the expansion (suggested retail price $39.99) as well as the Collector’s Edition (suggested retail price $79.99), which contains the following bonus items in addition to the game disc:
- An exclusive World of Warcraft: Cataclysm behind-the-scenes DVD including over an hour of developer interviews and commentaries
- The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector’s Edition soundtrack CD
- The Art of Cataclysm, a 176-page hardback book featuring never-before-seen artwork from the development process
- Starter pack and exclusive cards for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game
- Exclusive in-game pet, Lil’ Deathwing
- A special-edition World of Warcraft: Cataclysm mouse pad
The first two World of Warcraft expansions, The Burning Crusade® and Wrath of the Lich King®, each shattered PC-game sales records upon their release.* In Cataclysm, the face of Azeroth will be forever altered by the return of the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing. Players will explore once-familiar areas of the world that have now been reshaped by the devastation and filled with new adventures. In an effort to survive the planet-shattering cataclysm, two new playable races — worgen and goblins — will join the struggle between the Alliance and the Horde. As players journey to the new level cap of 85, they’ll discover newly revealed locations, acquire new levels of power, and come face to face with Deathwing in a battle to determine the fate of the world.
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