World Of Warcraft Launch Unveiled

Blizzard is polishing up for gold.

Nearly a decade after the original Warcraft: Orcs And Humans was released for PC, Blizzard is putting the finishing touches on the company's massively multiplayer take on the game's world.

Appropriately titled World Of Warcraft, the game is currently in its closed beta testing, with an expanded final beta test scheduled to kick off soon.

The game is currently on track for release in early 2005 in two versions, and pre-orders will be taken from Friday, 26 October.

World Of Warcraft will be available in two flavours on launch day: the first will contain the full game on four CDs and a one-month subscription to the online service. This version will retail for £29.99.

Coming in at a slightly pricier £44.99 is the special collector's edition, which is made up of the game on both CD and DVD, a one-month subscription to World Of Warcraft, a behind-the-scenes DVD, an exclusive in-game pet, a cloth map of the game world, a soundtrack CD, a coffee table book featuring art from the game, and a commemorative game manual signed by the development team.

Three pricing plans will be available once the free month is up: a one-month subscription for £8.99, a three-month plan for £8.39 per month, and a six-month subscription for a monthly fee of £7.69.

Blizzard has also assured Europeans that it will have the necessary support infrastructure in place to ensure the smooth running of the behind-the-scenes hardware and the community itself.

One possible detraction for players with friends around the world is the region-specific nature of the various game releases. North American versions of World Of Warcraft will be tied to North American servers, with a similar setup planned for Europe.

Blizzard has promised to create a workaround to this issue once the game has launched in Europe.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games