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 the 6th of December, key retail partners in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands 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 UK the launch event will take place, in partnership with GAME, at Sound – No.1 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7NA – with doors opening at 10:00pm GMT on the 6th of December. Gamers will enjoy an exciting evening of entertainment before the expansion goes on sale, including a costume contest showcasing players’ attire from the game with great prizes for the winning competitors. There will also be an official licensed merchandise showcase, unique photo opportunities, giveaways and much more! For further details on each of the global launch events, visit eu.blizzard.com/company/events/. In addition to the official UK launch event, other retail locations around the country will open at 11:00pm GMT on the 6th of December 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 as well as the collector’s edition (while stocks last) 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
