Wrath of the Lich King Launch Events And Midnight Openings

IRVINE, Calif., Oct 30, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Blizzard Entertainment today announced plans for special midnight signing events at retail locations around the country to commemorate the launch of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on November 13.Each location will open its doors at 12:00 a.m. local time, allowing attendees to be among the first to get their copies of the highly anticipated World of Warcraft expansion. Blizzard Entertainment developers and executives will be in attendance to meet players and sign copies of the game, and increased quantities of the Collector's Edition will be on hand for purchase. Official launch events will be held in the following locations:

Best Buy
529 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10017
Phone : (212) 808-0309

Fry's Electronics
3370 E. La Palma Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92806
Phone: (714) 688-3000

GameStop
151 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 362-7601

GameStop
10000 Research Blvd.
Austin, TX 78755
Phone: (512) 346-6437

In addition to these four US locations, similar events will be held internationally in Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Taipei, and Seoul. Full details on the specific locations and plans for each of these events can be found at www.worldofwarcraft.com/midnight.

The January 2007 launch events for the first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, drew thousands of attendees around the world. The Burning Crusade went on to sell nearly 2.4 million copies within its first 24 hours of availability, and approximately 3.5 million within its first month. Indicating that anticipation is equally high for the new expansion, Walmart.com has stated that Wrath of the Lich King has already achieved among the highest number of preorders ever sold on their site.

For those unable to attend the official launch events, thousands of stores around the world will be open at midnight to celebrate the launch. Players should check with local retailers for their midnight opening plans.

"We've been looking forward to these launch events all year," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "This is one of the few opportunities we get to meet with players in person, and we can't wait to celebrate the release of Wrath of the Lich King with them."

"GameStop expects World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King to be one of the biggestlaunches of the holiday season," stated Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising, GameStop."In fact, nationwide we are celebrating the release with GameStop 'Lunar Fests' at over 3,000 of our stores atmidnight on November 13, so players can purchase the expansion and start exploring the new content right away."

"In a year of record-breaking releases, Wrath of the Lich King is generating great excitement and will be another significant release," said Jill Hamburger, Best Buy vice president games & movies. "Blizzard Entertainment titles have had tremendous success in our stores. We are excited about bringing gamers a great experience at the New York City launch event and providingthem first access to Wrath of the Lich King at midnight openings at Best Buy locations across the country."

With more than 11 million players worldwide, World of Warcraft has become the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game to date. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King 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.