World of Warcraft: Cataclysm hits stores in December

Mike Bantick
Tuesday, 05 October 2010 08:50

Your IT - Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment has announced the release date for the highly anticipated refresh of World of Warcraft.  Time to dust of the characters as World of Warcraft: Cataclysm gets a 2010 street date and pricing.

The Blizzard money making machine World of Warcraft is about to go through its greatest upheaval.  Cataclysm will reshape the lands, introduce a couple of new races and generally give a second wind to long-standing as well as new players.

There will be a lowering in suntan lotion sales as fans head indoors for extended periods as of December 7th this year.  Here are the details from Blizzard:

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®: Cataclysmâ„¢, the highly anticipated third expansion for the world's most popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game*, will be released starting on December 7, 2010. The expansion will be available on DVD-ROM for Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 and Macintosh® at a suggested retail price of $59.95 AUD / $79.95 NZD and will also be offered as a digital download from the Blizzard Store. A special Collector's Edition packed with bonus items will be available exclusively in retail stores for a suggested retail price of $109.95 AUD / $139.95 NZD.

"Cataclysm includes the best content we've ever created for World of Warcraft. It's not just an expansion, but a re-creation of much of the original Azeroth, complete with epic new high-level adventures for current players and a redesigned leveling experience for those just starting out," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "With the help of our beta testers, we're putting on the final polish, and we look forward to welcoming gamers around the world to enjoy it in just a couple of months."

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.