In an uncharacteristic display of candor, Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime confirmed during a conference call that the much-anticipated Wrath of the Lich King expansion will be released between October to December of this year. Shacknews quotes Morhaime saying, "we have said that it will be coming out this year," referring to earlier speculation stemming from a Vivendi press release. "I can tell you it's not coming in the July to September quarter," Morhaime states, and mentions that Beta testing "is going very well".
The confirmation of any release date is uncommon practice for Blizzard, whose common response to such questions is "when it's ready." Apparently, Blizzard is confident that Wrath of the Lich King will be ready within the year. From the polish that can be seen in the current Beta, this doesn't seem far from the truth. In the same conference call, Morhaime also discussed competing MMOs, the status of ongoing development (that is to say, very little information), and how World of Warcraft has been refined as a game over the past four years.
The rumor mill has been flying lately that on July 3rd we'll see the first invites go out for the closed beta. Well, it's 12:01 a.m. on July 3rd now, and that means Beta Watch 2008 can begin.
All of this beta rumor stems around a German Assistant Community Manager by the name of Gnorog telling the German gaming site Allvatar that the closed beta was going to be starting on July 3rd. It was "fueled" a little bit more in that Bornakk did not come out and deny the July 3rd date, something that they have regularly done before.
Another small indication that something is changing is that the Wrath of the Lich King forums have seen several sticky post removed. They normally do this only when new information is about to come out to replace said sticky posts.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. And if you do happen to get into the beta, feel free to drop us a tip. Happy waiting!
The date of the World Wide Invitational in Paris creeps ever closer and closer. Of course, the biggest thing we're looking forward to is all the new WotLK information courtesy of the playable WotLK demos and Developer panels, but the contests should be pretty fun too. If you're planning to enter one of them, the signups are beginning.
Submissions for the fan art and machinima contests are being accepted via web form from now until June 17th, so that leaves you a little under one more week to finalize your submission. As for the dance and costume contests, registration will be open from June 16th to June 20th.
Remember, some of the contests are only open to certain European countries, so check the rules to make sure you're eligible -- and remember, if you're not, you may be eligible for the contests at Blizzcon 2008 instead. Good luck with your entries, and we'll see you in Paris!
If you wanted to head to the City of Lights this summer to check out the World Wide Invitational this year, but missed the first round of tickets, you're in luck. Blizzard has announced that they will be selling another round on the official WWI website some time next week. If you're still interested, keep an eye out for it!
The World Wide Invitational will take place in Paris, France on June 28th and 29th, and will include developer panels and multiple contests, including fanart and machinima contests, as well as a playable version of WoTLK -- essentially, it's a European Blizzcon. Be sure to check out all of our previous coverage on the event, and stay tuned for all the latest news as we get closer to the date.
Not to be out done by the recent flurry of convention announcements, The Blizzard World Wide Invitational 2008 is throwing out an announcement or two of its own. Today, they are officially announcing a Machinma contest. There will be two categories, one for movies, and one for TV Commercials for WoW items. Online submission is open from June 9th to June 16th. You can check out the contest details (Including the prizes, of course) here.
If Machinima isn't your thing, but you're still creative in other arenas, the announcement also mentions that they will reveal more contests in the near future.
At the moment, the official terms suggest that the contest is open only to Europeans, but if that pans out, I'm certain American Machinimists will get a crack at things at Blizzcon 2008.
It's definitely unusual for an expansion pack to make a list like this; that just goes to show you how extraordinary World of Warcraft is as a cultural phenomenon. Now if only I knew when this blasted expansion might be coming out, I could stop sitting around and fantasizing about playing as a Death Knight. No, wait ... I'd still be doing that anyway.
We're five days into the new year-- feel different yet? Here's your weekly look at our features from the past week. Many of them took a look at WoW in 2007, so here's one last chance to see the year that was before we move on to the year that will be.
Welcome to 2008 from WoW Insider! Most of you were probably at home or out with friends watching the new year come in, but some of you surely celebrated the new year with fireworks in Stormwind, Orgrimmar or Booty Bay, enjoying the festivities online friends as well as offline. Did you have any special new year festivities in Azeroth?
Along with the previously announced interviews with WoW Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan about the upcoming Patch 2.4 Sunwell content and Art Director Sam Didier, fans will get their say as well. Blizzard will be soliciting questions from the players and giving replies to Community Managers Karune and Nethaera. I suppose that means we'll be seeing them on the Blizzcast as well.
Video podcasting is tricky business. Production value can make or break it. Fortunately, Blizzard is known for their high level of production value in everything they do, so I am looking forward to seeing how this goes. Either way, the content may trump all since we all want to know more about Sunwell.
But I'm also a little suspicious of the "first week in January" promise for the first Blizzcast. Coming out of a two week holiday, it will be a miracle for any company to pull off something as labor intensive as a video podcast. Time will tell.
According to the official StarCraft II forums, Blizzard is going to enter of the world of official podcasting-- BlizzCast is set to take off sometime, we're told, around January 2008, which, I believe, makes this the first time Blizzard has ever guessed at a release date for one of their upcoming projects! Write it in the history books! All kidding aside, it should definitely be something to set your iTunes for-- there'll be interviews with Samwise Didier and Jeff Kaplan, and supposedly "a sweepstakes/giveaway and LOTS of SWAG." Swag, you say? Sounds enticing.
Of course, this will be an official podcast, so while it'll definitely be a good listen, it probably shouldn't replace that other Warcraft podcast in your diet. But hopefully, if Blizzard does it right, the podcast will be another outlet for them to share not only news and hints about upcoming content, but make several issues and questions clear for the player audience at large. Can't wait to hear what they come up with-- sounds like it'll be a fun addition to their website in the new year.
But the kicker is this: a 2008 Petopia wall calendar. Featuring fun screenshots (and even some original art) of the best and most favorite pets in the game. I love it. Echeyakee, Humar, Takk the Leaper-- all the greats are here to count down 2008 with you. At $25 it's a little pricey, but on the other hand, any Hunter would love to have that as a gift this holiday season. Very cool idea to put that together, and totally fun to see your favorite virtual pets show up in a setting like that.
The rumor mill has been flying lately that on July 3rd we'll see the first invites go out for the closed 
We're five days into the new year-- feel different yet? Here's your weekly look at our features from the past week. Many of them took a look at WoW in 2007, so here's one last chance to see the year that was before we move on to the year that will be.
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