Warcraft add-on gets release date

The second expansion pack for the World of Warcraft (WoW) online game is going on sale from 13 November.

The Wrath of the Lich King includes a new continent for high-level players plus new professions and an army of new enemies to battle.

The expansion also gives players the chance to take on a new type of character known as a Death Knight.

Those wanting to get at the extras for WoW must already own the first expansion pack for the game.

Undead horde

World of Warcraft is among the most popular of all online games. WoW creator Blizzard claims it has 10 million players around the world - most of whom are based in China and other Asian nations.

The main focus of the expansion is the Lich King himself, Arthas Menethil, who many will recognise from Blizzard's real-time PC strategy games set in the Warcraft world.

WRATH OF THE LICH KING

• New continent of Northrend
• Level cap increased to 80
• New high-level Death Knight character class
• Introduction of "Inscription" profession
• New enemy - the undead armies of the Lich King
• Introduction of siege weapons
• New player-v-player battlefields

Much of the content in the add-on game involves battling against the army of undead that Arthas controls.

Alongside the new content Blizzard is also expected to start updating the graphics engine for WoW to make its cartoony look more realistic.

As with the first expansion Blizzard is expected to release a big patch for the game prior to the release of Wrath of the Lich King that will make some changes available to all players.

No price has yet been given for the expansion. However, at time of writing online retailer Amazon has a £24.99 price tag on it in the UK and $39.99 in the US.

Blizzard is staggering the global release of the expansion.

Gamers in the US, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile will be able to buy the game on 13 November. It will be released on 14 November in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. On 18 November it will go on sale in Korea Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

No date has been given for when the expansion will be available in mainland China.

The Wrath of the Lich King is being released almost two years after the first expansion pack - The Burning Crusade - which went on sale on 16 January, 2007.

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