Warhammer Online Collector’s Edition Announced

GOA and EA sent out a press release today announcing plans to sell a Collector’s Edition of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in Europe. These will presumably be available in North America (minus the mousepad), as well:

GOA And EA Announce Warhammer® Online: Age Of ReckoningTM Collector’s Edition

The Ultimate Warhammer Online Experience Includes Exclusive Miniature, Original Graphic Novel, Bonus Quests and Rewards, Art Book, and More

Paris, 26th March, 2008 GOA, France Telecom Content Division Online Games Department, today announced details of the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) Collector’s Edition.

The Collector’s Edition, a premium, limited run edition of EA Mythic’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game will be packed with bonus in-game content and unique collectibles unavailable elsewhere, including an exclusive Games Workshop miniature. The recommended retail price is 79.90€ and those who pre-order the product will receive additional exclusives. Only 55,000 copies of the Collector’s Edition will be produced for Europe and the pre-order program will begin the 26th March 2008.

(Collecting has been a part of the Warhammer hobby experience for 25 years, and this special Collector’s Edition continues the tradition with exclusive offerings, including an official Games Workshop miniature,) said Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager, EA Mythic. (We are bringing the quintessential elements of Warhammer tabletop miniatures, incredible fantasy art, and delightfully grim fiction along with exciting in-game bonus content, together in what is sure to be one of the premier Collector’s Editions of all time.)

“We are very happy to offer the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector’s Edition to European gamers,” said Ghislaine Le Rhun, Executive Director of GOA. “We hope that Warhammer fans will be delighted and that they will play a part in this upcoming adventure with GOA and EA Mythic ! “

The WAR Collector’s Edition will include:

EXCLUSIVE GAMES WORKSHOP MINIATURE GRUMLOK AND GAZBAG
From the Age of Reckoning to your tabletop battle! Based on original characters from the MMORPG and designed by Games Workshop specifically for the Collector’s Edition, this official Warhammer metal miniature depicts the Greenskin warboss, Grumlok, and his shaman, Gazbag, in rich detail. Feel the WAAAGH!

ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING PRELUDE TO WAR
The forces of Order and Destruction collide under the Chaos moon! Commissioned exclusively for the Collector’s Edition, WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING PRELUDE TO WAR is a full-colour, 128-page hardcover graphic novel that sets the stage for the start of the game. Written by acclaimed Games Workshop writer Graham McNeill, the oversized book is richly illustrated by Chad Hardin, Joe Abraham, Rahsan Ekedal, Tony Parker, and Kevin Hopgood. Each of the graphic novel’s six chapters tells a unique story about the armies in the game, and together they detail the events leading up to the Age of Reckoning:

ART BOOK – THE ART OF WARHAMMER ONLINE
A stunning collection of the art that gave birth to the Age of Reckoning! THE ART OF WARHAMMER ONLINE is a 224-page hardcover collection of original art from the game. Each of the glossy, full-color pages showcases the talented work of our concept artists and offers a glimpse of a world in the making.

EUROPEAN EXCLUSIVE – MOUSEPAD
Only for European purchasers, a unique gaming mousepad will be available in the Collector’s Edition.

BONUS IN-GAME CONTENT THE LIBRAMS OF INSIGHT
Wisdom is its own reward. Readers of the Librams of Insight are granted special insight into their own actions and earn experience at a higher rate for a limited time. (+10% XP modifier for 60 minutes, 3 uses, 90 minute reuse timer.)

BONUS IN-GAME CONTENT QUESTS, REWARDS, AND TITLES
New adventures and just rewards await players on the battlefields of WAR! Purchasers of the Collector’s Edition will begin their adventures in the Age of Reckoning with twelve (12) bonus quests awaiting them in their Tome of Knowledge. Each quest offers an exciting in-game reward, as well as a character title, to those that complete the challenges before them.

BONUS IN-GAME CONTENT CHARACTER HEADS
Stand out from the crowd with a look unlike anyone else! The WAR Collector’s Edition includes twelve (12) bonus heads for additional character customisation options. Each race gets a truly distinctive look (with male and female versions) that is sure to turn heads on the battlefields and be the envy of everyone in the army.

With the pre order box of the Collector’s Edition, which has a recommended retail price of 9.90€ ( deductable from the full Collector’s Edition retail price), players will also receive:

• Access to the open beta: be one of the first players to experience the glory of battle and the thrill of WAR!
• A live game headstart: begin your adventures in the Age of Reckoning before the raw recruits arrive!
• Plus exclusive bonus in game content:

In partnership with retailers and e-merchants, all pre-order customers will receive:

Rittenbach’s Portable Camp: to rest the weary soul and heal the wounds between battles.
And either
Sentinel’s amber band (retailer exclusive): to enhance the stats and cast “Touch of Earth,” increasing the chance of doing additional corporeal damage with each hit. (Usable in PvE combat only.)

Or Guardians’ Iolite Band (e-merchant exclusive) : to enhance the stats and cast “Touch of Spirit,” increasing the chance of doing additional spiritual damage with each hit. (Usable in PvE combat only.)

For more information about the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector’s Edition, the bonus in-game content, and the European pre-order offer, visit www.war-europe.com/collectorsedition/

Based on Games Workshop’s epic and longstanding tabletop fantasy war game, Warhammer Online features revolutionary Realm vs. Realmâ„¢ (RvR) gameplay that immerses players in a world of perpetual conflict. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is scheduled for launch on the PC in the Fall of 2008.

About Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR)

War is everywhere in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), the new fantasy MMORPG from the creators of Dark Age of Camelotâ„¢. Based on Games Workshop’s wildly successful Warhammer tabletop fantasy war game, this world provides a rich setting for hundreds of thousands of players to experience the epic nature of war and the glory of battle.

Players are thrust into a grim world of perpetual conflict to fight for the Realms of Order (Dwarfs, High Elves, and Empire) or Destruction (Greenskins, Dark Elves, and Chaos). Next generation Realm vs. Realmâ„¢ game play ensures that players are never fighting alone. With an army of allies at their back, players will defend their homeland, invade enemy Realms, and ultimately lead the siege of their enemy’s Capital City. Every aspect of the game every player, every quest, every encounter, and every battle can turn the tide of the ongoing war and mean victory for a player’s Realm!

For the first time ever, players can engage in Public Questsâ„¢ – multi-stage, communal quests to be completed by allied players fighting together against overwhelming odds. They can also embark on an epic quest to complete the Tome of Knowledge and unlock Warhammer lore, detailed monster information, new abilities, rewards, and major story plotlines. Drawing from a quarter century of highly detailed source material, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will bring Games Workshop’s fantasy world to life in a way that will allow players to create characters destined for great deeds on the field of battle.

To learn more about the game, please visit www.war-europe.com.

About GOA

GOA is the videogames department of France Telecom’s (Division Contenus), and benefits from six years experience in the management of massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

Forerunner of this activity in Europe, its teams combine expertise with a passion for games and take advantage of France Telecom’s technical platform to offer the best of online games to European players.

GOA and the GOA logo are trademarks of France Telecom Division Contenus.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSâ„¢, EAâ„¢, EA SPORTS BIGâ„¢ and POGOâ„¢. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.