World of Warcraft Release Date Announced

The full press release:

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® ANNOUNCES WORLD OF WARCRAFT® “STREET DATE” – NOVEMBER 23, 2004

Highly anticipated massively multiplayer online game to release simultaneously in multiple regions for the holiday season

IRVINE, Calif. – November 4, 2004 – Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that its eagerly awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft® will be in stores in North America on November 23, 2004. World of Warcraft will launch simultaneously in Australia and New Zealand, and is planned for release in Korea, Europe, and other countries throughout Asia shortly following. With a monthly subscription, players in these regions will soon be able to experience the epic adventure of the Warcraft® series in an immersive and continually evolving online environment.

In World of Warcraft, players assume the roles of legendary heroes and interact with thousands of other players online as they explore and adventure across a vast world. Whether journeying together or questing on their own, players will engage in heroic battles, develop friendships, forge alliances, and compete with enemies for power and glory. The game features customizable character classes with thousands of weapons, spells, and abilities. With an innovative, easy-to-use interface, an action-packed combat system, and thousands of quests that build an immersive storyline, World of Warcraft offers a MMORPG that will appeal to both veteran and casual players alike.

“World of Warcraft has been our largest undertaking to date,” said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “When we set out to create a massively multiplayer online game, our goal was to expand the scope of the Warcraft universe by offering an incredibly dynamic game experience. We’re extremely proud of the game we’ve created, and we believe players will be very pleased when they see what we have in store for them.”

World of Warcraft will be available for Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP and Macintosh® formats at a suggested retail price of $49.99 in the U.S., and will include a free one-month subscription to the game. The special collector’s edition of World of Warcraft will also be available at release for a suggested retail price of $79.99 and will include the World of Warcraft game on both CD-ROM and DVD, a free one-month subscription, a World of Warcraft behind-the-scenes DVD, an exclusive in-game pet, a cloth map of the game world, a soundtrack CD, an Art of the World of Warcraft coffee table book, and a commemorative game manual signed by the development team.

After the initial free one-month subscription ends, players of World of Warcraft will be able to continue playing under one of three different subscription plans. The month-to-month subscription plan costs $14.99 per month, the three-month plan costs $13.99 per month, and the six-month plan costs $12.99 per month. World of Warcraft subscription fees can be paid by major credit card, PayPal, and pre-paid game cards, which will be available in stores where World of Warcraft is sold. World of Warcraft has received a Teen rating from the ESRB.

About the Warcraft Universe
Since its debut in 1994, the #1-selling Warcraft series has won industry acclaim and has shattered sales records worldwide with over 14 million copies sold*. In 1995, Blizzard followed the well-received Warcraft: Orcs and Humans with the highly acclaimed Warcraft II: Tides of Darknessâ„¢, considered by many critics to be one of the best games ever made. In 2002, Blizzard expanded the boundaries of the Warcraft universe with the third chapter of its legendary saga, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos , which garnered numerous Game of the Year awards. With the release of World of Warcraft, Blizzard now extends its epic storyline into the MMORPG realm, expanding the genre with a massively multiplayer gaming experience of unparalleled quality.

About Blizzard Entertainment
Best known for blockbuster hits including the Warcraft® series, StarCraft®, and the Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment® (www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Universal Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard’s track record includes eight #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s free Internet gaming service Battle.net reigns as the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

*Based on EDI sell-through, internal company estimates, and reports from key retail accounts around the world.

Best known for their series Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®, Blizzard Entertainment (www.blizzard.com, a division of Vivendi Universal Games) is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. The company’s free Internet gaming service Battle.net® provides a forum in which owners of Blizzard’s games can play in a multiplayer mode remotely across the Internet and against other gamers from around the world.