After months of guessing, Blizzard has officially announced the next World of Warcraft expansion: Mists of Pandaria.

DirecTV accidentally leaked information on the new expansion during their pre-Con show, mentioning that the devs would discuss the new talent system which would be implemented in patch 5.0, a new playable race and class. As is tradition, Chris Metzen took the stage to announce that - as we’ve suspected since the patent was filled a couple of months back - players would be venturing to Pandaria and finally get to meet the elusive race of pandas.

In a trailer, we were given a glimpse of the fabled land of the Pandaren; a lush Oriental-themed continent reminiscent of ancient China. The trailer also announced a new class in the form of the Monk, new talent system, pet battle system and a new level cap of 90.

Chris Metzen explained that in the next few expansion “The true villain is going to be war itself … Red and blue are about to get it on … War is coming and it's not going to be pretty and … the war that is coming for the WoW will be fought in this gentle place.”

Pandaren have long been an amusing sidestep in Azerothian myth, beginning as an April’s Fool joke and eventually included in WarCraft III. More recently, a Pandaren was included as a non-combat pet and sold to raise money for charity. Their inclusion as a race that can be played by both Alliance and Horde has long been suspected has long been suspected and is now confirmed.