World of Warcraft: Wrath
of the Lich King Officially Announced!

It's official! The developers at Blizzard revealed their newest
expansion to World of Warcraft at BlizzCon, to the (more than likely)
deafening cheers of hundreds of fans. While our intrepid staffers are
busily tip-tapping away at their keyboards to get you the
up-close-and-personal view of the game, the rest of the Ten Ton Hammer
staff has posted up the official press release for the upcoming game.
Reading the release, you'll find info about the new Death Knight hero
class, the increased level cap, and much more!

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PARIS, France. – 3 August, 2007
- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for the second
expansion to World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively
multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Unveiled at the
company’s BlizzCon™ gaming festival before an
audience of more than
8,000 gamers, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King™ will
open the
forbidding wasteland of Northrend to exploration by the hardiest
adventurers. New levels of power, challenging new dungeons and
encounters, an exciting new character profession, and the
game’s first
hero class are just some of the new features awaiting players in Wrath
of the Lich King.



“This expansion will add some of the most
infamous characters and settings from the Warcraft® universe to
World
of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of
Blizzard
Entertainment®. “In addition to new story content,
Wrath of the Lich
King will introduce a number of features specifically requested by
players over the past couple of years. We’re looking forward
to sharing
further details with everyone as development progresses.”



Players
last visited Northrend in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne™,
when Arthas
Menethil fused with the spirit of Ner’zhul to become the Lich
King, one
of the most powerful beings in the Warcraft universe. He now broods
atop the Frozen Throne deep in Icecrown Citadel, clutching the rune
blade Frostmourne and marshaling the undead armies of the Scourge. In
Wrath of the Lich King, the forces of the Alliance and the Horde will
venture into battle against the Scourge amid Northrend’s
howling winds
and fields of jagged ice.



Building on the foundation established
in World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King
will add a rich variety of content to an already massive game. New
features coming with the game’s second expansion include:

• Death Knight Hero Class:
  Create a high-level Death Knight character - the game’s first
  hero class - once certain challenges have been met.
• Increased Level Cap: Advance
  to level 80 and gain potent new talents and abilities along the way.
• Northrend:
  Explore the harsh new continent of Northrend, packed with new zones,
  quests, dungeons, monsters, and items - and do battle with the undead
  armies of the Lich King.
• “Inscription” Profession:
  Learn this exciting new profession and gain unique ways to permanently
  enhance spells and abilities in the game.
• Siege Weapons and Destructible Buildings:
  Take the battle to another level with new player-vs.-player game
  mechanics and new battlefields to wage war on.
• New Character Customization: Change
  how characters look and express themselves, with different hairstyles
  and dance animations.

Since
launching in November 2004, World of Warcraft has become the
world’s
most popular MMORPG, with a subscriber base of more than 9 million
players. The game’s first expansion, The Burning Crusade,
broke PC-game
sales records in North America and Europe by selling nearly 2.4 million
copies in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5
million copies in its first month. World of Warcraft is available in
seven different languages and, in addition to North America and Europe,
is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.



For more information on World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King,
please visit Blizzard’s official website at href="http://www.wow-europe.com" class="releaselink"
target="_new">www.wow-europe.com.
To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as
development on other Blizzard games, the company is currently hiring
for numerous open positions - more information on available career
opportunities at Blizzard can be found at href="http://www.blizzard.co.uk/jobopp" class="releaselink"
target="_new">www.blizzard.co.uk/jobopp.