Late Monday night Blizzard announced the launch of Mists of Pandaria, the fourth expansion pack for its popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft. It's now available in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The expansion is expected to be available in South Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on September 27, and then launch in mainland China on October 2.
"Mists of Pandaria takes players back to the roots of World of Warcraft -- exploration, discovery, and the epic conflict between the Alliance and the Horde," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "It also contains the widest variety of content that we've ever added in an expansion, and we're excited to be able to share it with players around the world this week in our first truly global launch."
World of Warcraft fans can grab Mists of Pandaria in digital format directly from Blizzard's website for $39.99 USD, or purchase a physical copy on DVD-ROM (Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 and Macintosh) for $39.99 USD in local retail stores as well.
Also up for grabs is a Digital Deluxe version costing $59.99 which can be purchased through Blizzard, or as an activation code from retailers. This package will include the digital version of the expansion pack, and the digital items offered in the physical retail-based Collector's Edition.
"Players who purchase the standard edition digitally or at retail will have the option to upgrade to the Digital Deluxe version at any time (for as long as the standalone Digital Deluxe version remains available) for an additional $20 USD," Blizzard said.
As for the physical retail Collector's Edition, it costs $79.99 USD and includes:
* Game Disc
* World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria behind-the-scenes DVD and Blu-ray two-disc set including over an hour of developer interviews and commentary
* The World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition soundtrack CD
* The Art of Mists of Pandaria, a 208-page hardback tome including never-before-seen artwork from the development process
* A special-edition World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria mouse pad featuring Chen Stormstout, the legendary pandaren brewmaster
* World of Warcraft Imperial Quilen flying mount and Lucky Quilen Cub pet, StarCraft II Battle.net portraits, and Diablo III banner sigil and accent
Mists of Pandaria has received a Teen rating from the ESRB. In addition to the English version, Mists of Pandaria is available fully localized into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Russian, Korean, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, and for the first time with a World of Warcraft expansion launch, Italian. Perfecto!
