Blizzard holding Burning Crusade Euro events

The highly anticipated expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft, titled The Burning Crusade, launches worldwide on January 16. The servers with the new content will be going live at midnight, and many of the current 7.5 million players will try to grab the title as soon as it hits the shelves.

Blizzard recently announced launch events in the US and Australia and has followed those announcements with the European details. Four cities will be treated to official Blizzard events--London, Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm. In addition, other stores will be choosing to open their doors at midnight to allow gamers to get the game as soon as possible. Blizzard advises checking with local stores to see if any have their own midnight events planned.

The UK event will take place at the HMV store in London at 150 Oxford Street. Designer Jon LeCraft will be signing copies of the game, and there will also be demonstrations of the World of Warcraft trading card game. Other events include giveaways of merchandise and a unique Gurky baby Murloc pet. Copies of the special edition of the game will be available in the store, and people are being encouraged to come dressed in their favourite Warcraft costume for the chance of getting their hands on one. On HMV's Web site it says, "There will be a limited quantity of Collector's Editions available to those fans who attend the event in World of Warcraft costumes."

The HMV event will start at 10:30 p.m., and the first copy of the game will be sold bang on midnight. However, the store warns that a limited amount of stock will be available on the night and advises gamers to get there early.

The event in Paris will take place at FNAC on the Champs Elysées between midnight and 4 a.m. Blizzard's German event will be at the Media Markt store on Krumme Straße in Berlin-Charlottenberg, and in Sweden the event will be at EB Games Gallerian on Hamngatan in Stockholm. These two events start at midnight, but no closing-time information has been given.

The Burning Crusade adds a variety of new features to the WOW universe, including two new races, a new continent, a new profession, and a level cap increase to 70.