World of Warcraft expansion confirmed

Given the increasing popularity of World of Warcraft--which reached the 2 million subscriber milestone last week--it was only a matter of time until it got an expansion pack.

However, developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment has remained mum on matters of an add-on for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game. There was some speculation that the silence was because a large number of designers assigned to the project had left Blizzard for NCsoft, stymieing work on the project. Others pointed to the numerous new job openings listed on Blizzard's Web site as evidence the company was just starting to ramp up work on the project.

However, it was only today that Blizzard made it official--or one of its employees did anyway. On the official World of Warcraft forums, Shane Dabiri, lead producer of the World of Warcraft development team, posted a lengthy message titled "World of Warcraft Battleplan." Besides outlining increased customer service, the addition of servers, and gameplay additions, Dabiri's post also addressed the $64,000 question. "Some have asked about an expansion and what it might hold," he said. "I wanted to let players know that it is in the works, and we'll release details as soon as we can."

Unfortunately for PC gamers, that's all Dabiri said regarding an expansion, and Blizzard officials contacted by GameSpot had offered no further comments as of press time.

However, Dabiri did outline some forthcoming free updates for the game. "In our next major update, we will be releasing Blackwing Lair, a 40-person raid dungeon, where you will be able to battle against the epic dragon Nefarian and his minions," he said. "We are also working on a 20-person dungeon called Zul'Gurub and the mysterious lands of Ahn'Qiraj in Silithus. Outside of dungeons, we want to continue adding new world events, such as a carnival that will take place in Mulgore and Elwynn forest."

GameSpot will have more details on the World of Warcraft expansion as soon as they emerge.