Blizzard has announced that the release of Burning Crusade, the expansion to the extremele successful World of Warcraft, will be delayed for a few weeks until January 2007 in order to extend the closed beta test.
Technically this is not a delay as Blizzard had only mentioned Winter as a release estimate for the expansion but it had been assumed that the game would release before holiday 2006.
The official explanation behind the extension of the closed beta test is that it will help ...further refine the new content that will ship with the game.
We appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and we're excited about putting the finishing touches on all of the new content, said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. We feel confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve.
Blizzard began the closed-beta phase of testing on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade earlier this month. The January 2007 release window will allow extra time for current beta testers to participate in the final stages of development and continue providing valuable feedback.
Further information on specific worldwide release dates, pricing, and other details will be announced in the near future.