Rumor mill: Burning Crusade delayed until January 2007

by Mike Schramm Oct 23rd 2006 at 12:23PM

Multiple sources are reporting, with little to no certainty (so it's time to get out that grain of salt), that Blizzard will delay the release of the expansion until early 2007. Blizzard is still saying a Q4 2006 release, but if past experience has shown us anything, they'll promise a 2006 release right up until they promise a January 2007 release. Considering the beta just started and lots of classes continue to show major changes (not to mention that the "original" release date-- rumored-- is just over a month away), this doesn't come as much of a surprise.

Of course, Vivendi may just play around with the meaning of the word "done." They'll certainly want to release the game before the holiday (especially considering there's not one but two major consoles being released this year) because there is money to be made. And it's not like there isn't precedent for releasing an MMORPG before it's polished, even for Blizzard-- anybody play a hunter when the game first came out?

But then again, you probably already know if you're buying this game or not-- an expansion isn't exactly the same as a regular release. They might not lose that many sales by waiting until January to put it out. And maybe all the holiday activity would get them lost in the mix-- a January release means they don't have to compete with all of the PS3 and Wii press and attention. Plus, look on the bright side-- if the rumors are true, you'll have more time to get to 60 or pick up that high PVP rank you want before the Burning Crusade hits the scene.

[ Thanks, Chubbs! ]

Tags: burningcrusade, expansion, release

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Expansions

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

D�T Oct 23rd 2006 1:14PM

I have heard this from several people in game as well though I have yet to see ANYTHING outside of WOW about it.

Hory Oct 23rd 2006 1:18PM

I'm still banking on Q4. Mainly because my brain will explode if I have to wait any longer.

Zetri Oct 23rd 2006 1:20PM

Lies! All lies! The unfaithful and heretics are trying to tarnish the glory of Blizzard! This will come out before the New Year, as is written in the holy Text of the Blue. (Was that a bit over the top?)

Cuchulainn Oct 23rd 2006 1:28PM

Might check the linked articles again. Sourcing all goes back to the one Danish site. No multiple sources (as yet).

Aaron Oct 23rd 2006 1:29PM

The Hunter remark hit a little close to home here. But then I can also remember how late in the process that Warlock's got their talents as well.

And I love playing Pet classes in MMO's.

I would not be surprised if Blizzard went ahead and released the game without all of the instances. Just like two years ago there are cries that it's not ready for release. And people are thinking it will be pushed back again.

But Blizzard knows that they are hitting the point where a product goes out the door regardless of how much polish it has. Item art and stats can be patched in, will have to be patched in for those who don't buy the expansion.

I want to say that there was like a 50 mb patch before you could even play the game on the day it was released.

We know that the exp curve is set so that people have been leveling quickly. All Blizzard has to do is go Gold a week or two before they have fully completed the instances/item art.

Game goes gold and ships to stores. And Blizzard gets a couple of weeks during that process to finish up. Then they just have to patch it in when it goes hot.

The rest of it (talents/skills) is handled all server side anyway. That can be freely tweaked up to the day of release. After release it can still be changed on a slower basis, that's what MMO's do.

Bill G Oct 23rd 2006 1:33PM

Not terribly surprising, but for folks who have mentally geared their game to change before 2007, this will be maddening.

I'm not terribly interested in leveling up alts, but now is the *perfect* time to be doing that since BC will provide the equivalent of tier 2 gear to pretty much any level 60 by level 65 or so.

I want to start my tier 2 rogue in BC now, I really don't want to spend 3+ more months raiding AQ40 [which I hate] or Naxx [which is somewhat interesting, but just barely considering the time involved] when the gear will be replaced so soon.

Maybe leveling alts isn't such a bad idea.

Fordan Oct 23rd 2006 1:52PM

If they miss the holiday season completely, they likely miss some chunk of the under 18 year old players who may be placing Burning Crusade on the wish list.

Felnor Oct 23rd 2006 1:57PM

What?
This is just plain silly. The dutch site is just fueling speculation. Nothing more. They can't even give their sources which is a big indication.
Let's look at the following.

Oct 4th - Make Love Not Warcraft: BC Advertising in the show with Cartman making mention of the time it would take to get to the final level which so happens to be close to November 28th using the show's airing date as a beginning.

WoW drops to $20. Why would they drop WoW to $20 and not let it ride out at $39.99 for another holiday? It wouldn't make sense to do this now and not wait until January to do so. World of Warcraft continues to sell like crazy today.

Closed Beta Test: This is more or less free advertising for Blizzard. Why would they start up a test such as this? To get feedback? Whatever. The majority of the players that are getting on will never provide the feedback that a real beta test needs. It will just be a bunch of kids that will sit there and go, ZOMG!! BETA TEST FTW PEW PEW PEW lolololol.... You know, the same idiots that clutter Barrens Chat channel... If this was a serious beta test, they would have kept it far more closed and would have had an NDA on the thing.

One other point. The beta seems to be extreamly far along. Why does everyone assume that the release is far off? What gives that impression? Each patch is pretty much filling in the gaps and there are fewer gaps to fill now. What's left, 70 content? That's what I would believe from reading the forums.

I don't buy into the dutch website. They are probably only looking to get more readers and what a better way than to post speculation and not news. Speculation is better left to the forums and comment sections.

Felnor

Warforge Oct 23rd 2006 2:22PM

Well with Beta going I bet they found many more problems and this could be reason for more delay.

Also I feel "Marketing" has there dirty hands invovled on this move.

Take a look at the market right now. Warhammer Online, Conan, LOTR, and Vangaurd all to launch at 2007 1st Quarter some saying January.

It may be a move to polish up the expansion and competetively launch against them.

Do you remember WOW launch. They admittedly rushed launched and that same month who launched there big MMORPG...>Sony EQ2.... Maybe a marketing pattern repeating itself. To combat the launches of those other big titles comming.

Druid dude Oct 23rd 2006 2:30PM

That Danish article says Vivendi's only comment was that "... a press release is due tomorrow."

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Gharr Oct 23rd 2006 2:45PM

Remeber there will be no open beta.
Just because beta started when? Mid September?
Alpha was running for a long long time (I know of people who were connecting back during PAX and before that).
Beta is being used for balancing and final art.

I am starting to think that it may not be Nov 22/28 but I still expect it on the shelves before the end of December - with just enough out there to cover pre-sales.

Felnor Oct 23rd 2006 2:51PM

Guys,
Let's get our facts straight here. This is not the original WoW Launch. Do not compare nor try to compare it to the original WoW launch. They don't have to go through the same beta testing period as they did with the first nor do they have to build things from scratch.
Let's break this down.
Some of the content for BC was done at the same time as the original WoW. They probably went back over that and expanded, changed some of that stuff.
The impression that I get is that some people think that they are coming up with new stuff on the fly. For example, designing the Black Temple on the fly.
This is not the case.
What we are seeing right now is chunks of the expansion being released one at a time. They may make some tweeks here and there but the majority of the content is already done. It's being pieced together like a quilt. You just don't rush into putting the pieces together. You put out one part at a time letting the beta testers play with each section.
Such as Cavern of Times. They just put that out to let players go through that. In the next 1 1/2 weeks you will probably see Kharazan and the other level 70 content come out. What else would they have to do from there? They are probably finalizing some things and getting that ready to go.
Felnor

kuri Oct 23rd 2006 2:57PM

Still, waiting till January means you'll miss all those relatives and parents who won't pick the game up for their kids, simply because the "season has passed." These are a big chunk of sales.

The casual gamer market, as Joystiq pointed out in a recent article, is a burgeoning market that can't be overlooked or ignored. Blizzard has always known this, and even designed their game around it (to an extent). I can't see Blizzard wanting to push release back after the largest selling season of the year, simply because who they're trying to aim at is a casual market who won't notice/mind the errors they will patch in the upcoming months.

This is just my prediction, but I see Blizzard releasing the expansion with a week or two to spare before Christmas, and patching around New Years. This way, it's a short enough time to not have people quit in disgust/disappointment, and they still meet the Christmas sales rush.

Hans Oct 23rd 2006 2:57PM

Just be grateful that they intend on putting out quality instead of following the star wars galaxies model of "let's never make the game actually work properly by pushing it out and making all the players beta testers (all the time)"

:D

warforge Oct 23rd 2006 3:29PM

I still think its a marketing move. My friend who was on the Dev team for Diablo 2 told me back in the day about how marketing can really be dicks on things such as launch dates. Pushing the developers to work longer hours and rush at times.

What I am saying is the power of the Marketing department can be a player in this odd rumor. And it is very possible they may be doing some meddling with the launch date.

Let's hope not. But I am not disgruntled about it. For I did get my Beta Invite and just checked my email today!! Neener neener nee ner!!

How I have no damn clue...I never applied for it. Meh...Well im not gona look at this gift horse in the mouth...gona get online tonight! =p

Rumda Oct 23rd 2006 4:16PM

Well at least if it is true i have more of a chance to get to lvl 60 before it comes out

Joshua Ochs Oct 23rd 2006 5:02PM

Most people who want it will buy it regardless of when it comes out, so I don't think they have anything to lose by delaying it. As you said, this gives some of us time to make it to 60. :)

Freehugz Oct 23rd 2006 5:57PM

Yeah most people that want the game and "can" buy the game will buy it regardless of when it comes out. However, the thing about Christmas is that it magically allows people to get things they wouldn't normally be able to buy. Consequently the opposite thing happens in january, once everyone's drained their bank accounts on the holidays.

I really hope the release date ends up being later so I can hit 60, but I just don't see that happening.