Vivendi earning statement hints WotLK to be released in second half of 2008
by Adam Holisky 
May 14th 2008 at 3:45PM
Vivendi earning statements announced today hint that Wrath of the Lich King is expected to be released the second half of 2008. This would also fit into dates that we've seen on sites like Amazon and Gamestop. This is also significant in that it's the first time an official confirmation of a release time frame has come out. And being that this is the data sent to Vivendi investors, it comes with a good bit of clout.
Additionally, the statement tells us that World of Warcraft now has 10.7 million subscribers, up from 10 million at the end of 2007.
The exact paragraph in the statement is after the break. And of course, stay tuned to WoW Insider for all the latest Wrath of the Lich King news.
From the Vivendi press release today (emphasis added):
"Very good operating achievements were offset by non recurring or calendar impacts: the first quarter of 2007 included notably the successful launch of the first expansion set World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (the second expansion set is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008) and the favorable settlement of a tax litigation."
"Vivendi Games continues to make strong headway with Blizzard Entertainment, inc and World of Warcraft ®, adding 2 million incremental subscribers compared to end of March 2007; After reaching the 10-million-subscriber milestone at the end of 2007, World of Warcraft's subscriber base grew to more than 10.7 million by the end of the first quarter of 2008.
A comparison of the first quarters of 2007 and 2008 performances is not representative because the first quarter of 2007 included the hugely successful release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Blizzard Entertainment's second expansion, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008."
Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
matt May 14th 2008 3:43PM
I'll believe it when I have the box in my hands.
Craig Jul 31st 2008 11:23PM
With that, they may as well have ended raiding in TBC. Why grind out 150 badges when a 5-man dungeon drop is just as good?
Heela May 14th 2008 3:43PM
Probably early November is what I'm guessing.
Adam Holisky May 14th 2008 3:48PM
/wave Heela
Doffencrag May 14th 2008 3:52PM
Well, technically, they have until midnight of December 31 to qualify for "second half of 2008".
Mackenzie May 14th 2008 4:25PM
If it's fiscal year, wouldn't they have until May to release the game?
Brandon Tilley May 14th 2008 4:47PM
Don't make me cry please T_T
Verit May 14th 2008 7:29PM
It depends on how Vivendi's fiscal year works too - second half of FY08 could be well in to next year.
For most software companies (having worked for several) a two year product cycle is normal, but most designers and engineers would tell you in person it takes quite a bit longer to really put polish on a program. Not to mention they probably spent a bunch of time working on maintainence releases for WoW 2.x (aka patches).
Rich May 14th 2008 3:54PM
No big surprise. We all figured it was going to be in the second half of 2008 since Blizz Con last year.
You're reading to much into the statement.
"the second expansion set is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008" The key word in that statement is "anticipated". If it said it "WILL" be released in second half of 2008 then the article would be more correct.
Adam Holisky May 14th 2008 3:56PM
'World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008"
At the end of the article. Scheduled is a lot more than anticipated, imo.
Kalis May 14th 2008 6:26PM
Indeed everything's merely an "anticipated date" until the game goes gold.
/former VG employee that knows the smartest thing Blizzard's done is keep us away from WoW.
mirilene May 14th 2008 3:55PM
This is news? Its always been on the 'calendar' for 2008 as stated by their own internal goals of one expansion per year. Every project has to have some kind of deadline. But this is Blizzard.
Blizzard said that BC would launch in the second half of 2006 and they adjusted it twice (the second adjustment pushed it to jan 07). Vivendi can "anticipate" whatever they like, but they're no more an authority on what date WLK will ship than Gamestop. Blizzard will decide when its ready to release.
TimA May 14th 2008 4:01PM
Well said.
TimA May 14th 2008 4:00PM
What Vivendi wants and what Blizzard does are 2 different things.
Guidance for investors is really a spin mechanism to help keep their stock price up. All that means is that Vivendi would REALLY, REALLY like Blizzard to release by the end of the year. Doesn't mean it happens.
Exactly the same situation with TBC.
Sin May 14th 2008 4:40PM
This. ^
The expansion will be released when it's good and ready, by BLIZZARD's standards, not by the investor's or parent company Vivindi's desires.
One thing those "higher ups" need to focus on is if the expansion is released in a terrible state due to being rushed (an easy thing to do with any MMO, as it's been proven), they stand to lose far more customers to their main competition...namely Age of Conan and/or Warhammer Online...then they would if they chose to release the XP after the debut of both those games.
Here's to hoping Blizzard has a full controlling interest in their game after the large changes made with the company over the past year.
Corrine May 14th 2008 4:04PM
I hope Vivendi's not pressuring to get the game released in 2008 before Blizz is ready. According to the recent WOTLK updates, they still have a lot of work to do on DKs as well as tweaks to the other classes talent trees. It also sounds like they haven't done boss fight scripting yet for raids. Admittedly, I don't know the timeframe it would take to do all this as well as other incomplete aspects of WOTLK, but I hope Blizz will make sure they have time to work it out like they always have in the past rather than succumbing to pressure to get the game out according to Vivendi's predictions.
TimA May 14th 2008 4:11PM
Agreed.
Kaplan stated that they hadn't even started boss design at the time of those previews.
I'm not holding my breath for this year.
Oneiroi May 15th 2008 10:43AM
I'm sorry but...Blizzard never rushes anything. Let alone full releases (or expansions in this case). I bet they won't make the internal deadline, as per usual.
Everilas May 14th 2008 4:09PM
Software delivery schedules slip all the time. I'm thinking January or February.
Domina May 14th 2008 4:14PM
With Arena seasons lasting about 6 months, and season 4 (presumably) rolling out early to mid-June, November is a pretty good bet.
It's unlikely Lich will come out before that as it would cut season 4 short and the Arena Tournament Finals are in October.