BlizzCon 2010: Cataclysm will be available for digital download on launch day

by Zach Yonzon Oct 22nd 2010 at 2:24PM

Straight from the Mike Morhaime's mouth during opening ceremonies -- Cataclysm will be available for digital download at midnight Pacific Standard Time of December 7, 2010. For the first time in the game's history, the game will be available for purchase online at the same time as it launches in retail stores. Pre-orders for Cataclysm digital downloads will be available on the Blizzard site soon. Players eager to play the game right away but don't have the endurance (or geographical proximity) to attend a midnight launch can simply sit in the comfort of their homes and enter a broken Azeroth as the game goes live on launch day. CLARIFICATION: Morhaime mentioned that the game should be available for digital download ahead of the launch date, allowing players to have the full game when Cataclysm goes live.

Tags: breaking, breaking-news, BreakingNews, cataclysm-game, cataclysm-guide, cataclysm-news, digital-download, expansion, expansion-three, next-xpac, third-expansion, world-of-warcraft-cataclysm, wow-4.0, wow-4.0.2, wow-cataclysm, wow-expansion, wow-guide, wow-third-expansion

Filed under: News items, BlizzCon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Xweaz Oct 22nd 2010 2:29PM

Best Cat news yet!

Josin Oct 22nd 2010 2:31PM

If that's the best news yet, then this expansion's not going to be so impressive.

Feldring Oct 22nd 2010 2:45PM

I dunno, clumping litter probably tops the list for me.

Kemikalkadet Oct 22nd 2010 2:46PM

The con has literally been going for 20 minutes and like 19 minutes of that have been spent introducing what's coming up.

Josin Oct 22nd 2010 2:48PM

Bah. Why do I get downrated?

They rebuilt the entire old world for you. Two new races? New class/race combinations? Exciting new secondary professions? Flying anywhere in the world?

Nah... I'm downloading mine digitally!! THAT'S THE BEST NEWS OF ALL!

Seriously.

Dril Oct 22nd 2010 3:05PM

@Josin: It's no good having all that stuff IN THEORY if you can't play it for 2 weeks due to bad postal services/postal strikes/game being out of stock everywhere/god hating you/the Pie-devil starting his armageddon.

This means that I can play that stuff when I want it, i.e. ASAP.

Rakah Oct 22nd 2010 3:07PM

btw he said you could download in advance and just activate when the servers go up.

Skarn Oct 22nd 2010 5:09PM

I agree with Josin. Digital Download is awesome, but BEST Cata news? No way.

Morcego Oct 22nd 2010 6:43PM

It is definitively the best cata news for people who live in other countries, like Brazil, who had to, in the past, to send money to friends in the USA so they could guy the game and send us the key.
What ? Order online ? Sure. 2-3 weeks to get the game here. And that from the very few places that would ship internationally.

Qot Oct 22nd 2010 8:07PM

Assuming they set up a torrent, definitely the best news.

If we're stuck trying to download from a dedicated server...

Skarn Oct 23rd 2010 12:03AM

But...it's just...it doesn't make sense. Yes, digital download is awesome. Obviously. But it's not the BEST news. You're only excited about it because you are excited about Cataclysm. Something about Cata excites you and thus having Cata is exciting. Some feature or two of Cata is the "best" news. Digital download is simply "awesome." Cataclysm will still be awesome in 2 weeks. Or 4. It's not going to suddenly disappear. If being able to download it is the best thing about Cata, the expansion is going to be pretty poor.

That whole paragraph was probably a waste. Oh well. Thus is the Internet.

Gen Man Oct 22nd 2010 2:32PM

I'd personally rather have the disc. Rather load it in a few moments than have to wait a few hours for all of it to download. Though that would be a completely moot point if they allow you to preload it a week or two ahead of schedule to cut down on server stress.

Rathwirt Oct 22nd 2010 2:34PM

Yep you can pre-order and download it ahead of time.

If I wasn't getting the CE, I would do this.

Gen Man Oct 22nd 2010 2:42PM

Then my fears are unfounded.

Josin Oct 22nd 2010 2:45PM

I'm looking forward to the release party at my local GameStop, sitting around with fellow players and making them see reason on why gnomes are the best race in WoW.

RogueJedi86 Oct 22nd 2010 3:01PM

Don't forget that for the same price as retail you miss out on all the fixings like a game manual and world map and all the other goodies that come in a retail box. Since Blizz is cutting down on costs by not having to make those for your copy of the game, guess how much of that savings gets passed on to you? NONE!

Seriously, please give us at least a $5 discount or something. That's the reason I went back to buying WotLK retail after doing Digital Download for BC.

Saeadame Oct 22nd 2010 3:17PM

I'll probably get both. I'll buy the digital version so I can play as soon as it launches, and then when my CE gets here I'll just upgrade.

But yeah... I waste money like that >>;

Dreyja Oct 22nd 2010 3:40PM

Yah, call me a super nerd but I've pre-ordered the collector's edition from amazon but I'm not confident about when I'll receive it. I want to play that night. I'm going to download it to play and then upgrade when the box comes in the mail.

You're welcome Biizz. ;)

Jamesisgreat Oct 22nd 2010 3:56PM

This is pretty much the only option for me - I live in the US but used to live in the UK. Therefore, the only other way of getting a copy of Cataclysm is ordering it on Amazon.co.uk, getting it shipped to someone back there, and then getting them to ship it to me over here. Digital download for the win!

Noyou Oct 22nd 2010 4:51PM

Awesome news for the people who are going to partake in the DL.

@Roguejedi86

Man I wished people read the game manuals. I did when I got my battlechest and was waiting to play. Lots of good info in there. It would cut down on 80 of the stupid trade chat questions...:) or not. Who am I kidding :p But still, packed with info people. This looks like it's going to be an awesome weekend for wow insider. Now If my Chicago Bears can only beat the Redskins...../dream

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