WOW: Burning Crusade delayed

Blizzard today announced that World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade will be released in January 2007, in order to extend the closed beta test.

The developer had been saying "winter" for the game, which technically does include January, but most had expected the expansion's release to fall in November, and Blizzard acknowledged that, with president Mike Morhaime saying that the enthusiasm was "appreciated".

"We're excited about putting the finishing touches on all of the new content," he said in a statement. "We feel confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve."

The current closed beta, impressions of which you can read elsewhere on the site, gives Blizzard the chance to see how its new features stand up to bombardment from dedicated fans.