World of Warcraft beta closing, stress test due
It's nearly over for testers, but another free taste of the game is just around the corner, Blizzard reveals.
Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft closed beta test is drawing to a close this Friday, October 29th, at 3pm PDT, when the servers will go offline for an undetermined period as the developer prepares to launch another public stress test.
All closed beta accounts will remain active, however, and testers will be emailed with instructions on how to continue playing in the stress test - about which more details will be announced in the coming days, and relayed here.
For those who missed the first one, the WoW stress test is designed to simulate the strain the final game will put on the server hardware by having thousands of fans play the game for free for a short period of time as Blizzard runs through various scenarios - for example knocking out a number of key servers to see how the remaining ones cope.
Having announced the beta's closure, Blizzard had this to say to its fans: "We also want to take this opportunity to thank the closed beta testers for their months of dedicated testing and hard work. Thanks to all of your suggestions and bug reports, World of Warcraft is closer than ever to being ready for launch!"
However the developer did not comment on reports that publisher Vivendi will release the game at the end of November in the USA, a week after Half-Life 2. Claims to that effect have been circulating this week in the press Stateside.
World of Warcraft is due out in Europe in early 2005. Read loads more about it by checking out our in-depth preview and interview with the game's producer.