Blizzard to release new World of Warcraft expansion

Blizzard has announced a new expansion for the hugely popular massively-multiplayer online role playing game World of Warcraft, titled WoW: The Burning Crusade.

The announcement was made at the BlizzCon event held in California last week, where attendees got the chance to see footage of the expansion in a new trailer. "We're extremely proud of what we created with World of Warcraft, and we look forward to expanding the boundaries of the game with The Burning Crusade,â said Blizzard president Mike Morhaime.

"With all of the new content we have planned, the expansion set will offer something for every World of Warcraft player to explore and enjoy."

The Burning Crusade sees players fighting to defeat the evil Illidan as they journey through the Dark Portal into the untamed Outland, visiting previously inaccessible dungeons and battlefields.

There are two new player races, only one of which has been revealed so far: the Blood Elves of Quel'Thalas. The game's level cap is being raised from 60 to 70, and players of a high enough level will now be able to travel around Outland via airborne mounts. Along with new quests, monsters and challenges, there is also a new profession: jewelcrafting.

Blizzard first launched World of Warcraft in November 2004 and since then it has become the world's most popular MMORPG, with a global subscriber base of more than 4.5 million players. A release date for The Burning Crusade has yet to be announced.