We’ve just unveiled plans for several official global launch events celebrating the upcoming release of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Beginning on the evening of September 24, we’ll be joining you in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Taiwan, where players will be among the first to get their hands on the new expansion. Members of the World of Warcraft development team will be on hand at many of our launch events around the world to meet players and sign their copies of the game.

In the US, the launch event will take place in Southern California, near Blizzard headquarters:

Where:
Giant Wheel Court at the Irvine Spectrum Center
71 Fortune Drive
Irvine, California 92618

When:
9:00 p.m. PDT on September 24

We’ll have a stage presentation featuring an evening of activities, special guests, giveaways, and entertainment -- including a “challenge-mode challenge” between Blizzard employees and members of the community -- before the expansion goes on sale at midnight.

In addition to the official launch events, retail locations in many places will open at midnight local time to support gamers eager to pick up the expansion as soon as it’s available and set forth on an expedition to the mysterious continent of Pandaria. Check with your local retailers for further details.

The standard and Collector’s editions will be available for purchase at the Mists of Pandaria launch events.