World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Announcement, testing, and release

In February 2010, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that Cataclysm was to be released in that same calendar year. On May 3, 2010, the Family & Friends Alpha phase began; despite a non-disclosure agreement, much of the game's content was leaked after the client was distributed. On May 11, 2010, Blizzard requested that at least one site remove alpha content until the NDA was lifted. On June 30, 2010, closed beta testing began, sending invitations to gamers who had signed up through their Battle.net account.

In August 2010, Blizzard announced the Collector's Edition. On September 7 (8 in Europe), the first pre-Cataclysm quest chains were released to live servers in Dun Morogh and Durotar.

On September 30, news site MMO-Champion estimated a target release date of December 7, 2010 based on data-mining. GameSpot reported that Amazon.com customers who pre-ordered the Collector's Edition received notifications estimating arrival between January 4 to 18, 2011; other websites such as Kotaku posted copies of these notifications marking the release date as January 5, 2011. Amazon.com had overestimated the release date for the past two expansions to give their sales a safety buffer.

Patch history

Patch 4.0.1, titled 'Cataclysm Systems Patch', was released on October 12, 2010. It included an overhaul of the talent system, major class changes, reforging item stats, a new level of glyphs, point systems for both PvE and PvP, user interface updates, improved graphics, and a flexible raid lockout system. Patch 4.0.3a, 'The Shattering', was released on November 23, 2010. Deathwing's return altered terrain throughout Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, introduced thousands of new quests from levels 1-60, updated level ranges for some zones, and gave many existing races new class combinations.

The Cataclysm cinematic trailer and login screen were also added. Patch 4.1, 'Rise of the Zandalari', was released on April 26, 2011, adding two new heroic 5-man dungeons: Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub. Patch 4.2, 'Rage of the Firelands', was released on June 28, 2011, adding daily quests in the Molten Front zone, the Firelands raid, the legendary weapon Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest, and the Dungeon Journal user interface feature.

Reception

Cataclysm sold more than 3.3 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release including digital presales, and 4.7 million copies in its first month. It became the fastest selling PC game, overtaking Wrath of the Lich King's 2.8 million first-day sales, until Diablo III sold 3.5 million in its first 24 hours. It also held the record for most copies sold in the first month for a PC game until Diablo III sold 6.3 million. In the UK, the game placed 3rd on the 'Top 10 Entertainment Software (All Prices); Week Ending December 11, 2010' behind Call of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA 11, later becoming a UK bestseller.

At Metacritic, the game received an average score of 90 based on 53 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. IGN scored it 9/10, calling it 'the most impressive expansion to an MMO ever made'. GameSpot rated it 8.5/10, stating World of Warcraft was 'in the best shape of its life'. GamePro gave it 4/5 stars, calling it 'another solid release'.

GameSpy awarded Cataclysm 'MMO Game of the Year' at their 2010 awards. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated it for 'Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year' and 'Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition'.