• Ozzy Osbourne's been the Prince of Darkness since 1979 -- too bad Arthas is poised to steal the throne. In a series of nationally televised ads, Ozzy and Steve van Zandt want to know: "What's your #!@? Game?" Check the spots out here before they hit the airwaves and be sure to press the "Watch in High Quality" option (bottom right of the picture) for the best results:
  

  • Ozzy Spot: Click here
  • Steve Van Zandt Spot: Click here

• After a fun-filled launch night at thousands of midnight openings and a week for everyone to begin exploring the mysteries of Northrend, we're pleased to be able to share the first sales results for Wrath of the Lich King. In its first 24 hours of availability, the expansion sold over 2.8 million copies to become the new fastest-selling PC game of all time, eclipsing the previous record of nearly 2.4 million set by The Burning Crusade. For full details, check out the official announcement.
  
  We'd like to extend our thanks to everyone in the global World of Warcraft community, whose enthusiasm has made this possible.

• We've created a new Scourge Invasion gallery with 40 of the best player submissions. As always, if you'd like to contribute to our galleries, please submit your screenshots. You can view all of our screenshot galleries here.

• Hitting stores this week, the penultimate chapter to our first major comic arc sees our heroes heading off to Theramore Island to resolve the damage done by the evil usurper of the throne. Check out the preview pages for yourself.
  
  If you like what you see, you can visit Wildstorm for more information, locate a nearby comic store, or subscribe to the series directly.
  
  Also be sure to check out World of Warcraft: Volume 1, a hardcover collection of issues #0 through #7. It's on shelves and available online now at all major comic retailers.

• We just added a new wallpaper to our World of Warcraft wallpapers section. These desktops feature some amazing artwork from Wildstorm's monthly comic series. If you like what you see, you can visit Wildstorm for more information, locate a nearby comic store, or subscribe to the series directly.
  
  

• You can now buy account-upgrade keys and download the game client for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King directly through the account-management section of www.worldofwarcraft.com. The direct online upgrade method is the most convenient way to upgrade to Wrath of the Lich King and join the millions of players who are already adventuring in Northrend.
  
  All you need to do is:

  1. Login to Account Management
  2. Click the "Upgrade Online" link.
  3. Enter your credit card information.
  4. Follow the link to download the Wrath of the Lich King game client.
  

  That's it! If you haven't upgraded your account yet, now's your chance to take your World of Warcraft experience to the next level, whenever you want.

• We've updated our Event: Hallow's End screenshot gallery with 13 of the best player submissions. As always, if you'd like to contribute to our galleries, please submit your screenshots. You can view all of our screenshot galleries here.

• With the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, we're seeing a very active and growing population for many realms. As we continue to see players actively participating in the new expansion, we're keeping a watchful eye on any resulting queues from high realm populations, and will offer free realm transfers as necessary to help keep populations at an appropriate level. We've created a post in the forums that will contain all information on these transfers as we offer them -- please check it out for the most current information.

• We've updated our Public Transportation page with some of the new transportation options in Wrath of the Lich King. Check it out to see what's changed.

• Wrath of the Lich King is now on sale around the globe, and many stores held midnight launch events to celebrate. If you attended one of them and took your camera with you, Send us your very finest pictures. We're collecting the best ones to be included in a gallery of Wrath launch photos from around the world.
  
  

• For years, the heroes of the Alliance and Horde have fought against the evils in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, against the demons of the Burning Legion in Outland, and against each other -- all the while unaware that a threat more dangerous than any they had yet encountered was preparing to make its move in the icy continent of Northrend. Now the Lich King, Arthas Menethil, has emerged from Icecrown Citadel to claim the world as his own. Heroes of the Alliance and Horde gather in Northrend to make a stand against the malevolent being that dares to declare himself Azeroth's one true king... and seeks to scour all life from the world.
  
  World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is now live and available at a store near you -- you can check out the press release here. Featuring a massive new continent, the brand-new death knight Hero class, unique dungeons, an open-world PvP zone with siege vehicles and destructible buildings, and hundreds of brand-new quests, Wrath of the Lich King provides a huge variety of content for solo and group players. The expansion is available in both a standard and Collector's Edition; find out more about the latter in our Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition Preview. To learn more about what awaits you in Northrend, visit our Wrath of the Lich King Features Page and check out the primer to get you started.
  
  During installation of the expansion, you'll be able to upgrade the World of Warcraft account you play to allow access to Wrath of the Lich King. You can click here to upgrade as well.

• The official World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Soundtrack is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com). Available on the same day as the game's release, the iTunes edition of the soundtrack contains a total of 21 tracks, including three exclusives -- "Path of the Lifewarden," "Shadow Web Caverns," and "Obsidian Sanctum" -- different from the three exclusive tracks found on the Collector's Edition soundtrack CD. Individual tracks are available on iTunes for 99 cents each, or you can buy the entire album at once for $9.99. Click here to check out the soundtrack on iTunes, or head to the Blizzard iTunes page for more information -- and while you're there, check out the other Blizzard musical offerings, including soundtracks to Diablo II, StarCraft, and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

• With World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King only hours away, we've outlined some helpful information so you can jump right in and begin your new adventures. Please visit our updated help center to see what we've prepared for you!

• The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with new artwork.
  
  

  
  

• Have you created your own high-quality profession guides? We plan on linking to the best player-created guides on a new special links page. If you've written an excellent guide about one of the game's many professions, there's a good chance we'll link to it on worldofwarcraft.com! Here are the requirements:

  • Guide must be focused entirely on at least one of the twelve professions of World of Warcraft
  • Blizzard does not host guides; they must be hosted on your own web server
  • Site must be capable of getting traffic from our web site (estimated 1,000-20,000 hits a day)
  • Guides must contain quality information
  • Must not contain offensive content or link to offensive content
  • We will link to guides posted in the World of Warcraft forums only if they have been stickied by the Community Team
  • Advertising links on your site must not link to sites that violate the World of Warcraft Terms of Use Agreement
  • Broken links will be removed if site is down for a long period of time
  • Blizzard reserves the rights to add/remove links at any time

  To submit your guide, mail the link to wowguide@Blizzard.com. Don't forget to include the profession in question in the subject line!

• Think you know your lore? Test your knowledge in our World of Warcraft Comic Quiz Contest, and you might win a hardcover copy of the World of Warcraft comic book signed by artist Jim Lee!
  
  For years, World of Warcraft players have been waiting to learn the origin and fate of the missing king of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn. The story of his incredible journey has been chronicled in Wildstorm's fast-paced World of Warcraft monthly comic series, written by comic legend Walt Simonson and featuring art by Ludo Lullabi, Jon Buran, and Mike Bowden.
  
  Locate a comic store today or subscribe to the series directly to make sure you're in the know on the world-shaking events that affect Wrath of the Lich King and beyond. Also be sure to check out World of Warcraft Volume 1, a hardcover collection of issues 0 through 7. It's on shelves and available online now at all major comic retailers.
  
  Once you've read up, you're ready to take the quiz. Complete contest rules, including requirements and eligibility, can be found here. Good luck!

• We've created a new Zombie Invasion screenshot gallery with 65 of the best player submissions. As always, if you'd like to contribute to our galleries, please submit your screenshots. You can view all of our screenshot galleries here.

• We've been collecting BlizzCon 2008 coverage from around the Web, from the Diablo III wizard announcement to StarCraft II hands-on impressions to World of Warcraft panel discussions. This isn't a comprehensive list, and we're always on the lookout for more -- so If you come across anything we may have missed, please send it our way.
  
  BlizzCon 2008 General

  • Gameplanet
  • Allakhazam
  • Planet Diablo
  • Roddenberry

• We've added all of the great Halloween costumes pictures you've sent our way to our gallery. From Arthas to a seeming army of undead, you can see them all here.