Blizzard to hold beta signups for World of Warcraft

Blizzard Entertainment noted plans to hold signups this week for the beta test of its forthcoming game World of Warcraft. The game is coming to both Mac OS X and Windows platforms.

World of Warcraft is Blizzard’s attempt at a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). World of Warcraft is set in Azeroth, the same world that has appeared in the company’s long-running Warcraft strategy game series. Players will be able to create characters based on the unique races and classes of the Warcraft universe as they explore the land, interact with thousands of other players, explore dungeons and other realms, participate in quests, recover items and go on adventures.

Blizzard said that the signup period will start at 6:00PM PT (9:00PM ET) on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 — a link will be posted in the news section of Blizzard’s Web site at that time. The signup period ends on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 at 6:00PM PT.

Blizzard explained that testers will not be chose on a first-come, first-served basis, so there’s no need to Zerg-rush the beta signup the moment it opens — anyone who submits an application will receive equal consideration anytime during the signup period. And multiple submissions from the same household will result in disqualification, so please don’t try to stuff the ballot boxes.

Blizzard noted that for the initial phase of the test, they will only accept applications from Canada, Korea and the US. Europe and elsewhere will get their chance “later this year.”

The company did not outline whether the beta will be for Windows only or for both Mac and Windows — its most recent beta tests have been multi-platform. The company did say that a FAQ will be posted with more details “in the days ahead.” At last year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Calif., Blizzard showed an early development build of World of Warcraft running alongside the same version on a Windows machine.