'World of Warcraft' expansion news: 'Battle for Azeroth' set for a summer release

Promotional photo for "World of Warcraft's" seventh expansion "Battle for Azeroth" "World of Warcraft" website

The seventh expansion for Blizzard's online role-playing video game "World of Warcraft" is given a summer release window. The "Battle for Azeroth" expansion can now be pre-ordered from the in-game shop, bringing in new playable Allied races as well as a level 110 character boost.

Blizzard did not provide any specific date for the seventh expansion. Gamers who purchased the expansion ahead of its release are rewarded with early access bonuses with new playable races. Upon getting the expansion, gamers can start unlocking the Highmountain Tauren, Lightforged Draenei, Nightborne, and Void Elves.

These four races come with each of their own unique race traits like Bull Rush for the Tauren, Forge of Light for the Draenei, Ancient History for the Nightborne, and Chill of Night for the Elves. The standard and digital deluxe editions of the expansions give out level 110 character boosts to players. The deluxe edition, however, packs more goodies such as those inspired from other Blizzard titles like "StarCraft II" sprays, "Hearthstone" card back, and more.

With the expansion available for pre-purchase, "World of Warcraft" servers are already having trouble keeping up with pre-purchase demands. With the "Battle for Azeroth" going on sale, the game's servers had technical issues with the character selection screen and logging-in.

"Blank character screens, and character login issues were caused by higher server load as characters were race changed and boosted. Services should be performing better as of this posting but our teams will continue to monitor them," Blizzard tweeted. Blizzard then announced also via Twitter that, "Logins are back up for all realms."

"World of Warcraft" is still one of the most played online RPG video games worldwide. The "Battle for Azeroth" expansion was announced back in November 2017 with an epic cinematic trailer. Longtime fans of the game are now waiting for further announcements for the expansion's exact release date this year.

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