Warhammer Online release date announced

Posted at: 3:26pm 6th August 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Another fantasy MMORPG that’s hoping to recreate the runaway success of World of Warcraft

With its 25-year-old back story of various battles between orcs, elves and dwarves that’s been relived on the dining tables of teenage boys since 1983, it’s amazing that Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy Battle world has been such a latecomer to the MMORPG party. However, EA has now announced that the eagerly anticipated Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is now on schedule for release on 18 September this year.

Rather than the usual player vs player systems, Warhammer Online adds a twist to the genre in the form of Realm vs Realm gameplay. This means that you’re never playing alone, as you’ll have an army of allied players to help you out. Your task will be to defend your Realm’s homeland, and eventually ‘join the siege of your opposing Realm's capital city.’

There’s now an air of excitement at the Mythic Entertainment studio where the game was developed, in conjunction with Orange’s game division, GOA. ‘Mark your calendars,’ exclaimed Mythic’s founder and general manager, Mark Jacobs, ‘September 18th is the Day of Reckoning.’ He added that ‘For the last three years, the entire team at Mythic has poured their hearts into making Warhammer Online the next great MMORPG. We are so excited to open up this world and share it with the fans that will live in it, quest in it, go to war in it and make it come alive.’

The standard retail version of the game will cost £39.69, which will include a 30-day subscription. On top of that, a further month will cost £10.31, three months will set you back £28.55 and six months will cost £52.34. As well as this, 60-day pre-paid Game Card packs for the game will be available from game retailers for £23.81.

Meanwhile, you can also get a head start if you can’t wait until 18 September, as from 28 August you’ll be able to pre-order the game. This pre-order edition of the game comes with a Warhammer Online Live Game Head Start key, which will get you access to the Warhammer Online world before the official release date, although we don’t know when you’ll be allowed on yet.

For more details, check out the Warhammer Online website, as well as the screenshots and trailer below.