Midnight launch events across the ushered in the new expansion pack last night, London's Oxford Street HMV store experiencing the biggest launch event the retailer has ever seen.

The Burning Crusade add-on, also for Blizzard's MMO, was the previous biggest event held at the store in early 2007, when 1500 people turned up - cosplay and all - for that major gaming debutant.

HMV reckon last night's showcase was some 25 to 30% bigger than The Burning Crusade shindig however, with as many as 2500 people joining lines to buy copies of The Wrath of the Lich King.

Several prominent executives were in attendance, and man Paul Sams was on hand to sign copies of the new game.

All in all, the launch event is believed to have been Europe's biggest, although sizable events marked the new game's launch across the globe.

By Luke Guttridge