Cataclysm release date leaked by Amazon

Although not quite official, Amazon is claiming that it will ship the World of Warcraft expansion for an estimated delivery of January 5, 2011. 

While Halo: Reach might have the hype, and Call of Duty: Black Ops might get the sales numbers, few games – or in this case expansions – are as eagerly awaited as the newest World of Warcraft expansion pack, “Cataclysm.” And if the Amazon e-mail that recently went out to customers that have preordered the game is accurate, January will be a big month for WoW fans.

Blizzard has yet to announce an official release date, but speculation amongst fans of the game on the official forum has been intense. Few games will ever see as vocal, or as well-informed fans, so when Amazon began to send out e-mails confirming that the expansion would be shipping in early January, with an estimated delivery between January 4 and January 18, the news spread quickly.

The actual Amazon page for the game does not list a release date, and other sites seem to contradict this date. Kotaku is reporting that while Best Buy and GameStop have not issued a release date, Target has the date as New Year’s Eve. On the other hand, Buy.com has the release date as November 11, 2010.

Amazon tends to be fairly accurate with their shipping estimates, but the official release date won’t be announced until Blizzcon in October.