World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King was today announced as the new expansion for Blizzard's popular MMO. As was hinted, the new game will focus on the Lich King Arthas and his frozen home of Northrend. New zones, items, quests, and the ability to reach level 80 will of course accompany the package, as well as the game's first Hero class: the Death Knights.

New PVP battlegrounds warfare will focus on sieges, featuring destructible buildings. In the category of more superficial additions, avatars will have access to new dance animations and hairdos, and players will now be able to change the appearance of their character's hairstyle.

The expansion will also feature 5-player dungeons, 10-player and 25-player raids, and a new profession, Inscription, that permanently enhances player spells and abilities. That last bit elicited a few "oohs" and "ahhs" from attendees of BlizzCon's opening ceremony.

"This expansion will add some of the most infamous characters and settings from the Warcraft universe to World of Warcraft," noted Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime. "In addition to new story content, Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a number of features specifically requested by players over the past couple of years. We're looking forward to sharing further details with everyone as development progresses."