It's been a long time coming, but World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will finally launch in mainland China on August 31. The release date comes nearly two years after the second expansion pack invaded the free world. China is a tad behind the times in Azeroth, as the next expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, is planned for release later this year elsewhere.

China's latest World of Warcraft operator NetEase has faced a series of unfortunate events trying to keep the game running (and cash flowing) from the region. Obviously Activision-Blizzard is seeing enough money from China to make all the political hassles worth it.