Photos: World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King UK launch

The event was hosted by Paul Sams, Blizzard's chief operating officer, who whipped the crowd into something of a frenzy shortly before midnight with traditional shout-outs to Horde and Alliance players in the baying mob.

Sams (left) wasn't the only high-profile Blizzard presence there -- Lee Sparks, an associate producer on World of Warcraft, was also in-store signing copies of the game alongside Sams once the tills opened.