Kotaku recently reported that 7-Eleven will be carrying the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion at release.  This, in and of itself, is pretty interesting news as most 7-Eleven stores don’t carry games and those that do carry a limited selection.  According 7-Eleven, the majority of their core demographic are gamers…which makes perfect sense.  So they will be choosing the 7 highest profile games of this winter and releasing them in stores available at midnight on the release date.

They also reported that 7-Eleven has a tentative release date of November 4th for Wrath of the Lich King.  This number has been tossed around a few times in the rumor mill and is also the popular choice for a release date at sites like Gamestop and Amazon.  The problem with this release date, however, stems from the fact that November 4th is also election day in the U.S. where we will be choosing the next president of the United States of America.

Now, World of Warcraft is easily one of the most popular games in history and currently has over 11 million subscribers.  A fair number of those reside in the United States and are probably between the ages of 18 and 24.  I’d guess somewhere between two and three million in the States.  I’m throwing random figures out there without anything to back it up, but that’s not the point.  The point is that for those in that age bracket, this is arguably the most important election that they’ve seen in their life time.  And while I’m certain that there are several responsible adults out there that will be voting on election day, I can’t help but imagine the possible impact the release of the expansion for WoW could have.

There’s no data to back up any sort of claim I’m making here, however I’m sure there are thousands of people out there who might vote, but will be swayed to stay home by the promise of level 80 sooner than others.

This is a problem in my eyes.  I attempted to start a discussion on the official World of Warcraft forums pleading that they reconsider such a date, here was my post:

So, I normally don’t start these types of posts because I think they are silly. Matter of fact, if someone else wrote this and I were reading it, I’d laugh it off…however, I think I have to say something.

Current rumor and speculation is that WotLK will be released on November 4th. Of course, that’s all tentative and might not even be true…however, it’s worth nothing that November 4th is also election day in the United States.

If this were any other game, and if this were any other election year, I would probably laugh it off as unfortunate coincidence. However, the fact that this is one of the most widely played and popular video games of all time and the fact that this is arguably the most important presidential election of my life time up until now makes me believe that releasing on November 4th would be a terrible idea.

I realize that there are thousands of responsible adults that will still go out to vote even if the expansion is out that day, but there will be so many that don’t, content to sit at home and level their way to 80.

Those who agree with me should band together and collectively ask Blizzard to reconsider the release date, even if it’s by a single day, for the sake of voter turn out. Hell, turn it into a publicity event, announce that you are intentionally delaying the game for the sake of the election. That could turn into some very positive press.

Please give serious consideration to releasing your game on any day but November 4th and I will be extremely grateful.

The post was quickly deleted, probably because it was speculating a release date which is most likely against their policy in some way.  I wasn’t really torn up over the fact it was deleted, but my message is still important.

So, while it’s highly doubtful that anyone reading my blog currently works at Blizzard…if you do or if you know someone who does, please consider postponing the release.  As noted in my post on the forums, this could even turn into positive publicity.

As a friend of mine suggested, there could even be some rewards available to those who vote and provide proof that they did.  Perhaps the game will be made available on November 4th for those who voted and for those who didn’t it’ll be available on November 5th.  That idea is just an example, it’d be loaded with problems, but I’m sure they could come up with something.

What are your guys’ thoughts on the matter?  On a day as important as election day, should companies release products that have the potential to keep thousands, if not millions, of customers in their homes that day?