Seeing is believing. We bring you a visual update of the midnight festivities that took place at Oxford Street for World Warcraft's Burning Crusade launch. With an estimated 3,000 people making it to HMV, these pictures should give us a glimpse of just what sort of characters waited it out until the wee hours of morning to get their copy of TBC.

Also make sure to look out for cosplayers - the Draenei and Blood Elf races are the hands-down favorite, with the occasional wizard and undead in the background. Did we mention they have booth babes? Enjoy the pictures.

More launch images await after the jump!

The Burning Crusade's midnight launch at Oxford Street was a success, considering that Blizzard was a bit concerned over it's first launch outing in the UK. An estimated 3,000 people lined up outside HMV's Oxford Street to get their copies of the coveted expansion.

Some have reportedly been on the queue since 5:40 a.m. A few gamers dressed up for the occasion and were given special passes for the Collector's Edition and a free Murlock pet for their trouble.

Itzik Ben Bassat, Blizzard's VP for business development expressed his surprise at the UK launch's success. He gave gamers something else to look forward to as he hinted:

"We'd like to say to our fans of Diablo and Starcraft that we haven't forgotten we have these franchises. We cannot wait to be here in a few years, or however long it will be. It won't be a decade, and we'll be celebrating the launch of [the next] Starcraft together."

Hold on to your hats, the next thing we maybe exploring is just around that Warp Gate. As for now we'll have to content ourselves with entering that Dark Portal.

We told you The Burning Crusade is going to have launch party. As busy as the players and the developers are, they just can't do without them. Anyway, we've just spilled the beans about the different U.S. locations of the said gathering and our readers from other countries are wondering if they get to have a party too.

Don't worry druid friends, we've got you covered! And no, we're not only referring to the 150 Oxford Street in London. Aside from that one, there are other launch parties as well in France, Germany and Sweden. If you are not sure if there's a one near your location, here are the complete addresses:

• France: FNAC (74 Ave des Champs Elysées; Doors open: 0:00 – 04:00, January 16)
• Germany: Media Markt (10627 Berlin-Charlottenburg Krumme Straße 48; On sale: 0:00, January 16)
• Swden: EB Games Gallerian (Hamngatan 37 Stockholm; Doors open: 0:00, January 16)
• UK: HMV (150 Oxford Street London W1D 1DJ Paris 8e; Doors open: 11:00PM, January 15)

Blizzard also mentioned that the World of Warcraft expansion will be available by midnight in most areas. The ones included in  the above mentioned list are just the official venues, meaning members of the development team will be present to meet gamers and sign copies of the game. Finally, Blizzard is suggesting for everyone to ask their local dealers if they will be open by midnight.

Okay, so Burning Crusade will finally hit stores in just a little over a week from now. That means launch party galore (and quite a few Azeroth-shaking changes), and World of Warcraft players in London will get to celebrate the launch at HMV 150 Oxford Street, where Burning Crusade's Official European Launch will take place on January 15.

Every launch party always has a few goodies to give away, and a limited quantity of Collector's Editions will be available to those fans who attend the event in WoW costumes. A limited quantity of in-game Murloc pets will also be available on the night, as well as spot prizes.

Burning Crusade's Official European Launch will commence at 10:30 P.M. The first copies of the expansion will be on sale at midnight. There will be various activity leading up to the midnight launch including a presentation from WoW developers Blizzard.