Blizzard has finally launched their hit MMO World of Warcraft in Russia, nearly four years after the game's North American and Australian debut in 2004.

While the game hit Europe a year later, a Russian version was never released until now.  Russian gamers who have been playing foreign copies of WoW will now be able to access Russian realms and payment options for roubles.

Five Russian servers will be opened, with two being reserved for new characters while the other three are set aside for free character transfers.  Now Russian players can bring their toons (characters) from foreign realms into new ones that will actually have Russian language support. 

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Russian accounts will be following seperate restrictions.  One such restriction is that Russian account holders will have access only to Russian servers and can only pay their subscription in roubles.  Inversely, players with European accounts can choose from both the European and Russian realms but must pay in European currencies.

With Wrath of the Lich King just around the corner, I can't help but wonder if Blizzard will be providing Russian versions immediately upon release.  More than likely, Russia's WoW-heads will need to settle (once again) for foreign copies of the upcoming expansion -- unless they happen to enjoy the waiting game.