First President Bush expands his war efforts in Iraq, then Blizzard releases its World of Warcraft expansion pack The Burning Crusades.

Of course, the big diff is that G-Dub’s crusade has been a failure from the get-go while WoW has more than accomplished its mission, becoming the most successful massively-multiplayer online role-playing game in history. But in order to keep its inhabitants happy—on Jan. 11 the virtual population hit an unbelievable eight million—Blizzard had to embiggen its persistent world.

Last week’s midnight launch got WoWers even more excited than when their fave game was brilliantly wedgied by South Park last fall. The Burning Crusades adds a third continent, Outland, plus a new profession, two playable races, plenty of monster-filled dungeons and, most importantly to hardcore players, an increased cap of level 70. Of course, you won’t be the first max out your character since some French dude named Gullerbone nailed that dubious achievement in a mere 28 shower-free hours.

For those who opposed to monthly fees—or who simply prefer single-player campaigns—last year’s best overall game Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360, PC) is also about to get bigger.Though Bethesda had already released some additional content via Knights of the Nine—which compiled previously purchasable extras, including the awesome Wizard's Tower within which my own elf happily resides—Shivering Isles will be the first proper expansion pack.

Due this spring, the download will add about 30 more hours of gameplay as well as a brand-new landmass “fraught with paranoia and despair“ which clocks in at about a quarter the size of Oblivion’s already massive game world. Though standard-practice for PC games, these packs have only become possible for consoles through online services like Xbox Live Arcade, Sony’s PLAYSTATION Store and Nintendo‘s Virtual Console.

If Shivering Isles proves as popular as its forebear, which has sold 3 million copies, then expect an invasion of expansions.