One of the first things that Blizzard does when they launch a new expansion or product is do a “Friends and Family Alpha,” which is only open to developers, their family, and people who are “friends of the company,” meaning they know they’ll get really high-quality feedback on issues and bugs they find, and that they have a small number of individually identifiable people involved in the testing that are all under NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so they won’t speak to the press or the public about the game or share information from the game.

Now, Blizzard confirmed in a blue post that the Friends and Family Alpha for Cataclysm has officially begun. Sayeth the Zarhym:

Yes, we can confirm that the Family & Friends phase of the testing process for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has begun. The closed beta test phase has not yet started, but we will provide updated information when it does.

And there you have it – every day the Friends and Family testing goes, we march closer to a beta. I’m still betting on November 2010 – when do you think Cataclysm will be released?