At long last, Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled the release date for World of Warcraft Classic. Everyone get ready to flashback to 2004 this Summer on August 27 because that’s when the long awaited vanilla version makes its grand return. On top of that, Blizzard has also announced Closed Beta, for fans to participate in. Starting May 15, yes tomorrow, the company will be sending out invites to select players, and later in the month and June, they will be issuing more for Stress Testing prior to the games release.
For those unaware, World of Warcraft Classic is a complete retelling of how the original WoW was before 2010’s Cataclysm expansion, which irrecoverably changed the landscape forever. Many fans were unhappy with these new environments and while most of them stayed on for numerous expansions, a lot also left the game and their friends for greener pastures. Blizzard is hoping to being them all back with this interpretation of the game.
Having played it myself at BlizzCon 2018, it’s safe to say that this is most definitely World of Warcraft right when it originally launched in 2004. The world of Azeroth is basically unchanged, the Horde and the Alliance were still at their respective territories, and the early game grind took what seemed like an eternity. But this is how the die hard fans want it to be, and they wouldnt change that for the world. The company recognized this and made the announcement at the same event.
The game is also part of the WoW 15th Anniversary, as well as the Warcraft 25th Anniversary, so expect more from this franchise throughout the year. World of Warcraft Classic will officially launch on August 27 for PC. If you’re an active subscriber to the current WoW, then you’ll receive the game for free. If your interested in the Closed Beta, you can sign up for it here.
