Blizzard Entertainment announced the continuation of World of Warcraft Classic into the game’s third expansion, Cataclysm, during the BlizzCon 2023 opening ceremony on Friday, Nov. 3, and many are curious about when exactly it will start.
Thankfully, we’ve got an answer as to when Deathwing will make his long-awaited return to Azeroth. This summer, WoW Classic will transition into the Cataclysm era, forever marking a re-entry into another chapter of World of Warcraft history. Here’s exactly when you can expect Cataclysm to start rolling out.
When will World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic release?
WoW Cataclysm Classic will go live on May 20, according to an announcement made by Blizzard earlier today.
Players will be able to dive into some of the new features coming with the Cataclysm expansion, including the revamped world, transmog system, and new races, a little bit earlier though. The pre-patch for Cataclysm will go live on April 30, and on that date, many of the non-leveling and non-instanced features will be available to play around with. You’ll also be able to create Goblins and Worgen characters on April 30 and start getting them up to level 80 in preparation for the full expansion launch in mid-May.
This launch timeframe gives players ample time to raid Icecrown Citadel and finish off their battle with the Lich King before Cataclysm begins, bringing about a new terrifying enemy, Deathwing.
Blizzard also confirmed that Cataclysm Classic will introduce new content at a much faster pace than expansions in the past. Just about two months after the launch of the game, the first major content patch of Cataclysm (Rise of the Zandalari) will go live. By January of next year, the Dragon Soul raid will be out and the expansion will have made its full run-through.
What will be included in World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic?
The new Classic expansion will include a new pair of races in the game—Goblins for the Horde and Worgens for the Alliance—as well as the ability to transmogrify your armor to look as fashionable as possible. In addition, there will be “seven intense dungeons and four new cataclysmic raids” to attempt, seven new zones to explore (as well as three starting zones for the Goblin and Worgen races), and the level cap will be raised to level 85.
The addition of WoW Classic Cataclysm is one of what is now a handful of legacy gaming options in WoW. Following the success of WoW Hardcore servers and WoW‘s Season of Discovery, Cataclysm will look to give even more options to players who are obsessed with the longstanding MMO.
WoW fans should start gearing up now, as there are just a few weeks until the pre-patch for Cataclysm Classic launches on April 30, and the expansion launches in full on May 20.
