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WoW Classic Launches August 27, 2019. Beta Starts May 15th
Blizzard announced this morning that WoW Classic will launch on August 27th, 2019. The beta starts May 15th!

Be sure you have opted in for beta!


Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Mark your calendars: WoW Classic goes live worldwide August 27! Whether your battle cry is “For the Horde!” or “For the Alliance!”, there’s no shortage of adventure awaiting you in the vast continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.

See below for details on the exact time you can log in and experience the origins of World of Warcraft.




Classic WoW Testing Schedule
Beginning May 15, select WoW players will be invited to participate in a small-scale, focused closed beta test. Players will also get a chance to help put our servers and technology through their paces in a series of stress tests running from May through July—you can opt in now through Account Management and select the WoW Classic beta. Subsequent stress tests will extend the opportunity to even more players. Level caps will also be in place to ensure we’re emphasizing the “stress” in “stress test”

—we want to push our tech to the limit, and that means a critical mass of players in close proximity.

Stress Test Schedule*
Stress Test 1: Wed May 22–Thurs May 23
Stress Test 2: Wed Jun 19– Thurs Jun 20
Stress Test 3: Thurs Jul 18– Fri July 19
*Dates of each stress test are subject to change.

To fill our pool of beta and stress test participants, we’ll be choosing dedicated players who meet select criteria from both the WoW Classic beta opt-in and the standard Warcraft beta opt-in. Participants will also need to have an active subscription or active game time on their Battle.net Account. While opting-in to the beta is the primary way to make sure you’re in the running to join the test it doesn’t guarantee an invitation to the closed beta test. We may also consider additional factors such as how long a player has been subscribed to the game so that we have the right mix of players to ensure great feedback toward making WoW Classic the very best experience for the community.

Create Your Character
If you’re eager to claim your character name in WoW Classic, take note: we’ll be opening character creation on Tuesday, August 13.** Players with an active subscription or game time on their account will be able to create up to three characters per World of Warcraft account. We’ll have more information on realm names closer to launch, but rest assured—you’ll have plenty of time to figure out your plans for realm domination!

*To align with other regions, the Americas will launch slightly ahead of August 27 in local time.
** To align with other regions, the Americas character creation will occur slightly ahead of August 13.
This article was originally published in forum thread: WoW Classic Launches August 27th, Beta May 15th started by Stoy View original post
Comments 211 Comments
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jetzu View Post
    They always said as long as your subbed to retail classic was included
    Exactly, no matter how folks will try to slice it Blizzard wins out in the long run.. More so since they will only have to go till the release of Naxx 40 and won't have to add anything new to classic..
  1. Eleccybubb's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Beardedfreak View Post
    Yes, Blizz actually stated that if you have a active wow subscription or game time you get Classic wow too, like a year ago..
    For the live game. They said Classic would be included in a retail subscription.

    Not Beta access. Point to a source other than today's that said you needed the sub for Beta. You will not find one.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Majestic12 View Post
    I used to be that hyped but after the non-progressive itemization it kind of killed it for me. Blizzard have introduced item inbalances that did not exist at those raiding periods.

    I don't mind the 1.12 client as it's too much of a hassle to do otherwise. However, implementing progressive itemization is comparatively easy, even so that private servers implement and handle them very well.

    If all else fails, we'll at least have Star Citizen, right Bubby?
    "Tidus laughing intensifies"
  1. MatadorMedia's Avatar
    Really? The release date is the back-to-school week? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Majestic12 View Post
    I used to be that hyped but after the non-progressive itemization it kind of killed it for me. Blizzard have introduced item inbalances that did not exist at those raiding periods.

    I don't mind the 1.12 client as it's too much of a hassle to do otherwise. However, implementing progressive itemization is comparatively easy, even so that private servers implement and handle them very well.

    If all else fails, we'll at least have Star Citizen, right Bubby?
    Maybe sometime in the year 2125 that you might finally get to be able to play a finished Star Citizen..
  1. Sonics's Avatar
    Bloody delighted at this release date.

    The kids are back to school, young people are back to school and herself will be off on holiday.

    Totally booking some time off work for this.
  1. coprax's Avatar
    "Beginning May 15, select WoW players will be invited to participate in a small-scale, focused closed beta test."
    I bet very coincidentally most of them will be twitch streamers.
  1. glowpipe's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Appelgren View Post
    This! Cant wait for classic so all the vanilla crybabies will disappear. But hey... who are we kidding?

    They will be back here after a month crying that classic isn't the real vanilla. Nostalgia is a bitch :'D
    they are to dumb to realize this. You can remaster a game, but not a feeling

    another thing people fail to realize is that this is a throwback to vanilla. Its not a wow restart. You get classic and nothing more. You won't get new content, new updates etc, Game has a rather limited lifespan
  1. Rogalicus's Avatar
    The only positive I see is that I should be able to take a vacation on those dates. But IMO it's way too late.
    Also asking for subscription to opt for beta and reserve names is such a shitty move.
  1. Drejjmit's Avatar
    "Participants will also need to have an active subscription or active game time on their Battle.net Account."
    Quote Originally Posted by Eleccybubb View Post
    They never actually said that about the Beta at all until today. Just the live release of the client.
    Subscription based beta test. Nice
  1. coprax's Avatar
    Guys you dont need vacation for launch, it's not like you level to 60 in a week and start raiding. Relax. -.-

    Enjoy something for once and stop trying to power-rush through everything.
  1. Eleccybubb's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Drejjmit View Post
    "Participants will also need to have an active subscription or active game time on their Battle.net Account."

    Subscription based beta test. Nice
    It's a bit shitty.

    They could have at least said the Beta as well needed an active sub when announcing it.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by coprax View Post
    Guys you dont need vacation for launch, it's not like you level to 60 in a week and start raiding. Relax. -.-
    I think it just shows how passionate the majority are for Classic.

    Something you rarely see with current WoW these days.
  1. Doffen's Avatar
    Going to laugh if I get invited for the beta tomorrow.

    Woot classic hype! Back to the future!
  1. Ielenia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Eleccybubb View Post
    And of course we have people wanting Classic to fail in the thread....

    Shocker.
    You have no leg to stand on here, buddy. After all, we have you and others throwing shade at Blizzard in a thread dedicated to how Blizzard is doing its best to create a better work environment for their employees.

    I'll never understand why the modern gaming era has this mentality.
    Simple. Take a good look in the mirror. People like you, hating on Blizzard at every single opportunity you get is the reason people have this attitude toward Classic and their more vocal supporters.

    Nowadays something has to fail for the sake of it according to some vitriolic people.
    Shocker coming from someone who all they do is spew vitriol at Blizzard, even when they do something right.
  1. Rogalicus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BoltBlaster View Post
    Beta is not meant to get free game play, its for testing stuff. Names reservation is not meant for players who aren't planning to play. It makes sense to require subscription. Subscription will be shared between Classic and BfA anyway.
    Sure, Ion, you are right.
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by glowpipe View Post
    they are to dumb to realize this. You can remaster a game, but not a feeling

    another thing people fail to realize is that this is a throwback to vanilla. Its not a wow restart. You get classic and nothing more. You won't get new content, new updates etc, Game has a rather limited lifespan
    Very true, and it will be interesting to see how long it takes them to realize it.. I do have to laugh at those finding out that they need a sub to test beta, which if I remember right has always been a case since at least Burning Crusade, and probably vanilla beta before that..
  1. Eleccybubb's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rogalicus View Post
    The only positive I see is that I should be able to take a vacation on those dates. But IMO it's way too late.
    Also asking for subscription to opt for beta and reserve names is such a shitty move.
    It is pretty shitty.

    Most games either do free weekends, a one time buy in to Beta or just random invites regardless.
  1. Nnyco's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rogalicus View Post
    Sure, Ion, you are right.
    "I'm not playing pserver because its free, I play it for the vanilla experience!"

    its not free

    *suprise pikachu*
  1. Oneer's Avatar
    But @coprax don't you remember? Vanilla was famous for it's twitch streamer community back in the day
  1. Lurker1's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Eleccybubb View Post
    HYPE!

    Can't wait to be playing a real MMORPG again soon.
    LOL enjoy those empty servers in a few monthts.
  1. coprax's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Oneer View Post
    But @coprax don't you remember? Vanilla was famous for it's twitch streamer community back in the day


    True.
    I bet people like Esfand and TipsOut will be among the very first to get access; even though they are private server players.
    I like both of them, it sets a false precedent, while on the other hand Blizzard bans and disinvites people like Preach for using some insignificant 'cheat' in their live game.

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