When is The Burning Crusade Classic launching on anniversary realms? We expect it to arrive in February

World of Warcraft Classic anniversary realms will take the first step to becoming The Burning Crusade Classic anniversary realms when the TBC Classic pre-patch rolls out on January 13, 2026 but the question still remains, when will the expansion itself go live? We’re expecting the actual TBC Classic expansion to launch on February 10, 2026, but Blizzard hasn’t confirmed when we can expect the actual launch. At this point the most probable announcement time will be sometime during the week of January 13 around the time the pre-patch goes live.

But for now, our best guess is early February. We’ve based this February 10 estimation on the previous Classic pre-patch to launch windows and the previous phase release roadmaps. The first time around in WoW Classic, the TBC Classic pre-patch launched on May 18, 2021 before the full expansion went live two weeks later on the June 1, 2021. Considering the original TBC pre-patch to launch window lasted about 5 weeks from December 5, 2006 to January 16, 2007, this was a pretty tight turnaround for a pre-patch that includes new two playable races, classes, and professions.

Classic expansion pre-patch lengths have varied to different degrees: the Wrath of the Lich King Classic pre-patch to launch window ran for a month between August to September in 2022. At the end of 2022, both World of Warcraft teams began publishing roadmaps laying out when players could expect new phases content throughout the year. Over time, the cycle became clear in both games: expansion pre-patches generally last between 3-5 weeks, while new expansions phases would usually last for 8-10 weeks before a new phase would launch. In Classic specifically, the pre-patch durations were shorter for both Cataclysm Classic and Mists of Pandaria Classic, with both of them lasting 21 days.

However, at various times since Wrath Classic Phase 1, Blizzard implemented the Joyous Journeys buff which helped players level their characters at a faster pace, which may have impacted how long players needed to prepare for a new expansion in the past. There hasn’t been any indication such a buff will be available before TBC Classic arrives either, and based on current player sentiment on wanting a longer TBC Classic pre-patch this time around, four weeks may be an optimal midway point between giving players enough time to prepare and the developers maintaining an established release schedule.

Ultimately, a lot of this is guesswork and estimations, and hopefully Blizzard will share more information on what (and when) we can expect The Burning Crusade Classic anniversary realms and their Classic plans for the rest of 2026.