World of Warcraft Midnight early access launches on February 26

Mark your calendars, World of Warcraft players — whether you’ve just joined the fun or you’ve been along for the ride since the beginning, the next chapter of Azeroth’s story, Midnight, will have its Early Access go live at 3pm pacific (6pm eastern) on February 26.

This date was revealed at last week’s State of Azeroth livestream, and is a full four days before the official Midnight launch date of March 2. To be able to jump the gun on the new expansion you’ll need to purchase the Epic Edition of Midnight for $89.99. That also comes with a boatload of other extras such as mounts, character level boosts, Player Housing decor, and 30 days of game time.

We have not heard many details about what will be included and what game features will be unavailable until the full launch, but it’s a safe bet that it will mirror The War Within, which was the first expansion to offer early access. That time, nearly all of the max-level features were disabled or tuned down in order to avoid players getting a multi-day head start on gearing up.

We can expect much of the same: you’ll likely be able to experience Midnight’s story a few days early while leveling to the new cap of 90, but it is extremely doubtful that Heroic Dungeons, higher-level Delves, top-tier gear, or the Haranir allied race will be obtainable until the release date of March 2 or start of Season 1 on March 17.

Reactions to the first iteration of Early Access in 2024 were mixed. Some players viewed the move as a transparent way to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the playerbase and bemoaned the gold that could be made with a head start on professions would be significant. Others saw a spreading out of the playerbase in time as a smart plan to ease strain on launch day servers or enjoyed being able to utilize the weekend to explore new content.

Whether you’re here for the story, the new zones, new Delving challenges, or just all of the cute things, you’ll be able to start experiencing Midnight on February 26.