Our best guess at the upcoming expansion timelines for each WoW Classic mode

There are many modes of World of Warcraft Classic and each them are in different expansions/points in time from overall World of Warcraft timeline. Keeping track of what expansions are (or aren’t) coming to the different Classic realms, and most importantly when they will be launching, can be difficult to keep track of so we speculated a tentative schedule for each Classic mode, at least until BlizzCon 2026 which is the most likely time we’ll learn about the future.

Based on what we’ve gotten so far from the Classic development cycle, it normally takes about 1.5 years to move through each Classic expansion, from pre-patch to final phase. If we assume no major obstacles, here is how the release timeline is shaping up for WoW Classic progression, Anniversary, and seasonal realms.

WoW Classic progression realms

• Summer 2026: Mists of Pandaria Classic Phase 5
• October-November 2026: Warlords of Draenor Classic pre-patch and launch
• November-December 2027: Legion Classic pre-patch
• December 2027-January 2028: Legion Classic launch

WoW Classic progression servers have committed to moving through each expansion and are currently on Mists of Pandaria Classic, which itself is moving towards its final phase sometime this summer. The ending of MOP Classic in the summer sets up the move into Warlords of Draenor Classic later this year, though it has yet to be confirmed. If Warlords Classic is happening, it would be around BlizzCon time so we could see a pre-patch and release coincide with that event.

Before seeing how popular Legion Remix was, it would have felt absurd to try and pinpoint Legion Classic because Legion represents a clear delineation between Classic and modern WoW (the original flashpoint being Cataclysm Classic), and moving into Legion would even further lose the plot of WoW Classic.

WoW Classic Anniversary realms

• February 2026: Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary launch
• May-June 2027: Wrath of the Lich King Classic Anniversary pre-patch and launch
• 2028: Cataclysm Classic Anniversary pre-patch and launch

Burning Crusade Classic will take up the entirety of 2026 and likely the front end of 2027 for Anniversary realms, placing a Wrath of the Lich King Anniversary release sometime in the summer of 2027. It is my personal hope that Blizzard utilizes Anniversary realms as a way to preserve the original expansion trilogy and ends with Wrath of the Lich King instead of moving into Cataclysm since would likely be a consistent pool of players for those realms. Ultimately, if Cataclysm Classic is indeed in the cards, it wouldn’t appear on Anniversary realms until the second half of 2028.

Classic Era and seasonal Classic realms

WoW Classic Era realms aren’t receiving any expansions since it’s the baseline of WoW Classic, and will continue to exist as is to provide players the level 1-60 experience in Classic Azeroth. As for the seasonal Classic servers, the current Season of Discovery realms aren’t receiving any more planned expansions but there have been recent calls for a fresh SOD realm after Classic dev Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield celebrated the 1 year anniversary release of the SOD Phase 8′s Scarlet Enclave raid.

We do know the WoW Classic dev team is working on something new for Classic but whether that be Classic+ or a new type of seasonal content likely won’t be announced or revealed until BlizzCon. This gap is feeding the calls for a fresh SOD realm but given that it is such a niche (albeit very fun mode), it’s hard to imagine Blizzard spinning up a new realm just to tide people over for the next 6-8 months with all of the other activity in the other Classic modes.