World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic, the expansion that fans of Blizzard’s massively popular and influential MMORPG have been waiting for, with either dread or genuine anticipation, is coming very soon. After a delay set it off schedule slightly, we now have dates for both the launch of Cataclysm Classic itself and, just as importantly, a detailed roadmap that gives a much clearer idea of when players can expect its patches to become available, too.
World of Warcraft‘s Vanilla version was always going to have to confront the rollout of one of the original MMORPG‘s most polarizing expansions. The 2010 Cataclysm was criticized, in part, for being too drawn out and featuring raids that increased in difficulty much too quickly. In our interview with Holly Longdale, WoW’s executive producer, we learned that Blizzard was approaching its second take on Cataclysm carefully, making changes that included, as Longdale said, pacing tweaks that would see Cataclysm “play out over a year.”
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) from the official World of Warcraft account, we’ve been given a better look at how Blizzard plans to move through Cataclysm’s updates at a much brisker pace than the original version.
We now know that the pre-patch update is set for April 30 and Cataclysm Classic’s launch will follow on May 20.Rise of the Zandalari is currently set for later this summer, July 2024, with Rage of the Firelands coming during October 2024, and Hour of Twilight arriving in January 2025.
This seems like good news for players worried that Cataclysm Classic will repeat old mistakes, but we’ll have to hold on a bit longer to see how the new version of the expansion lands.
While you’re waiting for Cataclysm Classic’s launch, check out our looks at the best WoW addons of 2024 and our WoW Dragonflight tier list for more.
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