World of Warcraft Classic Fresh Reveals The Burning Crusade Release Schedule

by

Blizzard has announced that The Burning Crusade expansion will be released for World of Warcraft Classic on February 5th. This means players will once again be able to journey through Outland and level up to 70. The first raids will become available two weeks after the expansion launches.

To mark the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft, Classic launched new servers where players could experience the original game – often called Vanilla – from the very beginning. These servers, known as the World of Warcraft Classic Anniversary Edition or WoW Classic Fresh, included a few popular features to make gameplay smoother, like dual specialization, the Looking For Group tool, and the Chronoboon Displacer. However, they remained largely faithful to the original World of Warcraft experience.

WoW: The Burning Crusade Anniversary Edition Schedule

  • January 13 – The Burning Crusade Pre-Expansion update
    • New Races: Blood Elf (Horde) and Draenei (Alliance)
    • New Profession: Jewelcrafting
    • Class, mount, leveling, and PvP changes
    • Guild Bank
    • Level 58 Character Boosts available
  • February 5 – The Burning Crusade launch
    • New zones on Outland
    • New level cap: 70
    • Flying mounts
  • February 17 – PvP Arena Season 1 begins
  • February 19 – The Burning Crusade raids open
    • Karazhan
    • Gruul’s Lair
    • Magtheridon’s Lair

Classic Fresh is about to release its first expansion, The Burning Crusade! On February 5th at 3 PM Pacific Time, players will be able to access the new world of Outland through the Dark Portal. The Burning Crusade features seven new zones and numerous dungeons where players will battle against villains like Illidan Stormrage, Lady Vashj, and Kael’thas Sunstrider. Throughout their adventures, players can reach the new maximum level of 70 and unlock the ability to fly using mounts throughout Outland.

Image via Blizzard

The first PvP Arena season for The Burning Crusade starts with the weekly reset on February 17th. Players can compete in three arenas—the Ring of Trials (Nagrand), the Circle of Blood (Blade’s Edge Mountains), and the Ruins of Lordaeron (Tirisfal Glades)—to earn rewards like gear, mounts, and titles. Shortly after, on February 19th, the first three raids from WoW: The Burning Crusade—Karazhan, Gruul’s Lair, and Magtheridon’s Lair—will become available.

Good news for fans! You won’t have to wait too long to experience some of the content from The Burning Crusade. On January 13th, the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Anniversary Edition Pre-Expansion update arrives. This update adds the Blood Elf and Draenei races, the Jewelcrafting profession, and Guild Banks to World of Warcraft. It also includes changes to classes, leveling, PvP, and mount costs to get players ready for the full expansion. Plus, players can purchase a Character Boost to level 58, which works on the new Blood Elf and Draenei characters.

Players who are new to World of Warcraft Classic or playing on Anniversary Edition servers need to take action soon. Blizzard is offering free character transfers from Anniversary Edition servers to the Classic Era servers. If you don’t want your Anniversary Edition character to automatically move into The Burning Crusade expansion, you need to transfer them before January 12th at 3 PM Pacific Time, when the servers will be taken offline for a day of maintenance. Also, characters on Classic Fresh Hardcore realms won’t be moving into The Burning Crusade, so if you want to continue playing, you’ll need to transfer them off those servers before the update.

What’s Next for World of Warcraft Classic?

Blizzard hasn’t revealed its plans for WoW Classic beyond this year, leaving players uncertain about the future. It’s unknown if the Anniversary Edition servers will continue past The Burning Crusade to Wrath of the Lich King. Additionally, the regular Classic servers are nearing the end of Mists of Pandaria, and there’s no word yet on whether Warlords of Draenor Classic will be released.

There’s been a lot of talk about ‘Classic+’, a possible new version of the original World of Warcraft. This version might add completely new areas, playable races, and dungeons. If it’s announced, it’s likely to be at BlizzCon 2026 in September.

Read More

2026-01-08 09:04