World of Warcraft has a legacy going back to November 2004, it’s one of the oldest-running, and most beloved MMOs on the market and we’ve had some iconic World of Warcraft Expansions in that time.
Since 2004 a lot has happened, nine expansions have graced the game, and we’ve even gone back and revisited two of them (and the base game). In 2022 we saw Dragonflight drop, the latest expansion in the series. With it came a return to both critical and, crucially, fan praise. While WoW has gone many years, even decades, as the undisputed top MMO, recent years have seen the shine starting to fade from Blizzard’s beloved MMO. The most notable claimant to the crown is FFXIV , which has slowly begun to collect players who have fallen out of love with WoW.
As WoW enters its 20th Birthday, let’s take a look back at the history of the game, where it has come from, and when each expansion came out. We’ve also added Classic to the end of the list, as those are still important releases in the history of WoW. So let’s look at When each World of Warcraft Expansions came out and some key details for each.
When did World of Warcraft Come out
Released in 2004, World of Warcraft is now celebrating its 20th year in style. Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, WoW has become not only one of the most important games in the industry but one of the few that transcends into popular culture. While that’s more common now, WoW was one of the early video games to really break through into the public consciousness. One of the most notable of these was the “Make Love, Not Warcraft” episode of South Park, which remains one of the highest-rated episodes in that show’s lifetime. WoW also had a movie, Warcraft, though intended to be a series of films it never achieved the success that was planned so any development on a second movie was dropped.
Within gaming, however, WoW is a success story. Played still by tens of millions of players, with recent rumours post-China launch speculating the game might well be having its best period of subscription success ever.
World of Warcraft Expansions
The Burning Crusade January 2007
Key features: Blood Elves & Draenei were added to the game, adding the first new races. We also got our first new profession in Jewelcrafting, flying mounts alongside Paladin and Shaman classes crossing faction lines.
Release: January 2007
Burning Crusade marks many of WoW’s oldest players’ first real “moment” with WoW. I have played since Vanilla, but I was a teenager, so I have very few memories of my time. Burning Crusade, however, was when my friends all joined me and we started to make those core WoW memories.
So for many, BC is when WoW was at its most pure form, which is why when WoW Classic moved into the expansion there was so much hype. It was probably the peak of what “Classic” WoW was in the standard format.
Wrath of the Lich King
Key features: Death Knight, WoW’s first new class added . A new inscription profession was added, alongside Achievements and a Barbershop.
Release: November 2008
If BC was not where you started as an “OG” then it may well have been Wrath. Wrath was a special expansion, and while we did not know it at the time, the inclusion of Arthas as the end boss would have knock-on effects on WoW for many expansions to come.
Wrath really ended the Warcraft 3 era of WoW and firmly set WoW on its own path, and while it might have had some trips on the way, Wrath set a tone for what a WoW expansion could be.
Cataclysm
Key features: Goblin & Worgen races added. Transmog system added alongside Archeology.
Release: December 2010
Cataclysm was an interesting expansion for WoW, solely because it changed so much. And if we thought Wrath was the end of the Warcraft 3 arch, Cataclysm really made sure of it. By destroying the World we loved, Cataclysm changed the World of Azeroth forever, and it marked one of the first major drops in the player base.
Cata wasn’t all bad, but it was the first expansion that I myself dropped off and even unsubed. As a result, Cata has always been the least remarkable of the WoW expansions, and with Classic WoW now in this period, I’m curious how that ends up going.
Mists of Pandaria
Key features: The Pandaren was added as the first neutral WoW faction. Monk becomes the latest new Class. Battle Pet system added alongside huge Talent revamp
Release: September 2012
Mists of Pandaria came at a weird time for WoW. While many fans liked the announcement, the reality of the Pandaren, a meme from Warcraft becoming a part of WoW turned heads.
Overall MoP was popular, and certainly is one of the expansions people look back on most fondly, mostly due to the class balance being considered where WoW peaked.
Warlords of Draenor
Key features: First expansion not to add a new race or class. Would add Garrisons and revamp all races in the game to make them more “HD”
Release: November 2014
It’s rare that you get to look back on a moment in a game as a near miss, but for WoW, Warlords of Draenor was so nearly that moment. The game saw a huge drop in players, with the player base seemingly not interested in the vision Blizzard had for the game.
This caused Blizzard to take a drastic decision, to let WoD die without any content for over a year while they prepared a rescue plan in the form of Legion. Thankfully for Blizzard, it worked out, WoD always feels like a “what could have been” moment for WoW, maybe one day we see it get the Remix or SOD treatment.
Legion
Key features: Demon Hunter added, alongside Class Halls, Mythic +, zone mob scaling and the Artifact system
Release: August 2016
If WoD was the death of WoW, then Legion was the shot of adrenaline to the arm. It’s hard not to overstate it, but Legion saved what WoW was and put it on the path to recovery. In fact, had Legion not been so good, the game’s next two Expansions might have done more damage.
In Legion we got the iconic Mythic+ system, which added an entirely new way to play end-game content in WoW, bringing the Mythic Raid level of challenge into the repeatable 5-man dungeon environment. Mythic+ has remained a cornerstone of WoW ever since
Battle for Azeroth
Key features: Heart of Azeroth, Island Expeditions and Warfronts.
Release: August 2018
Battle for Azeroth is one of the more divisive WoW expansions, with some people loving it, whereas others seem to hate it. BFA was certainly the sign of things to come for WoW, for better or worse.
BFA feels like a what-if moment for WoW. Island Expeditions and Warfronts were Blizzard’s attempts to strike lighting again as they had with Mythic+. But this time, they felt too required, which hurt how the community would perceive them. Island Expeditions especially became the defacto way to farm Heart of Azeroth power, thus turning a fun side activity into required content.
Shadowlands
Key features: Covenants and Torghast added alongside TImewalking of old leveling campaigns and 10 allied races
Release: November 2020
Blizzard tried again with repeatable content in Shadowlands, bringing Island Expeditions back in the form of Torghast but once again the content felt required. Blizzard would clearly shift their focus later on, but having so much content just abandoned at the end of the expansion was having an impact on the dev cycle.
Shadowlands, however, had a bigger issue, and that was that it all felt so pointless. It was supposed to be WoW’s attempt at showing off the realm of death, but it instead forced in a rushed end boss and retconned well-established lore to have a moment of “he planned it all along” which just felt flat and forced.
Shadowlands was all but forgotten by Blizzard once Dragonflight came out, with Blizzard not even directing new players to the expansion, instead seemingly happy to just forget it ever happened.
Dragonflight
Key features: Dragonriding, massive talent revamp, Dracthyr race and Evoker Class added
Release: November 2022
Dragonflight felt once again like Blizzard was trying to turn a new corner when it came to WoW. A new flying system was added which changed the way players would travel around the world. It also saw the first time players could fly from the outset, with zones now tailor-made to be flown around.
The expansion would also see a new type of class added with the Evoker. Introducing a new style of spell casting, Evoker players could empower casts making spells and abilities doing different things depending on how long you hold the spell down. Evoker would also gain a new spec mid-expansion, a first for Blizzard as they added a new support/DPS hybrid spec… with mixed results.
Dragonflight was a big success for WoW, and while many players had been burned in the past by WoW “being back” it certainly turned some heads. With War Within up next many people were starting to return.
World Soul Saga begins
The World Soul Saga was a new form of expansion release by Blizzard, bundling 3 expansions together into a WoW expanded story. The War Within would be the first to drop, but details of Midnight and the Last Titan were also confirmed.
Time will tell how this works, but early signs from War Within are that Blizzard has shifted focus, and is looking to recapture what made WoW so special.
War Within
Key features: Hero Talents, Delves, Earthen Allied Race
Release: September 2024
The first of the World Soul Saga series, War Within kept players in Azeroth and promised a “more grounded” experience. Many familiar faces returned, as the Alliance and Horde worked together to take down a larger threat.
With just a few weeks of the War Within under our belts, it’s early days but the signs are good.
Midnight
Key features: Set on Quel’Thalas
Release: 2026 TBC
The second expansion in the World Soul saga will see players travel to Quel’Thalas. The story is set to see players unite the Elven nations as they face a larger threat. It’s unknown how the story will play out at this stage, though it will likely become clearer as the War Within develops.
Speculation: If we had to guess, we might see a “High Elf” skin option come to Void Elves, with Horde possibly getting something similar for the Void Elves for their Blood Elves.
The Last Titan
Key features: Back to Northrend
Release: 2028 TBC
Well, The Last Titan gives us some clue as to what to expect, and we know Northrend will be an area that features at least partially. We know next to nothing about the expansion, only that it will revolve around a conspiracy theory among the Titans in Northrend.
Speculation: We will get a new Class themed around the Titans and their power. Like Evoker it will bring something new, we suspect a Tank with a unique twist, though less of a gimmick as Monk remains the least-played tank for this reason. Story-wise The Last Titan is likely a red herring and may refer to Azeroth herself being a Titan.
David has written for games media outlets for the last ten years. With his first major esports role being with Esports News UK covering mostly UK League of Legends. David is also a member of the British Esports Association and is an advisor to them on World of Warcraft Esports. More recently David has worked for Esports Insider and Red Bull as an esports journalist.
David later became Editor at ESTNN and now leads the current team.
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