World of Warcraft: Classic

   

World of Warcraft: Classic


	
		
		
	
	The official game packaging.



	
		Developer(s)
	
	Blizzard Entertainment



	
		Publisher(s)
	
	Activision-Blizzard



	
		Release date(s)
	
	August 27, 2019 August 26, 2019 (Americas)^[1]



	
		Version
	
	 Patch 1.13.2


	Patches


	
	See World of Warcraft patches category




	Expansions


	
	Not applicable?





	
		Platforms
	
	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, (Linux via Wine or Cedega)



	
		Genre(s)
	
	MMORPG

World of Warcraft: Classic is characterized as a 'Vanilla' version of World of Warcraft currently in development by Blizzard Entertainment. It was announced at BlizzCon 2017. This version will feature original vanilla-like gameplay. On Jun 15, 2018, it was announced that development was underway.^[2] It was decided that the basis of World of Warcraft: Classic would be Patch 1.12: Drums of War.^[2] A BlizzCon 2018 panel will cover the philosophies guiding the recreation of a "Classic" experience, some of the technical challenges, and a full status update.^[3]

Its release date was announced to be Summer 2019 at the BlizzCon 2018 opening ceremony.^[4] On May 14, 2019, the global release date was announced as August 27, 2019 (Americas a day earlier), while the closed and open Betas were to begin on May 15, 2019 as a closed beta for select players and a series of 3 open Beta "stress tests" (dates subject to change).^[1]

Playable demo at BlizzCon 2018

A playable demo version of World of Warcraft: Classic was playable at BlizzCon 2018 as part of the floor demo^[3] and for Virtual Ticket buyers for a limited time (starting after opening ceremony Nov 2, 2018^[3] until Nov 8, 2018).^[5] Build 28211 was released via Blizzard desktop app on November 2, 2018.

Beta schedules

The closed beta began on May 15, 2019.^[1]

STRESS TEST SCHEDULE^*^[1]: These are effectively open beta periods.

Stress Test 1: Wed May 22 – Thu May 23
Stress Test 2: Wed Jun 19 – Thu Jun 20
Stress Test 3: ~~Thu Jul 25 – Fri July 26~~^[6]^[7]

^* Dates of each stress test are subject to change.

August 8 Pre-Launch Test

A global pre-launch test of WoW Classic began on Thursday, August 8 at 11:00 AM PDT and ended on Friday, August 9 (also 11 AM?). The test was available to all World of Warcraft players with a current subscription or active game time in all regions. The maximum character level was 15.^[8]

Active monitoring occurred during the first 2 hours of the test (11 AM to 1 PM), so players were asked to do most of their activity during that time.^[8]

Minimum Specs

The minimum specifications required to play WoW Classic on PC or Mac are much lower than the minimum specs required to play Battle for Azeroth. Recommended specs are the same for both.

From Blizzard testing, they were able to successfully run WoW Classic on systems manufactured and released in the 2007-2009 timeframe, and due to improvements in how game data is built and distributed, the hard drive space requirements are actually smaller than they were in version 1.12 of vanilla WoW.

PC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows® 7 64-bit (with latest Service Packs)
PROCESSOR	Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750
VIDEO	NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT 512 MB or AMD Radeon™ HD 4850 512 MB or Intel® HD Graphics 4000
MEMORY	2 GB RAM (4 GB for integrated graphics such as Intel HD Graphics series)
STORAGE	5 GB available space
INTERNET	Broadband internet connection
INPUT	Keyboard and mouse required. Other input devices are not supported.
RESOLUTION	1024 x 768 minimum display resolution

MAC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
OPERATING SYSTEM	MacOS® 10.12 (latest version)
PROCESSOR	Intel® Core™ i5, 2.0 GHz or better
VIDEO	Metal capable GPU with 1 GB VRAM
MEMORY	2 GB RAM (4GB for integrated graphics such as Intel HD Graphics series)
INTERNET	Broadband internet connection
INPUT	Keyboard and mouse required. Other input devices are not supported.
RESOLUTION	1024 x 768 minimum display resolution

Release schedule

GLOBAL RELEASE TIMES^[1]

Americas (PDT)	Europe (CEST)	Taiwan (CST)	Korea (KST)	ANZ (AEST)	UTC
3:00 p.m.	12:00 a.m.	6:00 a.m.	7:00 a.m.	8:00 a.m.	10:00 p.m.
August 26^*	August 27	August 27	August 27	August 27	August 26

Early Character Creation^[1]

In order to be ready for launch, character creation was enabled on Tuesday, August 13.^** Players with an active subscription or game time on their account will be able to create up to three characters per World of Warcraft account.

^* To align with other regions, the Americas will launch slightly ahead of August 27 in local time.

^** To align with other regions, the Americas character creation will occur slightly ahead of August 13.

Content release phases

The Content release phases was proposed initially at BlizzCon 2018 in four phases. It was revised into six phases on March 11, 2019:^[9]

Phase 1 (Classic Launch) -- Released on August 27, 2019

Molten Core
Onyxia
Maraudon

Phase 2 -- Released on November 14, 2019

Dire Maul-- Released early on October 15, 2019
Azuregos
Kazzak
PVP Honor System

Phase 3 -- Released on February

Blackwing Lair
Darkmoon Faire
Darkmoon deck drops begin
Warsong Gulch & Alterac Valley Battlegrounds -- Releasing on December 10, 2019

Phase 4 Proposed April

Zul'Gurub
Green Dragons

Phase 5

Ahn'Qiraj War Effort begins
Ahn'Qiraj raids open when the war effort dictates
Dungeon loot reconfiguration: Tier 0.5 Dungeon gear, Relics, drop rates and location changes