World of Warcraft Classic

World of Warcraft Classic refers to the permanent Vanilla Era servers launched by Blizzard Entertainment on August 27, 2019. These realms replay the original World of Warcraft content as it existed at patch 1.12 (before the release of The Burning Crusade in 2007), forever frozen in its pre-expansion state.

Unlike the serial Classic progression — which went through The Burning Crusade Classic, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Cataclysm Classic then Mists of Pandaria Classic — the Classic Era servers remain locked on Vanilla. This is where purists of pre-Burning Crusade content, historic guilds and 40-player raid runs at Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas 40 come together.

Access is included in the standard WoW subscription. Blizzard also maintains complementary modes based on Classic: Hardcore (permadeath), Season of Discovery (seasonal Vanilla with skill runes) and the Anniversary edition progressed into Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary Edition since February 2026.