All World of Warcraft expansions by length, time duration

World of Warcraft expansions have historically given players years of content throughout their respective durations, with much of the content still being available long after those expansions are surpassed by a more recent release. Still, some expansions stay relevant and timely longer than others, with players having more time to get attached to certain raids, dungeons, and zones. 

In recent years, WoW expansions have followed a more rigid release schedule, with just about two years separating each new release in the franchise. The game’s current expansion, Shadowlands, is set to end almost precisely two years after its launch. 

Here are the longest-running WoW expansions, complete with their total length in days. 

All WoW expansions by length

• Battle for Azeroth: 832 days (August 2018 – November 2020)
• Vanilla WoW: 784 days (November 2004 – January 2007) 
• Mists of Pandaria: 779 days (September 2012 – November 2014)
• Wrath of the Lich King: 754 days (November 2008 – December 2010)
• Shadowlands: 735 days (November 2020 – November 2022)
• Legion: 714 days (August 2016 – August 2018)
• The Burning Crusade: 667 days (January 2007 – November 2008)
• Cataclysm: 658 days (December 2010 – September 2012)
• Warlords of Draenor: 656 days (November 2014 – August 2016)

Battle for Azeroth was the longest WoW expansion by duration, as its 832 days surpassed Mists of Pandaria’s original record in 2020. This was largely due to Shadowlands being delayed until later in the year after originally being slated to release in October. The extra four weeks that BfA remained on the live servers was the deciding factor that pushed it past Mists as the longest-running WoW expansion. Additionally, BfA is the only WoW expansion to last longer than 800 days. 

Warlords of Draenor and Cataclysm were the two shortest WoW expansions. Coincidentally, both of those expansions were received negatively by the game’s community, which may have played a role in bringing about a new expansion quicker than usual. That being said, those expansions’ short lengths were probably just happenstance, as Battle for Azeroth was also negatively received, and it lasted the longest out of all WoW expansions by far. 

With Shadowlands lasting just over exactly two years, it goes down as the fourth-longest expansion in the game’s history. The expansion was first released during the last week of Nov. 2020, and will come to a close in the last week of Nov. 2022.

Dragonflight will be released on Nov. 28, barring any delays to the expansion.