World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion Dragonflight is probably one of the most ambitious that Blizzard has put out. With so many expansions, it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of when each expansion was released and in what order.
Here’s a quick refresher on when each expansion was launched in chronological order.
WoW Expansions in Order
Expansion | Date |
World of Warcraft (original game) | November 2004 |
The Burning Crusade | January 2007 |
Wrath of the Lich King | November 2008 |
Cataclysm | December 2010 |
Mists of Pandaria | September 2012 |
Warlords of Draenor | November 2014 |
Legion | August 2016 |
Battle for Azeroth | August 2018 |
World of Warcraft Classic (legacy servers) | August 2019 |
Shadowlands | November 2020 |
The Burning Crusade Classic (legacy servers) | June 2021 |
Wrath of the Lich King Classic (legacy servers) | September 2022 |
Dragonflight | November 2022 |
The War Within | TBD 2024 |
Midnight | TBD |
The Last Titan | TBD |
The Burning Crusade
The very first expansion that started it all. The Burning Crusade was released on January 16, 2007, and included many significant additions to the game. Both Draenei and Blood Elves were added as playable races, the level cap was raised from 60 to 70, and many dungeons, quests, raids, cities, and zones were added. PvP received an overhaul with new death-match modes for plenty.
Wrath of the Lich King
This second expansion is focused on the infamous Lich King himself, Arthas. Wrath of the Lich King was released on November 13, 2008, and quickly became one of the best-selling PC games of all time. The most notable highlights were the introduction of the hero class Death Knight, the 70 to 80 level cap raise, a huge new region called Northrend, and a ton of PvP content
Cataclysm
The third expansion launched on August 21, 2009, and featured a story revolving around Deathwing the Destroy and his threat to the realms. The level cap was increased to 85, Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms were given a huge facelift, adding landscape changes and new NPCs, and a whole new story to boot.
Mists of Panderia
This fourth expansion is quite possibly the game’s most hilarious. Mists of Panderia, released on September 25, 2012, seemingly takes inspiration from the likes of Kung Fu Panda, featuring a whole new panda race and panda world. The level cap was increased to 90, and a new playable race called the Pandaren was introduced, along with a Monk class and new instances.
Warlords of Draenor
Warlords of Draenor is the game’s fifth expansion and launched on November 13, 2014. Outside of raising the level cap to 100, this expansion is set in the orc homeworld Draenor. For the first time in the game’s history, players could manage and upgrade their own garrisons. The game also received a graphical overhaul
Legion
The sixth expansion Legion came out on August 30, 2016. This time, the level cap increased to 110 and players were able to explore Broken Isles, an entirely new area on Azeroth to explore. A new Demon Hunter hero class was also added, along with a few new raids and dungeons.
Battle for Azeroth
Battle for Azeroth, the seventh expansion pack for the game, dropped on November 3, 2017. It raised the level cap to 120 and came with the new continents of Zandalar and Kul Tiras. Four new races were also added, along with a slew of raids, dungeons, uncharted islands, and so on. The story centers around an artifact called the Heart of Azeroth, which threatens to start a war.
Shadowlands
Shadowlands came out on November 1, 2019, and is the eighth expansion pack released by Blizzard. This is the first time Blizzard introduced what they call a “level squish,” which reset all max cap characters back to level 50, setting the cap at 60. This was akin to a New Game+ reset. This expansion centered around the iconic character Sylvanas, who was featured as a final boss for players to fight. A new class called the Death Knight was also made available
Dragonflight
The ninth and most recent expansion pack Dragonflight released on November 28, 2022, and, as the name suggests, added dragons. A new dragon race called the Dracthyr was added, along with Dragonriding skills and the ability to customize and raise your own personal dragon. The level cap was raised to 70.
The War Within
Announced at 2023’s Blizzcon, The War Within is the first of three expansions that will make up The Worldsoul Saga. We don’t have an actual date for this expansion yet, but we do know it’s aiming to release at some point in 2024. Our information for The War Within is limited, but we do know that this expansion will be set in the underground land that a race called the Earthen considers their home.
Midnight
We know even less about the second part of The Worldsoul Saga, but we do know that Midnight will be set in the land of Quel’Thalas. We also know that a great deal of the story for Midnight will revolve around the origins of High Elves, Blood Elves, and Night Elves.
The Last Titan
Naturally, the final segment of the yet-to-begin Worldsoul Saga is the one we know the least about. We know that the ancient beings known as Titans will play a part in some way, and we also know that the Northrend will be added as a location. Of course, that isn’t much to go on, but there’s plenty of content for World of Warcraft players to look forward to.