Highlights

  • Blizzard has revealed the roadmap for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic, with new content updates every few months until January 2025.
  • Cataclysm introduced huge new zones, revamped original WoW continents, and added game-changing features like the transmog system.
  • While fans are excited for Cataclysm Classic, some wonder how long WoW will sustain retro progression servers like this in the future.

World of Warcraft just revealed an ambitious roadmap for Cataclysm Classic that will blitz through the iconic expansion in under a year. Starting with the Cataclysm Classic Pre-Patch on April 30 and its full release on May 20, World of Warcraft players will experience a new major update every few months until the final patch releases in January 2025.

Cataclysm is one of the largest expansions in World of Warcraft history. It introduced seven huge new zones, revamped the original WoW continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, and introduced tons of game-changing features like the transmog system.

deathwing from the wow cata classic key art with the logo
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Now, World of Warcraft fans can get ready to experience Cataclysm faster than ever before. Blizzard recently revealed an ambitious roadmap for Cataclysm Classic that begins with the Pre-Patch event on April 30. Just under a month later, on May 20, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic launches. Then, every few months, World of Warcraft Classic will release each of the expansion's three major content updates, with Rise of the Zandalari in July, Rage of the Firelands in October, and Hour of Twilight in January of next year.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic Roadmap

  • World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic Pre-Patch – April 30
  • Cataclysm Classic Launch – May 20
  • Rise of the Zandalari – July
  • Rage of the Firelands – October
  • Hour of Twilight – January 2025

If World of Warcraft follows through on this schedule, there will only be about seven months between the launch of Cataclysm Classic and its final major update. To put that into perspective, The Burning Crusade Classic launched on June 1, 2021, and its final content update came out 11 months later in May 2022. Wrath of the Lich King Classic was even longer, with 16 months between its release in September 2022 and its final raid opening in January 2024. This content release cadence will make Cataclysm the shortest expansion in Classic history by a wide margin.

While plenty of fans are excited about Cataclysm Classic, some players are wondering how long World of Warcraft will be able to keep these retro progression servers going. One of the biggest draws of Classic WoW was the ability to explore the original iteration of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. While fans can still do this in Classic Era, Hardcore, and Season of Discovery, some wonder if Cataclysm Classic misses the point of these WoW servers in the first place.

Either way, World of Warcraft is gearing up to bring the major expansion to Classic, and in record time. Once Cataclysm Classic wraps up next year, World of Warcraft fans will have to see if the servers continue to move through future WoW expansions. If it does, and it releases them at the same pace as Cataclysm, World of Warcraft players could see Mists of Pandaria Classic as early as 2025.