All World of Warcraft Expansions in Order of Release

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All World of Warcraft Expansions in Order of Release

World of Warcraft has a legacy going back to November 2004. It's one of the oldest-running, and most beloved MMOs on the market.


Since 2004 a lot has happened, nine expansions have graced the game, and we've even gone back and revisited two of them (and the base game). In 2022 we saw Dragonflight drop, the latest expansion in the series. With it came a return to both critical and, crucially, fan praise. While WoW has gone many years, even decades, as the undisputed top MMO, recent years have seen the shine starting to fade from Blizzard's beloved MMO. The most notable claimant to the crown is FFXIV, which has slowly begun to collect players who have fallen out of love with WoW.

As WoW approaches its 20th Birthday, let's take a look back at the history of the game, where it has come from, and when each expansion came out. We've also added Classic to the end of the list, as those are still important releases in the history of WoW.

World of Warcraft Expansions

Expansion Name Release Date (US)
World of Warcraft Base 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
Shadowlands November 2020
Dragonflight November 2022
WoW Classic August 2019
TBC Classic June 2021
WotLK Classic September 2022