WoW Expansions in Order (2026): Full List of All 11 by Release Date

11 expansions across 22 years. The current 1 is Midnight; everything before it is included with a subscription (more on buying below).

#	Expansion / era	Released	Level cap	Signature additions
.	World of Warcraft (base) Old Azeroth	Nov 23, 2004	60	Azeroth itself. Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, 8 races, 9 classes
1	The Burning Crusade Old Azeroth	Jan 16, 2007	70	Outland, Blood Elves and Draenei, flying mounts, Karazhan
2	Wrath of the Lich King Old Azeroth	Nov 13, 2008	80	Northrend, Death Knights, Ulduar, Icecrown Citadel. the fan-favorite era
3	Cataclysm Old Azeroth	Dec 7, 2010	85	Deathwing reshapes old Azeroth, Worgen and Goblins, transmog
4	Mists of Pandaria Old Azeroth	Sep 25, 2012	90	Pandaria, Monks, Pandaren, challenge modes, the best-written war campaign of the classic era
5	Warlords of Draenor Experimental	Nov 13, 2014	100	Alternate-timeline Draenor, garrisons, the level-90 boost era begins
6	Legion Experimental	Aug 30, 2016	110	The Broken Isles, Demon Hunters, artifact weapons, Mythic+ dungeons are born
7	Battle for Azeroth Experimental	Aug 14, 2018*	120	Kul Tiras and Zandalar, allied races, warfronts and islands
8	Shadowlands The reset	Nov 23, 2020	60†	The afterlife realms, covenants, Torghast. plus the great level squish (120 → 50)
9	Dragonflight The reset	Nov 28, 2022	70	The Dragon Isles, Evokers and Dracthyr, dragonriding, talent-tree rework
10	The War Within Worldsoul	Aug 26, 2024	80	Khaz Algar and the depths of Azeroth, Delves, Warbands. Worldsoul Saga part 1
11	Midnight CURRENT Worldsoul	Mar 2, 2026	90	Quel'Thalas rebuilt, player Housing, Haranir allied race, war against Xal'atath. Worldsoul Saga part 2

*Battle for Azeroth: NA servers went live Aug 13, 2018 at 3:00 pm PDT; EU calendar date was Aug 14 (simultaneous global launch). We list the commonly cited Aug 14 and flag the NA clock time.

†Shadowlands' cap reads oddly because it shipped with the level squish: the old 1, 120 ladder was compressed to 1, 50, and Shadowlands took you to 60. Every cap after it is on the new scale.

22 years is a lot of game. If you're placing the expansions in your head, group them like this:

• Old Azeroth (2004, 2012): base game through Mists of Pandaria. The classic questing structure, the raids people are still nostalgic about (Karazhan, Ulduar, ICC), and the version of the world that WoW Classic now recreates on separate servers.
• Experimental (2014, 2018): Warlords of Draenor, Legion, Battle for Azeroth. Big swings. garrisons, artifact weapons, azerite. Legion is remembered as the high point of the 3; it also introduced Mythic+, now the backbone of endgame dungeons.
• The reset (2020, 2022): Shadowlands squished the levels and burned off years of accumulated systems; Dragonflight rebuilt talents and movement (dragonriding) and won back a lot of goodwill.
• Worldsoul (2024, ): a planned 3-expansion arc. The War Within, Midnight (current), and The Last Titan. telling 1 continuous story about Azeroth's worldsoul. 1st time Blizzard has announced 3 expansions in advance.

New characters do not march through 22 years of content. As of Midnight, leveling works like this:

• 1, 10: Exile's Reach (updated new-player funnel).
• 1st characters ~10, 70: Blizzard now routes brand-new players into Dragonflight story after Exile's Reach (story-mode raid beats included). Alts still use Chromie Time. pick 1 past expansion scaled to your level.
• 70, 80: The War Within zones (catch-up path available).
• 80, 90: Midnight zones. the current endgame ladder.

Story order ≈ release order, with 2 famous wrinkles: Warlords of Draenor is a time-travel side story, and Shadowlands happens in the afterlife. If you only care about the current plot, watch a Worldsoul Saga results and start at The War Within. everything relevant to Midnight flows from there.

If the 1, 90 stretch is the part you'd rather skip, that's the single most-bought service in the game. our WoW leveling carries run any bracket, self-play or piloted.

Simpler than it looks. 2 purchases cover everything:

• Midnight (~$49.99 base edition). buying the current expansion automatically includes every previous expansion. There is no reason to buy TBC, Legion, or Dragonflight separately; you can't even find them sold alone anymore. Official edition tables also bundle The War Within entitlement on purchase.
• A subscription (~$14.99/mo). required to play at all, and by itself it already unlocks everything up through The War Within. Midnight is the only retail chapter gated behind a purchase.

That's the whole decision tree. A brand-new player buys Midnight + a month of game time and owns the entire retail game. The Epic edition adds cosmetics, a character boost, and ~3 days of early access (went live Feb 26, 2026 3:00 pm PST / already Feb 27 in EU). nice-to-haves. Requirements.

WoW Classic is included with the same subscription at no extra cost. no expansion purchase needed there at all.

Prices marked ~ because Battle.net regional storefronts vary; verify on the shop for your region.

Since 2019 Blizzard has been re-releasing the old game on dedicated servers, walking forward through the same expansion list a 2nd time. Where that project stands in August 2026:

Classic release	Launched	Status in 2026
WoW Classic (vanilla)	Aug 2019	Preserved forever as Classic Era + the hugely popular Hardcore servers
Burning Crusade Classic	Jun 2021	Rolled forward into Wrath
Wrath of the Lich King Classic	Sep 2022	Rolled forward into Cataclysm
Season of Discovery	Nov 2023	Experimental remixed vanilla. periodic seasons
Cataclysm Classic	May 2024	Rolled forward into MoP
Mists of Pandaria Classic	Jul 21, 2025	CURRENT Classic progression. community expects Legion Classic next. Blizzard has said Classic's future will be addressed at BlizzCon 2026 (Sept 12, 13)

Retail also runs limited-time Remix events that replay an old expansion with turbo progression. MoP Remix in 2024, Legion Remix in 2025, 26. Those are events inside retail. Separate Classic servers.

Playing on the Classic side too? Our WoW Classic services cover leveling, gold, and raids across Era, Hardcore, and MoP Classic.

Current: Midnight (12.0), live since 2 March 2026 at 3:00 pm PST. Patch 12.1 Curse of Ula'tek shipped 11 August 2026. Midnight Season 2 opened 18 August (19 August on EU realms). The Venomous Abyss raid, a new Mythic+ rotation, and a fresh gear ladder are the live retail floor. Season 1 rewards locked at the 12.1 maintenance. See our Season 2 guide and Midnight tier list.

Season 3 starts shortly after Eclipse, the final major Midnight update. Blizzard has not named a calendar day. Eclipse opens the Worldcore, an 8-boss raid on Xal'atath, and Thraegar's Stand. The older 8-week patch cadence (12.0.5 on 21 April, 12.0.7 on 16 June, 12.1 on 11 August) had pointed at late January 2027. The official line now leads. Patch 12.1.5 is on the PTR now (The Unbinding of Kith'ix, Labyrinths, Aqir Invasion). It is mid-Season 2, with Season 3 still ahead. Watch the Eclipse PTR for the day. The release-date page tracks that window.

Next expansion: The Last Titan, announced as the Worldsoul Saga finale, set in a reforged Northrend. No release window yet. Pattern says late 2027 or 2028. Nothing is confirmed beyond the setting and that it closes the arc that started with The War Within.

Week to week, the weekly reset page tracks what is live right now: affixes, world content, and lockouts.

Starting a new character now is a 1 to 90 job on live Midnight. WoW power leveling to current cap is the page that answers hours and what is included.