For those missed out on how tedious vanilla World of Warcraft was (but we love it so much), World of Warcraft classic is on the way and now with a swanky new collector’s edition and shiny new release date!
With the invite-only beta test scheduled for May 15, the official Classic experience goes live on August 27th. For those that remember the beginning stages, we remember the 20-hour raids, the insane grind to level, and some of the “shitty” side quests. But we also remember the challenges overcome and the start to an incredible experience that continues to be strong to the day.
“Building and launching World of Warcraft back in 2004 was immensely challenging,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “A tornado literally tore the roof off one of the game’s data centers during the early days of testing–but Blizzard was fortunate to have hundreds, and then thousands, and then millions of people around the world cheering our developers on.
“Like many of our players, everyone at Blizzard was fueled by the excitement of seeing the world of Azeroth from the ground level, through the eyes of the heroes inhabiting and fighting over it,” Brack continued. “Azeroth has always been a wondrous and deadly place, and it was especially so at the time of WoW’s launch, when everyone was discovering its vistas and exploring its dungeons for the first time–all while helping and supporting the company as everyone here worked through the many technical struggles of hosting a game of this size.
“That early experience was incredibly important to Blizzard. It taught us many things about ourselves as a developer and publisher, and about the global community of players that we feel honored to be a part of. The World of Warcraft Classic experience is very different from the Azeroth we know today, but we love it for what it is and what it stands for. We can’t wait to get reacquainted with this dangerous, demanding, and rewarding world with all of our friends, new and old.”
As for the collector’s edition:
Not too shabby, right? You can pre-order this bad boy on the Blizzard website right here ahead of the game’s August release. It runs at $99.99 and will be shipping out this October, though a sooner release of the statue is still a possibility we are told.
It’s an exciting time to be a WoW fan! Whether to relive the classic feel, or for first-timers getting to see where it all began.
