World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic launches on June 1

A few days ago it looked like Blizzard might've let slip the release date for World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic, but today it officially confirmed the expansion is launching on June 1. Just like when Burning Crusade launched in 2007, Burning Crusade Classic will open up an entirely new continent for WoW Classic players to explore and grind through on their quest to reach the new level cap of 70. Two new races, blood elves and draenei, are also joining the Horde and Alliance respectively.

Unlike the first time Burning Crusade launched, however, players will have a lot more time to prepare for their adventures in Outland. In a blog post about the announcement, Blizzard says that the pre-expansion patch will roll out on May 18. Players will then have to choose whether to continue into the Burning Crusade or choose to transfer to new servers that will stay locked in the vanilla Classic era where the level cap remains 60 and no new content will be added. Players will also be able to level new blood elf and draenei characters in preparation for the full launch on June 1.

Blizzard has also helpfully laid out the global release times for Burning Crusade Classic, which are as follows:

• Americas: 3pm PDT, June 1
• Europe: 11pm CET, June 1
• Taiwan: 7am CST, June 2
• Korea: 8am KST, June 2
• Oceana: 10am AEDT, June 2

If you want more info on Burning Crusade Classic and its features, you can check out our comprehensive overview. And if you're curious about playing but haven't leveled up to 60 in WoW Classic, you'll be able to purchase a one-time level boost closer to launch.