Here's when World of Warcraft Classic launches around the world

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New Realms are opening, and the full launch is just about here.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft Classic officially goes live later today, but with a simultaneous global launch the specific timings can be a little tricky to pin down: Midnight CEST is simple enough, but what does that work out to in North America?

We've got you covered—here's the schedule:

  • North America (PT) – 3 pm August 26
  • North America (ET) – 6 pm August 26
  • Europe (CEST) – 12 am August 27
  • Taiwan (CST) – 6 am August 27
  • Korea (KST) – 7 am August 27
  • Australia/New Zealand (AEST) – 8 am August 27
  • Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) – 10 pm August 26

As promised over the weekend, Blizzard has now opened new Classic realms and removed the limitation of three Classic characters per account, so that players can now create up to 50 characters across all Classic realms—ten each. But it also warned that realms with high or full population tags will likely have extended login queues, and urged players on them to head to one of the new realms, "to help spread the player population as evenly as possible and provide the best play experience for everyone."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.