World Of Warcraft Classic's return to The Burning Crusade has entered beta

World of Warcraft Classic BlizzCon 2021
(Image credit: Blizzard)

World Of Warcraft Classic is returning to Outland—and if you're particularly eager to return to The Burning Crusade, you can now opt-in to Blizzard's closed beta for the throwback expansion.

Beta testing for WoW Classic's first expansion began this month, Blizzard revealed over on the game's forums (via Wowhead). While still a closed beta, you can sign up to be chosen for beta testing by hitting opt-in over on the expansion's store page, adding your name to the pool of players randomly chosen to receive testing invites.

Once selected, the beta should appear alongside your other WoW installs in the Battle.net launcher. Beta testers can choose to create a new character, or carry over any of their existing WoW Classic characters.

WoW Classic's foray into The Burning Crusade was revealed at BlizzCon earlier this year, though we still don't know when The Dark Portal will reopen for Blizzard's nostalgic client. Technically, it'll be a whole new branch of WoW Classic—servers for just the vanilla experience will remain, alongside those that push forwards into WoW's first expansion.

While unconfirmed, we reckon The Burning Crusade will eventually launch later this summer or fall. You'll be able to boost one existing Classic character to 60 to jump into Outland immediately, with post-launch updates to drip in over the coming months. 

After that, it's only a matter of time before Classic rolls into WoW's best expansion, Wrath Of The Lich King, right? Blizzard hasn't confirmed as much, but is far from writing it off entirely.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.

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