World of Warcraft Classic will release as a free expansion for anyone with a base subscription to the main game on August 27 worldwide,
but you may not have to wait that long to explore Vanilla Azeroth
before that. Starting today, Blizzard is inviting actively subscribed
World of Warcraft players into a "small-scale, focused closed beta
test", though the studio won't be randomly sending out invites to anyone
across the user base, instead "choosing dedicated players who meet
select criteria".
We don't know what that criteria includes exactly, but Blizzard has stated that it'll considering "factors such as how long a player has
been subscribed to the game so that we have the right mix of players to
ensure great feedback toward making WoW Classic the very best experience
for the community."Following the beta, Blizzard will also be holding
several Stress Tests for World of Warcraft Classic running from May
through to July, which active WoW players can opt into via the Account
Management section of their Battle.net account. For a chance at getting
in, you'll either need an active subscription to World of Warcraft, or
proof of dedicated playtime on your Battle.net account.
In short, opting into the Stress Tests doesn't guarantee an invite, but it will give you a decent chance. Meanwhile, Character Creation for
WoW Classic will be open as early as August 13, giving you a chance to
claim your character name before the servers open a few weeks later
(you'll be able to make three characters on one account).
You can find more details, including the full dates and times for stress tests on Blizzard's website here but, for now, it's time to start
thinking about what you're going to call that Gnome Warlock you've been
waiting to role play as for years.
