Timeline ( World of Warcraft ) This page follows the in - game timeline from the release of " World of Warcraft " through present day as it applies to the players . Important . Add proper references and / or citations when adding a timeline ' event ' . 2001 . September 2 - " World of Warcraft " announced at London 2001 . 2004 . Early in the year - " World of Warcraft " Beta testing November 23 - " World of Warcraft " launches in North America , Australia and New Zealand . November 24 - launched December 3 - WoWWiki first archived at Web . Archive . org ( Internet Archive ) December 18 - Patch 1 . 2 . 0 2005 . January 18 - " World of Warcraft " launches in South Korea February 11 - " World of Warcraft " launches in Europe March 7 - Patch 1 . 3 . 0 March 23 - The first legendary item ever to appear to players in the game drops , . It is immediately hotfixed out of the game . April 8 - Patch 1 . 4 . 0 May - The Leeroy Jenkins video becomes popular June 7 - Patch 1 . 5 . 0 July 12 - Patch 1 . 6 . 0 September 13 - Patch 1 . 7 . 0 October 28 – 29 - BlizzCon 2005 ( the first BlizzCon ) October 10 - Patch 1 . 8 . 0 November 16 - " World of Warcraft " is featured in a question on the game show " Jeopardy ! " November 23 - WoW Insider launches . 2006 . January 3 - Patch 1 . 9 . 0 January 23 - becomes the first server to open the Gates of Ahn ' Qiraj March 28 - Patch 1 . 10 . 0 April - The " - 50 DKP / More dots " Onyxia Wipe Animation becomes popular . June 20 - Patch 1 . 11 . 0 July 7 - Wowhead website launched August 22 - Patch 1 . 12 . 0 September 11 - " Burning Crusade " announced to be released on January 16 , 2007 October October 4 - The TV show " South Park " features a Warcraft - themed episode , Make Love , not Warcraft . December 5 - Patch 2 . 0 . 1 December 14 - " Burning Crusade " cinematic trailer released 2007 . January 9 - Patch 2 . 0 . 3 January 16 - " " expansion released May 22 - Patch 2 . 1 . 0 August 3 – 4 BlizzCon 2007 September 27 - Patch 2 . 2 . 0 October - Toyota ' s Four Wheels of Fury commercial airs , featuring a fictional truck mount ingame . November 13 - Patch 2 . 3 . 0 November 20 - Blizzard advertises " World of Warcraft " on television with ads featuring William Shatner and most notably Mr . T talking about his Night Elf Mohawk . 2008 . January - World of Warcraft gets to 10 million subscribers globally March 25 - Patch 2 . 4 . 0 April 3 - becomes the first server to complete the Shattered Sun Offensive July - Beta begins for " Wrath of the Lich King " August 21 - " Wrath of the Lich King " cinematic released . September 15 - " Wrath of the Lich King " release date announced to be November 13 , 2008 October 10 - 11 - BlizzCon 2008 October 14 - Patch 3 . 0 . 2 October 23 November 10 November 13 - " " expansion released November 23 - All players logging in are awarded Baby Blizzard Bear and 2009 . April 14 - Patch 3 . 1 . 0 Late April - a player is banned for exploit ing the game after using a mistakenly - mailed Game Master artifact called . May 15 - The Mountain Dew Game Fuel Choose Your Side promotion begins . August 4 - Patch 3 . 2 . 0 August 20 - The Mountain Dew Choose Your Side promotion ends . August 21 – 22 - BlizzCon 2009 September 2 - Faction Change service offered . September 22 - Patch 3 . 2 . 2 October 12 - Announcement that all World of Warcraft accounts must be merged with Battle . net accounts . October 27 - Race Change service offered November 11 , 12 - The deadline passes for account mergers with Battle . net for US , EU players . November 22 - All players logging in are awarded Onyxian Whelpling and December 8 - Patch 3 . 3 . 0 2010 . January 5 - The Plagueworks of Icecrown Citadel opens . January 19 - The Crimson Hall of Icecrown Citadel opens . February 2 - Patch 3 . 3 . 2 February 12 - The People ' s Republic of China approves " Burning Crusade " for release . May 3 - The Friends & Family phase of the " World of Warcraft : Cataclysm " alpha begins . June 22 - Patch 3 . 3 . 5 in North America . June 30 - Closed Beta for " " begins . Patch 3 . 3 . 5 in Europe . July 6 - Blizzard announces their intention to have Real ID names visible when posting on the official forums . This resulted in a massive outcry against the idea , based primarily on concerns about privacy issues and potential harassment . July 9 - Due the overwhelming flood of criticism , Blizzard rescinds their plan to put Real ID names on the official forums . August 10 - The People ' s Republic of China approves a heavily edited " Wrath of the Lich King " for release . September 7 - The first in - game events leading up into the " Cataclysm " expansion begin , with ( Alliance ) and Zalazane ' s Fall ( Horde ) . October 4 - " Cataclysm " release date announced to be December 7 , 2010 October 7 - " World of Warcraft " reaches 12 million players October 12 - Patch 4 . 0 . 1 October 17 - " World of Warcraft Cataclysm " cinematic trailer released . October 22 - 23 - BlizzCon 2010 November 16 - Patch 4 . 0 . 3 November 23 - Patch 4 . 0 . 3a The Shattering December 7 - " " expansion released 2011 . January 27 - Blizzard files complaints with the online service PayPal in an effort to make payment difficult for gold sellers . February 8 - Patch 4 . 0 . 6 April 26 - Patch 4 . 1 . 0 June 28 - Patch 4 . 2 . 0 October 21 - 22 - BlizzCon 2011 November 20 - WoW ' s 7th Anniversary November 29 - Patch 4 . 3 . 0 2012 . March 20 - " " closed beta announced . March 21 - " Mists of Pandaria " closed beta opens with Patch 5 . 0 . 1 . March 29 - First of several waves of beta invites to primarily Annual Pass subscribers . May 24 - Non - Annual Pass players who expressed interest in " Mists of Pandaria " beta on their Battle . net account start getting beta invites . July 25 - " Mists of Pandaria " release date announced to be September 25 , 2012 . August 28 - Patch 5 . 0 . 4 on live servers . Systems pre - release patch and most of the expansion all in one . September 13 - Patch 5 . 0 . 5 on live servers . September 17 - World Event : Attack on Theramore Isle September 25 - " " expansion released in North America and Europe . September 27 - " Mists of Pandaria " expansion released in Korea and Taiwan . November 27 - Patch 5 . 1 . 0 2013 . March 5 - Patch 5 . 2 . 0 May 21 - Patch 5 . 3 . 0 August 14 - Blizzard trademarks " The Dark Below " . September 10 - Patch 5 . 4 . 0 November 2013 - Blizzard trademarks " Warlords of Draenor " . November 8 - " " announced . December 10 - Patch 5 . 4 . 2 2014 . August 14 - " " release date announced to be November 13 , 2014 . October 14 - Patch 6 . 0 . 2 on live servers . November 7 - 8 - BlizzCon 2014 November 13 - " " expansion released in North America and Europe . December 2 - 2015 . February 3 - June 23 - August 6 - November 6 - 7 - BlizzCon 2015 2016 . April 18 - " " release date announced to be August 30 , 2016 . July 19 - August 30 - October 25 - 2017 . January 10 March 28 June 13 August 29 . . . and more .