For those looking to return to the glory days of MMOs, Blizzard today announced the launch date for World of Warcraft Classic, the throwback iteration of the mega-popular title.

As revealed over on the official WoW website this morning, World of Warcraft Classic is now slated to finally arrive later this summer on August 27. WoW Classic was first announced back at BlizzCon in 2017 and fans have since been waiting patiently for a release date, so today's announcement is definitely one that should please many.

Luckily, if you aren't in the mood to wait until August to dive back into World of Warcraft, Blizzard is giving players a chance to try out Classic much sooner than you'd think. Starting tomorrow on May 15, Blizzard will begin selecting players to participate in World of Warcraft Classic's closed beta. To opt into this beta, all you have to do is go to the "Account Management" section of your Blizzard account and select the WoW Classic beta option.

If you can't get in on this beta though, there will be more opportunities over the coming weeks and months to get in on the action before the formal release. Blizzard says it will consider participants for these tests based on a variety of qualifiers such as active playtime on WoW and a current subscription. Below are the dates in which the stress tests will take place:

  • Stress Test 1: Wed May 22–Thurs May 23

  • Stress Test 2: Wed Jun 19– Thurs Jun 20

  • Stress Test 3: Thurs Jul 18– Fri July 19

As a final note, Blizzard also stated that you'll be able to create your new character for World of Warcraft Classic prior to release starting on August 13.

While Blizzard doesn't have an extensive lineup of games slated to release this year, World of Warcraft Classic will likely be the company's biggest launch of 2019. Even though it is an older game, I'm sure many are now thrilled to be able to return to Azeroth in this manner in just a few short months.