83 Goblin Warrior
World of Warcraft
Watch the CinematicPatch 1.2.0
Opened Maraudon.
Patch 1.3.0
Added Meeting Stones, and the world bosses Azuregos and Lord Kazzak.
Patch 1.4.0
Introduced the PvP Honor System.
Warcraft cultureLeeroy Jenkins
The guild Pals for Life posted "Leeroy!!" to WarcraftMovies. A staged re-enactment of a real wipe, and one of the internet's first true memes.
Patch 1.5.0
Battlegrounds arrived: Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch.
Patch 1.6.0
Opened Blackwing Lair.
Patch 1.7.0
Opened Zul'Gurub and, with it, the Corrupted Blood plague.
Warcraft cultureThe Corrupted Blood incident
Hakkar's debuff escaped Zul'Gurub on hunter pets and swept the cities. An accidental plague that epidemiologists went on to study for real.
Patch 1.8.0
Added the Dragons of Nightmare and revamped Silithus.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2005
The first one. Anaheim, and the game was a year old.
Patch 1.9.0
The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj opened.
Patch 1.10.0
Added weather effects and the Tier 0.5 armour sets.
Patch 1.11.0Shadow of the Necropolis
Opened Naxxramas, the forty-player raid.
Patch 1.12.0
Introduced cross-realm battlegrounds.
Warcraft culture“Make Love, Not Warcraft”
South Park devotes an episode to the game, and wins an Emmy for it. The month a lot of people had to explain their hobby to their family.
The Burning Crusade
Watch the CinematicPatch 2.1.0The Black Temple
Opened the Black Temple.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2007
Wrath of the Lich King announced.
Patch 2.2.0
Added in-game voice chat and broad class balance changes.
Patch 2.3.0The Gods of Zul'Aman
Opened Zul'Aman and added guild banks.
Patch 2.4.0Fury of the Sunwell
Opened the Isle of Quel'Danas and the Sunwell Plateau.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2008
Anaheim, and everyone who could not be there watching the stream.
Wrath of the Lich King
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2008…
Patch 3.1.0Secrets of Ulduar
Opened Ulduar and added Dual Talent Specialization.
Patch 3.2.0Call of the Crusade
Opened the Crusaders' Coliseum and the Isle of Conquest.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2009
Cataclysm announced: the old world was going to break.
Patch 3.3.0Fall of the Lich King
Opened Icecrown Citadel and introduced the cross-realm Dungeon Finder.
Retracing 2009…
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2010
Anaheim, and everyone who could not be there watching the stream.
Warcraft cultureThe Red Shirt Guy
At the BlizzCon lore panel, Ian Bates corrects Blizzard on the Council of Three Hammers. They fixed the lore, and put him in Ironforge as the Wildhammer Fact Checker, in a red shirt.
Cataclysm
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2010…
Patch 4.1.0Rise of the Zandalari
Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub returned as level 85 heroics.
Patch 4.2.0Rage of the Firelands
Opened the Firelands.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2011
Mists of Pandaria announced, to considerable disbelief.
Patch 4.3.0Hour of Twilight
Opened the Dragon Soul raid and three new five-player dungeons.
Retracing 2011…
Mists of Pandaria
Watch the CinematicPatch 5.1.0Landfall
Began the Pandaren campaign and opened the Brawler's Guild.
Retracing 2012…
Patch 5.2.0The Thunder King
Opened the Throne of Thunder.
Patch 5.3.0
Escalated the faction war with new daily zones and PvP changes.
Patch 5.4.0Siege of Orgrimmar
Opened the Siege of Orgrimmar, ending the expansion's story.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2013
Warlords of Draenor announced.
Retracing 2013…
CinematicLords of War: Kargath
Kargath Bladefist, the arena, and the hand he cut off to be free.
Watch the CinematicCinematicLords of War: Grommash
Grommash Hellscream refuses the cup, and the Iron Horde is born.
Watch the CinematicCinematicLords of War: Durotan
The Frostwolf chieftain, and what it costs to say no.
Watch the CinematicCinematicLords of War: Kilrogg
Kilrogg Deadeye saw his own death, and spent his life outrunning it.
Watch the CinematicCinematicLords of War: Maraad
Vindicator Maraad, Shattrath, and a draenei who lost everything to the orcs.
Watch the CinematicWarcraft cultureBlizzCon 2014
Anaheim, and everyone who could not be there watching the stream.
Warlords of Draenor
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2014…
Patch 6.1.0The Legendary Quest Continues
Added the heirloom tab and updated Blood Elf character models.
Patch 6.2.0Fury of Hellfire
Opened Tanaan Jungle and Hellfire Citadel.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2015
Legion announced.
Retracing 2015…
Warcraft cultureNostalrius is shut down
A vanilla private server with 150,000 active players closes under a cease and desist. The petition that followed reached 280,000 signatures and, in the end, brought WoW Classic.
Warcraft cultureThe Warcraft film
Duncan Jones’ adaptation reaches cinemas in the United States, after a Paris premiere on 24 May.
CinematicHarbingers: Gul’dan
Freed from another world’s ruin, Gul’dan goes looking for a way in.
Watch the CinematicCinematicHarbingers: Khadgar
The Archmage reads the signs, and understands what is coming.
Watch the CinematicCinematicHarbingers: Illidan
Ten thousand years of preparation. He was never the villain of this one.
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Legion
Watch the CinematicPatch 7.1.0Return to Karazhan
Added Return to Karazhan and the Trial of Valor raid.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2016
Anaheim, and everyone who could not be there watching the stream.
Retracing 2016…
Patch 7.2.0The Tomb of Sargeras
Opened the Broken Shore and the Tomb of Sargeras, and unlocked flying.
Patch 7.3.0
Took the war to Argus and opened Antorus, the Burning Throne.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2017
Battle for Azeroth announced, and at last, WoW Classic.
Retracing 2017…
CinematicWarbringers: Jaina
Daughter of the sea. The choices of her past, still setting her course.
Watch the CinematicCinematicWarbringers: Sylvanas
Before the Banshee Queen, a ranger-general, and the moment that ended her.
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Battle for Azeroth
Watch the CinematicCinematicWarbringers: Azshara
In the deeps, the great queen finds the one thing she needs: opportunity.
Watch the CinematicWarcraft cultureBlizzCon 2018
Anaheim, and everyone who could not be there watching the stream.
Patch 8.1.0Tides of Vengeance
Added the Darkshore warfront and the Crucible of Storms.
Retracing 2018…
Patch 8.2.0Rise of Azshara
Opened Nazjatar, Mechagon and The Eternal Palace.
Warcraft cultureWorld of Warcraft Classic
Vanilla, restored and reopened, fifteen years on. Queues thousands deep on the first night, to play a game people had already finished.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2019
Shadowlands announced.
Retracing 2019…
Patch 8.3.0Visions of N'Zoth
Added Horrific Visions and opened Ny'alotha.
Warcraft cultureWHO declares a pandemic
The world went indoors. For a great many people the months that followed are the most WoW they have ever played.
CinematicAfterlives: Bastion
The first of four Shadowlands shorts, premiered at gamescom Opening Night Live. Uther, and the cost of certainty.
Watch the CinematicCinematicAfterlives: Maldraxxus
Draka’s arrival in the house of war, and what she made of it.
Watch the CinematicCinematicAfterlives: Ardenweald
Ursoc, the Winter Queen, and a wild god given up to keep the grove alive.
Watch the CinematicCinematicAfterlives: Revendreth
Kael’thas Sunstrider in the house of sin, and the reckoning he could not talk his way out of.
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Shadowlands
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2020…
Warcraft cultureBlizzConline
The one nobody attended. Held entirely online, because gathering forty thousand people in a convention centre was not an option that year.
Patch 9.1.0
Opened Korthia and the Sanctum of Domination, and reworked Torghast.
Retracing 2021…
Patch 9.2.0Eternity's End
Opened Zereth Mortis and the Sepulcher of the First Ones.
Dragonflight
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2022…
Patch 10.1.0
Opened Zaralek Cavern and the Aberrus raid.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2023
The War Within, Midnight and The Last Titan announced together.
Patch 10.2.0Guardians of the Dream
Opened the Emerald Dream and Amirdrassil.
CinematicThreads of Destiny
Azj-Kahet’s queen, a kingdom failing, and the price Xal’atath asks to save it.
Watch the CinematicCinematicAlleria: Light and Shadow
Alleria Windrunner, her sisters, and what she gave up to the Void.
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The War Within
Watch the CinematicRetracing 2024…
Patch 11.1.0Undermine(d)
Opened Undermine and the Liberation of Undermine raid.
Patch 11.2.0Ghosts of K'aresh
Opened K'aresh and the Eco-Dome Al'dani dungeon.
Retracing 2025…
Patch 12.0.0
The Midnight pre-expansion patch, with a stat squish and Training Grounds.
CinematicSupremacy
Xal’atath gathers the Void’s rival powers into one army, and turns it on Azeroth.
Watch the CinematicCinematicAll That is Sacred
Liadrin, after years of loss, holding the Sunwell against the Void.
Watch the CinematicCinematicSon of Two Worlds
Arator, raised between two kingdoms, setting out to make a name of his own.
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Midnight
Watch the CinematicPatch 12.1.0Curse of Ula'tek
Opened the Coiled Isle and the Venomous Abyss raid.
Warcraft cultureBlizzCon 2026
World of Warcraft: Forever announced. The 2004 game kept at level 60 for good, and built outward rather than onward. Classic+, by its official name.
Retracing 2026…