The next iteration of Blizzard Entertainment’s revival of old-school expansions is upon us. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic drops in May, but when did Deathwing the Destroyer’s ruthless reign originally happen?
World of Warcraft originally came out in 2004 and after The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King took the MMORPG world by storm, Cataclysm joined the fold as the game’s third expansion. It came out six years after WoW’s release, dropping in 2010.
At the time, Cataclysm brought big changes to the fantasy universe. It was the first expansion pack that brought players back to Azeroth for all the end-game content. The Burning Crusade ushered in The Outlands, and Wrath of the Lich King led players to Northrend.
The original release
There was a ton of hype leading into Cataclysm because it would take place exclusively in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. But, what was truly special about the expansion was that the original zones in Azeroth were overhauled courtesy of Deathwing’s carnage. For example, The Barrens, located in central Kalimdor, was split into two with a river of lava flowing between the separated areas. It became two new zones: Northern Barrens and Southern Barrens.
And with new elements to Azeroth’s zones came new questlines as well. It was the first time an expansion didn’t solely focus on the end game. Players could enjoy new quests and storylines while leveling from one to 60.
Other things were added to World of Warcraft as well, including two new races — Goblins and Worgens — dungeons, raids, and zones, like Mount Hyjal, Vash’jir, and Twilight Highlands. And, of course, the level cap was raised, increasing from 80 to 85.
The re-release
Now, skip ahead 14 years and Cataclysm is being re-released as part of Blizzard’s Classic era run, which began when the developer revived the vanilla version of World of Warcraft in 2019. The Burning Crusade Classic and Wrath of the Lich King Classic were released in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Cataclym Classic’s pre-patch goes live on April 30 and the expansion comes out on May 20.
Cataclysm was originally released two years after Wrath of the Lich King, and Blizzard has kept the same release timeline since then. Here are the release dates for all of World of Warcraft’s versions:
- World of Warcraft — 2004
- The Burning Crusade — 2007
- Wrath of the Lich King — 2008
- Cataclysm — 2010
- Mists of Pandaria — 2012
- Warlords of Draenor — 2014
- Legion — 2016
- Battle for Azeroth — 2018
- Shadowlands — 2020
- Dragon Flight — 2022
Blizzard is aiming to release World of Warcraft’s 10th expansion, The War Within, later in 2024. But, until then, gamers can still navigate through Dragon Flight and soon, Cataclysm Classic.