WoW Expansions

Three optional expansions are currently available: The Burning Crusade, released in January 2007, Wrath of the Lich King, released in November 2008, and Cataclysm, released in December 2010. Players are not required to purchase the expansions to continue play. However, the expansion packs allow further leveling of characters beyond level 60 and access to newer content and areas. Characters cannot enter the additional regions without their respective expansion packs.

On June 28, 2011, The Burning Crusade was automatically applied to all previous Warcraft accounts, and all new Warcraft accounts created in the future will have The Burning Crusade applied at no additional cost. All The Burning Crusade content is now effectively part of the original game.

Beta Testing for Mists of Pandaria was opened on March 21, 2012.

Subscription

World of Warcraft requires a subscription fee to be paid to allow continued play, with options to pay in one month, three month, or six month blocks, although timecards of varying length are available both online and from traditional retailers. Expansion packs are available online, and are also available from traditional retailers. As the game client is the same regardless of the version of World of Warcraft the user owns, the option to purchase expansions online was added as it allowed for a quick upgrade. World of Warcraft has 10.2 million subscribers as of December 2011. World of Warcraft is available as a free Starter Edition, which is free to play for an unlimited amount of time. Starter Edition characters are unable to gain experience after reaching level 20, and there are other restrictions in effect for Starter Edition accounts, including the inability to trade, use public chat channels, join guilds, or amass more than ten gold.