February 23
The First Spark
Day one: a blank window that could load and draw a single character model. A day later the first creatures stood on screen, and the hunt for missing helmets and hairstyles began.
Spring 2026
Foundations: drawing a world
March 4–6
A World Under Your Feet
Terrain streamed in around the player, buildings dropped onto the landscape, and the sky came alive with a moving sun, fog and light that reflects off armor.
March 7
First Playable Build
The first build anyone could download through the launcher, complete with a proper login screen, character selection set against a living warband campsite, and the first steps into the world.
April
Bringing Things to Life
Our busiest month yet: real character animation, raid frames, a camera that knows not to clip through hills, flowing water, and a long list of polish to the world's look.
September
A new engine and the first dungeon
September 26–27
New Engine, First Dungeon
The client moved to a new engine, and the same week the Stormwind Stockade opened its doors with its bosses, its prisoners, a summoning stone and a loading screen to get you there.
September 28–30
Swim, Fight, Shop
Swimming (and drowning), nameplates, the spellbook, merchants, auto-attack, Polymorph and the target frame all arrived in three days. The world started to feel like a game.
October
Everything, everywhere, all at once
October 1–2
Quests and Flying
Quests with a proper tracker, trading between players, tooltips everywhere, health and mana regeneration, flying mounts and rare-spawn markers on the map.
October 3
Two Worlds, One Game
The Forever art style landed in eleven waves in a single day. From then on every window, frame and button exists in both Modern and Forever, and you choose the look you love. Skyriding and the new minimap arrived alongside it.
October 4–5
Make It Yours
Bags, keybindings, Edit Mode to rearrange your whole interface, a combat log, party frames, the world map, an experience bar, a threat meter and a damage meter that lives in the corner of your screen.
October 6–7
The Living World
Death and the spirit healer, flight paths, mail, meeting stones, professions and trainers, quest rewards and loot, the first raid groups, and NPC portraits that actually look at you.
October 8–9
Banks and Auctions
A full auction house economy, your personal bank and a Warband Bank shared across all your characters. The skies over the Skyborn starting area filled with life, and rare elites roam the wilds.
October 10
Pet Battles and Toys
Wild pet battles, battling other players, dozens of battle abilities and weather effects, and a Toy Box full of toys that actually do things. Two-seat mounts let you carry a friend, quest areas appear on your map, and talent loadouts let you swap builds in a click.
October 10
Toys That Do Things
Toys stopped being decorations: summon companions, change your shape, light up the town square. Our favorite moment was the first time a toy spawned a whole party decoration around a player.
October 11
The biggest day yet
October 11
Guilds, Ready Checks and Achievements
Found a guild the classic way with a charter and signatures, then invite, promote and share a guild bank. Raid leaders get ready checks and pull timers, and over three thousand achievements now track your deeds across your whole account.
October 11
Warsong Gulch
The first battleground: queue, accept the invite, capture the flag three times, check the scoreboard and head home. It was tested with ten players fighting at once.
October 11
Dungeons Come Alive
More than a hundred dungeons and raids filled with their inhabitants, the first scripted boss fights with yells, spells and loot, and raid entry with difficulty selection, saved lockouts and weekly resets.
October 11
Follower Dungeons
No group? No problem. Queue on your own and four companions join you, each a real class and spec: a tank who holds the boss, a healer who keeps you up, and damage dealers running their rotations.
October 11
Look the Part
Transmogrification arrived with the full Wardrobe: browse your collected appearances in 3D, preview them on your character and apply them for a little gold. Group loot rolls (Need, Greed and Transmog) decide who gets the shiny thing.
October 11
Mythic+
Slot a keystone into the Font of Power, beat the clock, defeat enough enemies and every boss, and upgrade your key. It's the first step toward the full seasonal experience.
October 11
Thirty-One New Zones
Thousands of townsfolk, guards and wildlife moved into thirty-one more zones, from Boralus harbor to the Dragon Isles.
October 11
Gather and Craft
Track herbs and ore on your minimap, gather them, skin your kills and level up. Then sit down at the crafting table: browse recipes by category, craft, and watch your skill climb.
October 11
Better Together
Share quests with your party, take on daily and weekly quests that reset on schedule, race against the clock on timed quests, and care for your hunter pets at the stable master.
October 11
Hello, Windows
The game now runs on Windows too. The launcher downloads everything, checks every file, and drops you straight into the world.
