World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic leaks ahead of BlizzCon

World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic has leaked ahead of this week’s BlizzCon online event.

According to Wowhead, the information came from official BlizzCon press kits accidentally released early, which also revealed World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ first major content update, Chains of Domination.

“Journey through the Dark Portal once again in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic,” reads Blizzard’s leaked press release. “Originally released in January 2007, The Burning Crusade summoned the heroes of Azeroth to the shattered and fel-scarred realm of Outland to stop an invasion of the demonic Burning Legion.

• Further reading: World of Warcraft Dragonflight release date, beta, news and more | 2022 games

“In 2021, Blizzard Entertainment’s recreation of the first World of Warcraft expansion will give players from around the world a chance to return to Outland as it once was to relive an era of timeless adventure—or experience what awaits beyond the Dark Portal for the first time.”

UPDATE: Blizzard has announced World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic and Shadowlands: Chains of Domination.

As with World of Warcraft Classic, Burning Crusade Classic will be included with existing World of Warcraft subscriptions.

WoW Classic players will be able to choose whether to advance their characters to the Burning Crusade era with the rest of their realm or continue playing WoW Classic on new Classic Era servers.

Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands, in November 2020. According to its publisher, Shadowlands sold over 3.7 million units globally on its release day, making it the “fastest-selling PC game of all time” until Cyberpunk 2077 took the record in December 2020.

The leaked BlizzCon details also include the following description of Shadowlands’ Chains of Domination update.

“In Chains of Domination, the upcoming first major content update for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, players will delve into new depths of the Jailer’s hopeless domain, seeking to understand the true nature of his malignant plans,” a press release reads.

“Backed by the renewed might of the four Covenants, the champions of the Horde and the Alliance will take the fight for the Shadowlands to the seat of the Jailer’s power.

“But the Banished One has a terrible new champion in his service—a cruel instrument of despair conscripted by Sylvanas Windrunner, capable of instilling dread into the hearts of Azeroth’s heroes like no creature of the Shadowlands.”

Further reading

Blizzard promises ‘more frequent major’ World of Warcraft content launches as Shadowlands gets a release date

Developer has the “largest team ever” working on the game

BlizzCon online kicks off at 2pm PT/5pm ET/10pm UK this Friday, February 19 and runs over the weekend.

Among the schedule highlights, the World of Warcraft development team will discuss the latest content coming to Azeroth in a half-hour broadcast and the Diablo team will talk about upcoming content headed to Sanctuary in a 40-minute presentation.

A 45-minute Hearthstone segment will focus on content coming to the game in 2021, while a 40-minute Overwatch 2 broadcast will provide insight into the development process and the reveal of some work in progress.

Activision Blizzard confirmed earlier this month that both Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 will not launch until at least 2022.

It also announced that multiple free-to-play Warcraft mobile games are deep in development.

BlizzCon is traditionally held at the Anaheim Convention Center in California each November, but 2020’s event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.