The anticipation for the release of the first WoW Expansion, The Burning Crusade, in WoW Classic is at an all-time high with the upcoming pre-patch for the Anniversary realm. The release time for this highly awaited event is just around the corner, set to coincide with the end of the regional maintenance. For players eager to dive back into the world of Draenei/Blood Elf and relive the nostalgia of 2007, here’s a countdown of how long you’ll have to wait.
It’s important to note that maintenance schedules can sometimes experience last-minute delays, but based on the current official schedule, here’s when you can expect the WoW TBC Anniversary pre-patch to roll out. The maintenance times for US and Europe clients will have separate timeframes, with the US client receiving the pre-patch first.
### When will WoW Anniversary TBC pre-patch release for various regions?
#### Maintenance time for the US client of WoW Classic
WoW Classic has already commenced a day-long maintenance period to deploy the Anniversary TBC pre-patch, starting at 3 pm PST on January 12 for the US servers. The maintenance is expected to conclude at the same time today (3 pm PST on January 13, 2025). Here’s a breakdown of the release times for the TBC pre-patch in various regions for players using the US client:
– United States and South America: 3 pm PST / 4 pm MST / 5 pm CST / 6 pm EST / 7 pm BRT (January 13, 2025)
– Europe: 11 pm GMT / 11 pm UTC (January 13, 2025) / 1 am CET (January 14, 2025) / 1 am EET (January 14, 2025)
– Africa: 1 am SAST (January 14, 2025)
– Asia: 3 am GST / 4:30 am IST / 7 am PHT / 7 am CST (Beijing Time) / 8 am JST/KST (January 14, 2025)
– Australia: 10 am AEDT / 12 pm NZDT (January 14, 2025)
With this deadline, the window for free character transfers to the vanilla Classic realm has now closed.
#### Maintenance time for the EU client of WoW Classic
For players using the Europe client of WoW Classic, the Anniversary TBC maintenance began on January 13 at 6 am CET. This maintenance period will also last for 24 hours, meaning players using the EU client will receive the pre-patch on January 14 at 6 am CET. Here’s a look at the release times for various timezones:
– United States and South America: 9 pm PST / 10 pm MST / 11 pm CST (January 13, 2025) / 12 am EST midnight (January 14, 2025) / 12 am BRT midnight (January 14, 2025)
– Europe: 5 am GMT / 5 am UTC / 6 am CET / 7 am EET (January 14, 2025)
– Africa: 7 am SAST (January 14, 2025)
– Asia: 9 am GST / 10:30 am IST / 1 pm PHT / 1 pm CST (Beijing Time) / 2 pm JST/KST (January 14, 2025)
– Australia: 4 pm AEDT / 6 pm NZDT (January 14, 2025)
For players experiencing WoW for the first time with the Anniversary realms, the pre-patch serves as a preparatory phase. The key features to look forward to are the introduction of the Draenei and Blood Elf races, along with the Jewelcrafting profession and trainers. The opening of the Dark Portal to the Outland, marking the next major chapter, will occur with the official release of WoW Anniversary TBC on February 5.
Make sure to check out our other guides on the game for more insights and tips.
