World of Warcraft Development History

Release

• The original version of "World of Warcraft" was released on November 23, 2004. It did not take Blizzard long to develop an additional dungeon -- in December of that year Maraudon was added. In June of 2005 the two battlegrounds of Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley were added. July of 2005 saw the implementation of the first new raid dungeon, Blackwing Lair, as well as the Darkmoon faire. The Arathi Basin battleground and Zul'Gurub raid zone were both added in late 2005. Two separate raid instances in Ahn'Qiraj were implemented in January, 2006, along with improved weather effects. The last 40-man raid dungeon, Naxxramus, was added in June, 2006, along with cross-realm battlegrounds.

"The Burning Crusade"

• "The Burning Crusade" was the first major expansion for "World of Warcraft" and was released in January of 2007. It featured new areas and dungeons to explore, 25-man raids, flying mounts and arena competition. In the spring of 2007 the Black Temple raid dungeon was added and in the summer voice chat was implemented. November 2007 brought the addition of guild banks and another 10-man raid dungeon -- Zul'Aman. The final content patch for this expansion came in March, 2008, and included the Isle of Quel'Danas and the Sunwell raid dungeon.

"Wrath of the Lich King"

• In December of 2008 the second major expansion, "Wrath of the Lich King," was released. In addition to new areas, items, and skills, this expansion featured a new playable "hero" class -- the Death Knight. Argent Tournament daily quests and the raid dungeon of Ulduar were added in April of 2009. The last major content patch of this expansion was the addition of the Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon.

"Cataclysm"

• The third expansion, "Cataclysm," hit the stores in December, 2010, and introduced two new races -- Worgen and Goblins. "Cataclysm" featured a complete redesign of the original starting zones, addition of the ability to fly there, and more than 3,500 new quests. in April, 2011, two of the old raid dungeons, Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub, were changed to five-man heroic dungeons. Two new Firelands raid dungeons were added in June, 2011, along with a dungeon journal.