Summary
- Speculation suggests that the next World of Warcraft expansion pack could be released on November 23, 2024, based on the dates of upcoming Dragonriding race events and the game's 20-year anniversary.
- Blizzard has been holding Dragonriding race events in preparation for allowing dynamic flying in zones beyond the Dragon Isles.
- The Dragonriding race events have been well-received by players, with the Kalimdor Cup being extended due to its popularity.
Some new Dragonriding events in World of Warcraft might have just given players a hint as to when the next expansion might drop. While the hint is based mostly on speculation, the timeline for World of Warcraft’s current release schedule would line up almost perfectly.
To gear up for the eventual shift to allow dynamic flying in zones beyond the Dragon Isles in World of Warcraft, Blizzard has been holding Dragonriding race events in old world continents. The Kalimdor cup ended recently, with the Eastern Kingdoms Cup set to take place from October 4 through October 17.
However, on the Patch 10.2 Public Test Realm servers, players have discovered the dates for several other new Dragonriding race events in old continents for next year. While the races are exciting enough on their own, what’s more is that the final event could provide a hint on when players could expect the next World of Warcraft expansion pack. The Broken Isles Cup–the last of the race events–is planned to end on October 23, 2024–right around when the expansion could be expected to release.
Dragonflight released on July 15, 2022, so next year marks the two-year anniversary of the expansion. World of Warcraft confirmed it would be making Dragonriding an evergreen system, and that it hoped to do so no later than the next expansion, suggesting the Dragonriding races will probably happen before then. Since the Broken Isles Cup ends exactly a month before the 20-year anniversary of the game, some players believe these events are strong evidence that World of Warcraft is preparing for an expansion release on November 23, 2024, even if that would exceed the typical lifespan of an expansion by a few months.
It is important to remember that this is all speculation. It is possible the dates for these Dragonriding events could be changed, and that the next expansion could release sooner or later than next November. Players will have to wait for an official announcement–possibly at Blizzcon on November 3 and 4–to find out for sure.
Either way, the Dragonriding race events are something players should definitely look forward to. The Kalimdor Cup was so popular that World of Warcraft extended the dates by a week, so many have high hopes for the courses in Outland, Northrend, Pandaria, and the Broken Isles. It unfortunately seems like World of Warcraft isn’t planning to do a race event in the Warlords of Draenor zones yet, but that could change in the future. Regardless, fans will have plenty of races to challenge next year until they can finally use Dragonriding anywhere in World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.