As the popular MMORPG saw over the years, WoW fans began creating their own private servers offering the "classic" WoW experience that didn't include any of the multiple expansions or updates over the course of the game's lifetime.

In April 2016, Blizzard began closing down to the dismay of fans. The company cited the shutdown was to "protect against intellectual property infringement."

It was November 2017 when Blizzard announced it'd release its own version of the "vanilla" experience called .

Along with revealing the WoW Classic release date, Blizzard also listed plans for both a beta and stress test of the game. Players who opt-in for the testing on their account manager page and have an active subscription will be randomly selected for the beta starting May 15. Then the developer will have three stress tests where players can log in to play the game for a short period of time on the following dates:

• Stress test 1: May 22-23
• Stress test 2: June 19-20
• Stress test 3: July 18-19

Players who want to secure their name for WoW Classic can create their character starting on Aug. 13. Following the release of the game, Blizzard will add in original WoW content in the order of their initial release date. 

Blizzard didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.