WoW Classic Closed Beta Ends July 12, Final Stress Test Starts July 25

Blizzard has announced that the WoW Classic closed beta will end July 12. A final stress test will start July 25, followed by the game’s launch August 27.

Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft Classic closed beta will come to a close on July 12. The beta started on May 15, giving players almost two months to remember everything they loved and hated about the popular MMO at launch while helping Blizzard identify bugs before WoW Classic’s official launch at the end of August.

According to community manager Kaivax on Blizzard’s forum, beta testers sent in more than 17,000 bug reports throughout the beta. That helped Blizzard identify hundreds of new bugs (and create a list of elements from WoW’s early days that were working as intended but so odd that players consistently thought they were bugs). Kaivax writes that the development team is satisfied enough with the state of the game now that they can pour their efforts into fixing the remaining issues they’re aware of rather than seeking out new bugs. An internal testing team will continue to put high-level zones and raids through their paces.

Since this is a closed beta, only a small number of people were invited to take part. Players desperate to get back into Azeroth will have one more brief window to do so before WoW Classic’s release. Blizzard will hold the game’s final stress test July 25-26, allowing a lot more players to indulge their nostalgia and the developers in seeing how their bug fixes hold up to a larger server population.

For those who were lucky enough to get an invite to the closed beta, you’ll want to make sure you’re around for the end of the test on July 12. According to Kaivax, “a small in-game event” will be held to usher the beta to a close.

Following the final stress test at the end of July, Blizzard will begin taking name reservations for WoW Classic sometime in August. The throwback MMORPG launches August 27.