Vanilla World of Warcraft is soon to be in players hands once more, as Blizzard has now announced World of Warcraft Classic's upcoming release date. Subscribers will be able to return to a pre-Cataclysm Azeroth, where both Onyxia and Ragnaros await 40-player raid groups in dark caverns, starting August 27. All current World of Warcraft players with an active subscription will be able to play World of Warcraft Classic alongside the base game.

While World of Warcraft Classic's release date may be a bit later in summer than some Alliance and Horde members were anticipating, Blizzard's got a good reason for the late August launch. Blizzard is planning a robust round of testing for World of Warcraft Classic before it goes live. Relaunching a 15-year-old  MMO is no simple matter, after all, especially with all of the new technology Blizzard is building into the game where players can't see it.

For those who can't wait for August 27, there's potentially good news. Blizzard will start inviting players to beta testing for World of Warcraft Classic on May 15 - tomorrow. These first beta testers will be able to participate in three 2-day stress tests, the first of which is May 22-23. In order to be accepted into the beta, players have to opt-in through their Blizzard accounts. Players will need an active subscription to be up for consideration, but only a relative few will ultimately be accepted.

Blizzard will also be opening up early character creation for World of Warcraft subscribers prior to World of Warcraft Classic's launch. This early character creation window will open on August 13. Players with an active World of Warcraft subscription will be able to create three characters, reserving their names going into World of Warcraft Classic's launch. Server info will be available closer to this date.

It's been a long time coming but Blizzard is finally delivering the World of Warcraft Classic experience that fans of the original game have been clamoring for. It seems like just recently Blizzard was commenting on how relaunching the vanilla World of Warcraft experience just wasn't realistic, yet here we are just months away from launch. It may not be the idyllic experience some may imagine it to be, but it'll be nostalgic and as unique as ever. And, at the very least, it'll give World of Warcraft players ready to take a break from Battle for Azeroth an alternative just a button click away.

World of Warcraft Classic launches August 27 on PC.