The next, and ninth expansion for World of Warcraft, Dragonflight, is coming later in 2022, a much accelerated lauch schedule over the original 2023 planned release date. Set to bring dragons to Azeroth in numbers, types, and colors never seen before, Dragonflight will give players the chance to learn the epic history of the continents' various ancient dragons and how that's interacted with Azeroth's past. They'll also need to ally with them to combat new and dangerous foes.
Dragonflight was originally announced in April, with a planned 2023 launch date. However, that appears now to have been scrapped in favor of an end of 2022 launch and you can pre-purchase the expansion now, if you want to get a head start.
Although you shouldn't, because it's not like there's going to be a shortage.
Whenever you do buy it, though, and when it becomes available, Dragonflight will introduce four new zones to explore: Waking Shores, Ohn'ahran Plains, Azure Span, and Thaldraszus, four very different areas and biomes to adventure through. Dragonriding will act as a new fast travel system with some unique hooks, and there will be a new playable race known as the Dracthyr. Level caps will also increase to 70, and an extensive reworking of WoW's talent tree system. Professions will be updated too with a few new wrinkles, and Blizzard is even planning to make little tweaks to the UI and HUD system.
"We are thrilled to share that we’ll be bringing our next expansion to players later this year," WoW executive producer Holly Longdale said in a statement. "Dragonflight is a return to Azeroth, and the freedom and exploration that World of Warcraft is known for. This is your chance to get up close and personal with the rich history of the storied Dragon Isles, and to immerse yourself in the high-fantasy at the core of the Warcraft universe."