Blizzard has not announced whether or when the Anniversary realms move on from TBC — there is no fixed shutdown date, and your characters are not deleted. The final TBC phase is Sunwell Plateau; what follows it on the Anniversary realms has not been announced by Blizzard. Blizzard has not announced a date for Wrath Anniversary, so watch the official Classic roadmap for any news.
Quick facts
- What "ending" means: the realms don't close — they change expansion. Level 70 characters, gold, gear and reputations stay on the same realm.
- Signal it's about to end: the Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch (new talents, class changes, Death Knight creation) lands a few weeks before Northrend opens. That pre-patch is the real end of TBC gameplay.
- Last content phase: Sunwell Plateau, with Magisters' Terrace and the Isle of Quel'Danas dailies. When Sunwell has been live for a while, the expiry clock is running.
- Phase order: Karazhan / Gruul / Magtheridon → Serpentshrine Cavern / Tempest Keep → Hyjal / Black Temple → Zul'Aman → Sunwell.
- Where to confirm the date: the Blizzard news post for whatever follows TBC Anniversary and the in-game launcher banner. Any exact day you see elsewhere is a guess until it appears there.
Timeline of the Anniversary realms so far
| November 2024 | 20th Anniversary Classic realms open (fresh vanilla) |
| February 5, 2026 | Realms progress into The Burning Crusade |
| 2026 | TBC phases roll out: Phase 2 on May 14, Phase 3 on August 27 |
| Not announced | Zul'Aman, Sunwell Plateau and whatever follows TBC |
Will I lose my level 70 when TBC Anniversary ends?
No. When TBC Classic moved on in 2022, the move to Wrath was a realm progression, not a wipe. When TBC Classic moved on in 2022, a level 70 became a Wrath character on the same realm, kept its badges-turned-currency conversions and gear, and started levelling to 80 the moment Northrend opened. If you want to keep a character on Burning Crusade rules, there is no permanent TBC Era realm — that option did not exist for the original TBC Classic either, so don't plan around one.
What should I finish before the Wrath pre-patch?
Two things are worth the effort: the Hand of A'dal title chain and Sunwell gear. Hand of A'dal requires the Black Temple and Hyjal attunement quests to be completed before the attunements are removed, and those tend to go away around the pre-patch. TBC arena titles are also locked to the season they came from — the last TBC arena season closes at pre-patch, and the Gladiator mounts stop being obtainable after that.
Less urgent: reputation grinds and profession recipes. Those stay available in Wrath.
Is the 20th Anniversary event the same thing?
No, and this is where a lot of "when does it end" searches go wrong. The 20th Anniversary celebration was an in-game event on retail WoW (Tarren Mill vs Southshore, the anniversary vendors, the Blackrock Depths raid) that ran from late October 2024 into January 2025. It is already over. The Anniversary realms are separate Classic servers that keep progressing through expansions, and those are what TBC Anniversary refers to.
Will there be another fresh vanilla start after Wrath?
Blizzard has not confirmed a second fresh cycle in anything I can verify. Blizzard has not announced what follows TBC on the Anniversary realms — whether Wrath comes next is unknown. If a new fresh-start realm set is announced, it will show up on the official Classic roadmap, which is refreshed at the start of each year.
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