World of Warcraft: Midnight expansion release date is March 2, 2026 - player housing inbound

We now have an official release date for World of Warcraft: Midnight, and the eleventh expansion for the veteran MMORPG will arrive on March 2, 2026.

Wccftech spotted the release date reveal trailer on YouTube - check it out above. This launch date should mean that early access kicks off on February 27, but that hasn't actually been confirmed by Blizzard yet.

At any rate, this means that there's only just a touch more than three months to wait before the player base can get stuck into this latest World of Warcraft expansion where you "return to the Elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas and stand against Xal'atath and her Void army."

• Read more: World of Warcraft's new second paid currency can be spent on Midnight custom housing
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A major highlight is, of course, the introduction of player housing to World of Warcraft. From what I've seen, this looks nicely implemented, and kind of like The Sims within WoW. The system looks like it keeps things simple enough to design your own home within a neighbourhood, with an advanced placement mode that lets you get more involved with the nuances of home decor if you wish.

Note that for those who've pre-purchased Midnight, player housing is going to be up and running in early access next week, on December 2.

In case you weren't aware, World of Warcraft: Midnight is the second expansion in the Worldsoul Saga which is a trilogy - so there's still one more to come.

It's unusual for Blizzard to release an expansion early in the year, and indeed this is the first time we've had a Q1 launch since way back when the add-ons first began with The Burning Crusade.