Battle for Azeroth introduced a synchronized expansion launch
Battle for Azeroth opened at 22:00 UTC on August 13, 2018, corresponding to midnight on August 14 in Central Europe.
Battle for Azeroth opened at 22:00 UTC on August 13, 2018. Central Europe had already reached midnight on August 14. For the first time, Blizzard synchronized an expansion launch across the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea and Australia/New Zealand.
Horde adventurers traveled to Zandalar while the Alliance explored Kul Tiras. Faction conflict returned to the foreground after Legion, with the Heart of Azeroth and Azerite connecting character progression to the world’s wounds.
Players across those regions could begin together even though their calendars showed different dates. The archive therefore records August 13, the UTC day of the shared unlock.
WoWAzeroth archive. This is a retrospective account of the event above, not an article originally published on its launch date.