World of Warcraft: The War Within Beta is Now Live

World of Warcraft has officially begun its beta testing phase for The War Within. The first wave of invites has gone out, so World of Warcraft players who opted in for the test, or who purchased the Epic Edition of The War Within, can check their clients to see if they’ve been given access to the beta.

The War Within, the next expansion for World of Warcraft and the first chapter of the Worldsoul Saga, is currently in development. Recently, World of Warcraft confirmed The War Within would be moving into its beta, marking another major milestone towards the expansion’s release.

Now, the beta for World of Warcraft: The War Within has officially begun. Fans who pre-purchased The War Within, or lucky players who opted in to the test, can install the client and either make new characters or import their existing ones into the beta. To mark the occasion, World of Warcraft released another The War Within trailer, featuring gameplay footage and narration by Alleria Windrunner.

How to Play the World of Warcraft: The War Within Beta

• Check the Game Versions drop-down menu for The War Within Beta on the World of Warcraft page of the Battle.net client.
  • Players may receive an email informing them of their invitation, but they should check their Battle.net client directly.
• If available, install and update the beta client.
  • If installed in the same directory as retail World of Warcraft, the client can share files to significantly reduce the required disc space to 22.4 GB, rather than 112 GB.
• Create a new character, or use the character copy function to duplicate an existing character from Dragonflight, and begin testing.

While some World of Warcraft fans will receive an email informing them of their access, the best way to confirm if they have the beta is through the client itself. If players are invited to the beta, they will find The War Within Beta in the drop-down menu for World of Warcraft’s Game Versions in the Battle.net client. If fans don’t have beta access, they may be invited in future weeks, though they can also pre-purchase the Epic Edition of World of Warcraft: The War Within to guarantee them a spot.

The beta marks a major milestone on the path to The War Within’s launch. World of Warcraft expansion betas typically last no more than four months, so it seems likely that The War Within will arrive no later than October. With evidence suggesting World of Warcraft: The War Within’s Pre-Patch will be on August 20, players have a pretty good guess as to when to expect the new release.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the ninth expansion pack for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.

Dragonflight features an overhauled user interface, raises the level cap to 70, and introduces a new race and class. 

Released

November 28, 2022