BlizzCon 2026 is three weeks away — September 12–13 at the Anaheim Convention Center, the first full-format show since 2023. The opening ceremony and main panels stream free, and Blizzard is selling a World of Warcraft BlizzCon Bundle (mount, transmog ensemble, housing decor) for the occasion. But the real story is what might get announced: after a year of datamines, NDAs, and leaks, all signs point to Blizzard finally revealing its long-rumored Classic+ project — codename Project Camelot — and quite possibly Wrath of the Lich King Anniversary realms alongside it.
Here's where things stand, and what it means for the private server ecosystem we track. Full evidence tracker lives on our Classic+ hub.
The Project Camelot evidence, recapped
Camelot started as a version number. Patch 1.60 appeared on Blizzard's internal Classic branch in October 2025 — a suspicious jump from the 1.13/1.14/1.15 lines used for Era, Mastery, and Season of Discovery. In June 2026, dataminer Stiven tied the build to license entries reading "World of Warcraft Camelot," including separate Heroic and Epic editions. Since then the branch has kept moving: 1.60.0 became 1.60.1 in late July, encrypted test environments (WoW Dev Two and Dev Five) update in parallel, and our own CDN watch has logged ten bumps up to build 1.60.1.69407. That is a project in active, accelerating development — not an abandoned experiment.
The circumstantial case piled up too. In January, executive producer Holly Longdale was "cut off" by a staged power outage mid-presentation, right as she teased big news for Classic. Blizzard's 2025 yearbook said the team was cooking on the "long-term future of WoW Classic" — with plus signs drawn beside it. In May, major Classic creators (Xaryu, Sodapoppin, Esfand) were flown to Blizzard HQ under NDA. None of this is confirmation. All of it points the same direction.
The "Infinite Classic" leak — rumor, clearly labeled
An October 2025 forum leak described an "Infinite Classic" experience: a seasonal content model, several new zones, a new hybrid class called the Spellblade, and a six-month battle pass layered on top of the subscription. A separate alleged roadmap places Camelot in Q3 2026 under a "Live Ops" label, implying an ongoing product rather than a one-off release; another anonymous post claims an October 13, 2026 launch.
Treat all of it as speculation. The leak documents contradict each other on basics like the Spellblade's armor type and which zones ship first, and Blizzard has confirmed nothing. History says whatever gets announced won't match every leaked detail.
Wrath of the Lich King Anniversary
The Lich King front and center in Blizzard's BlizzCon announcement video, plus a January Facebook post quoting Arthas — "In the end, you will all serve me" — have the community expecting a WotLK Anniversary reveal, possibly with a pre-patch as early as December 2026. That creates an awkward overlap: leaked timelines put Camelot and Wrath Anniversary landing close together, meaning Blizzard's newest Classic offering could compete with its own anniversary progression for the same players.
What it means for private servers
Now the part we watch closest. Blizzard's legal campaign against private servers has run on a remarkably similar clock to Camelot's development:
- Aug 2025 — Blizzard sues Turtle WoW (shutdown followed May 15, 2026)
- Sep 2025 — cease-and-desist letters hit Project Epoch and Everlook
- May 2026 — Stormforge shuts down after a C&D
- Jun 2026 — nine-count federal lawsuit, including RICO claims, against Project Ascension
To be clear: correlation is not causation. Ordinary IP enforcement fully explains the timing, and Blizzard would likely have sued these servers regardless. But the practical effect is hard to miss — the largest custom Classic servers are being dismantled in the same window Blizzard prepares its own expanded Vanilla product. Ex-Turtle developers have already moved on to an original MMORPG, and every shutdown pushes their players toward either official realms or the smaller servers still standing on our tracker.
If Classic+ launches and delivers what private servers pioneered — new zones, class reworks, fresh endgame on the old world — the remaining server scene shrinks further. If it stumbles, the niche reopens. Either way, September 12–13 decides a lot.
What to watch
Watch for a dedicated Classic panel on the BlizzCon schedule, the creator NDAs lifting (when Xaryu, Sodapoppin, and Esfand all upload simultaneously, the reveal has begun), and continued 1.60.x build activity on our CDN watch. We'll cover the announcement here as it happens.