Blizzard plans to close all World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Mastery realms early next year

Blizzard has had a hard time letting go of the World of Warcraft: Classic Era since progressing the servers to The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. They have tried to keep the vanilla setting alive by leaving the servers in perpetual limbo and experimenting with new seasonal servers that offer a slightly altered experience. Well, it looks like the test run of these servers is coming to a close, and players who invested in the Season of Mastery servers only have one option come February.

On February 14, all World of Warcraft: Season of Mastery servers will become locked and unavailable for play. The “enter world” button will be disabled, but players can still access their character list for a limited time.

During this time period, Blizzard will offer free character transfers for Season of Mastery servers, allowing players to transfer their characters to either a Classic Era realm or a Wrath of the Lich King Classic realm. It is no secret that most Classic Era realms are dead at this point, so most players who value their Season of Mastery characters will likely want to transfer them to a Wrath Classic server.

Blizzard does not have a set time frame to allow transfers from Season of Mastery realms, and they do promise to let players know when the option is coming to a close. Season of Mastery had a small following when it first started, but it really has only served a tiny and niche audience over the course of its duration. It is unknown if Blizzard plans to do a new season, but it seems unlikely at this point given the less than stellar performance of their trial run.

It is also a mystery as to what Blizzard plans to do with Wrath of the Lich King Classic once it runs its course. They have sent out a survey requesting feedback on a Cataclysm Classic, but most World of Warcraft players only value the initial game and the first two expansions when it comes to nostalgia.

Related: 5 ways Dragonflight shows that World of Warcraft devs are listening to fan feedback

Fans looking to dive back into World of Warcraft will find a lot to look forward to with the Dragonflight expansion and Wrath of the Lich King Classic.