WoW’s Housing System Is Coming Early, But Only If You Preorder

World of Warcraft players who preorder the game’s new Midnight expansion will receive player housing early, leaked preorder bundles have revealed.

Following the release of WoW’s 11.2 Ghosts of K’aresh update, some players (as spotted and confirmed by Wowhead) were able to view Midnight preorder bundles on the in-game shop ahead of Midnight’s official reveal at Gamescom. The expansion will once again have three different versions–Base, Heroic, and Epic–and each one will grant housing early access.

As for when that early-access period will start, the bundles don’t say, but Blizzard is also continuing the controversial practice of selling a three-day head start to the expansion itself for those who purchase the $90 Epic Edition of the expansion. Blizzard first offered a three-day early-access period with The War Within, WoW’s current expansion.

The Epic Edition additionally includes beta access and a number of exclusive cosmetics, including a Midnight Housing Bundle with light- and void-themed housing decorations. It’s unclear if players will be able to earn these decorations or variations of them through gameplay, or if purchasing them is the only way to earn them.

Blizzard has not yet commented on the leaked preorder bundles and we still don’t know exactly when Midnight will release. At BlizzCon 2023, Warcraft executive producer Chris Metzen said Blizzard is looking to release new WoW expansions on a faster schedule than the MMORPG’s usual two-year cycle. Midnight seems to be lining up with that approach, and could possibly release early next year, though that is still speculation. We will know more at Gamescom, where Blizzard is set to reveal the expansion in full. A Midnight prequel novel, Blood Ties, is set to release on November 18.

We went hands-on with WoW’s player-housing system earlier this year, and came away impressed at the seemingly endless decorating possibilities. Blizzard has slowly revealed more details about player housing since then, sharing how its neighborhood system will work and how players will essentially level up their house’s potential over time.