World of Warcraft Free Weekend Announced Ahead of Battle for Azeroth Release

World of Warcraft’s newest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is almost upon us and its bringing with it an epic climax to a war that’s been a long-time coming. Whether you’re for the Horde, or consider yourself (scum) Alliance, there’s a lot of new features that will appeal to both factions. For those that might have let their subscription lax, Blizzard is offering a free weekend for inactive accounts to jump back into the fight.

“Battle for Azeroth fast approaches and you’re needed back on the front lines. This weekend only, we’re upgrading all inactive WoW accounts to allow you full access to the game and all your characters without a subscription,” boasts the official World of Warcraft wesbite. “Rejoin your guild, rally your comrades and get back in the fight.”

There’s also a free Starter Edition available as well for those jumping in for the first time! To learn more, check out what Blizzard had to say right here.

With all of the new additions to the game, including the allied races, this is definitely an expansion that will be great or newcomers, but is made for veterans. Other additions to the online experience include the brand new Warfront mode.

Game director Ion Hazzikostas recently sat down with Polygon to go over some of the questions fans have had about the new Warfronts and what exactly they mean for the title. What we learned was that they apparently were heavily influenced by the strategy game Warcraft 3 and will feature 20-player PvE missions with the characters at the helm of heroes leading the charge for the faction they’ve pledged their loyalty too. You’re going to hear a lot of “For the Horde” over here at WWG, just saying.

The director opened up a bit about one of the first missions that players can embark on called Stromgarde Keep, which will be available in the Arathi Highlands. For those that have been with this franchise since the vanilla days, this zone will be very familiar to you. The event will then launch with Horde vs Alliance until one of the factions has enough resources to kickstart a Warfront.

Seems pretty straightforward, and a really enjoyable PvE experience. The ultimate goal is to take control of the zone, which can then spur a counter Warfront for the ultimate revenge. The director also made it clear that winning a Warfront isn’t the only goal either, simply launching one will reap the benefits. Since there is no “failure state,” there’s no reason not to launch right in. Eventually, the zones will trade hands from faction to faction every 1-2 weeks, though we don’t have any clear idea what exactly the rewards will be for holding down a zone versus simply partaking.

“In Battle for Azeroth, the stakes for the Alliance and the Horde are incredibly high, and a player’s faction will have a more meaningful impact on their experience than in any World of Warcraft expansion to date,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Whether they’re journeying to unexplored lands to recruit allies or fighting to secure war resources, players will redefine what it truly means to be ‘For the Horde’ or ‘For the Alliance’ when the expansion arrives this August.”

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth begins August 14th!

Feel free to join the author of this story over on Twitter – that is if you don’t mind talking to a hardcore Horde player (we can be obnoxious) – @DirtyEffinHippy.