Older World of Warcraft expansion content now free with Iron Tide update

Here's a sweet bonus we almost missed among all the Iron Tide update notes: all World of Warcraft expansion packs up to and including Mists of Pandaria are now free. That means that all expansion content, with the exception of the forthcoming Warlords of Draenor pack, is available at no extra cost to subscribers. This includes access to Azeroth, Outland, Northend, The Elemental Planes and Pandaria.

The Iron Tide update is rolling out this week, ushering the new character model updates, as well as a wealth of new content, tweaks and fixes. It's release comes in preparation for the Warlords of Draenor expansion, which hits November 13. Blizzard must be happy: subscribers have risen for the first time since the Mists of Pandaria release back in 2012, and the new expansion isn't even out yet.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.