Alpha testing for World of Warcraft’s upcoming Dragonflight expansion has begun. Here’s how WoW players can gain access to the closed alpha test.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the alpha test of World of Warcraft’s Dragonflight expansion is now live, with a select group of players eligible to receive invites to participate. The latest expansion to Blizzard’s venerable MMORPG, Dragonflight will bring new content to World of Warcraft, including new playable classes and races, a graphics revamp, and the ability to ride dragon mounts. Dragonflight is currently scheduled to be released before the end of 2022, with fans hoping that it’ll give World of Warcraft a boost following allegations of abuse against Blizzard that sparked widespread outrage in the gaming community.
Unfortunately for WoW players, there isn’t currently a way to get guaranteed access to Dragonflight’s alpha test. In an official blog post announcing that the alpha test was live, Blizzard stated their intention was to solicit feedback from “community veterans, press, fansites, and friends and family” rather than opening up the alpha to anyone who’d like to give WoW’s upcoming expansion a go right now. This is sure to disappoint many players, particularly those who’ve stuck with the game through thick and thin over the years. Even those that put in a preorder for WoW: Dragonflight isn’t guaranteed access at the moment.
However, players can take a few steps to try and improve their chances of accessing the alpha test by opting to become a tester, which puts players in the running to receive one of the invites that will periodically be sent out over the test period.
The first thing players can do to try and access the Dragonflight alpha is to opt-in on Blizzard’s official website, which allows players to receive official updates and the chance to be selected for testing. As the expansion is still in alpha, not all of the new content including new changes to World of Warcraft’s story progression will be available. Notably, signing up also puts players in the running for future beta tests, which potentially could be open to a bigger portion of the community.
All players have to do is visit the official website and click the button to opt-in. Blizzard has also noted that they will only send invitations to accounts with active WoW subscriptions or purchased game time, so players who’ve left Azeroth need to resubscribe or purchase game time to stand a chance. Selected players will receive an email invite allowing them to directly download the Dragonflight alpha client through Blizzard’s Battle.net desktop app. The alpha client can be accessed by selecting WoW in the Battle.net client and selecting the Dragonflight Alpha in the Game Version drop-down menu above the Play button.
Despite the new expansion, WoW is still PC-only and no console ports are in the works, so players on console platforms don’t have any way to access Dragonflight or any WoW content. The limited accessibility of the PC alpha is a little disappointing, but at least opting in also puts players in a good position to be selected to play a potentially more polished and complete Dragonflight experience in beta later this year.
World of Warcraft is available on PC and Mac
Source: Blizzard
Tim is a freelance game guides writer for Screen Rant based in the UK. His love of video games began with Pokémon FireRed on a purple Game Boy Advance and hasn’t yet stopped some twenty years later despite him graduating with a degree in law in 2018 and a second degree in psychology in 2021. His experience includes writing reviews and features on everything from triple A titles to indie games on a blog he shared with friends, turning a lifelong hobby into work he actually enjoys. These days, you can usually find Tim writing, either working on guides for Screen Rant or on his own novel that’s perpetually unfinished. Tim also regularly works as a volunteer mental health support case worker in London. When he’s not working, he spends an inordinate amount of time playing Stardew Valley and Minecraft or trying in vain not to give up again on whatever Soulslike game happens to be trending.
