If you’ve always wanted to get into World of Warcraft but didn’t – among other things – have the money for the Battle Chest, you’re in luck. Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft and the expansions included in the Battle Chest (The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm) will now be included with the regular WoW subscription.

Paying $14.99 per month will now grant access to all of this content, and to make the deal sweeter, the most recent expansion Legion is also included. As per the official WoW blog, “The Battle for Azeroth pre-patch is here, and with this update, we’re making some exciting changes to the way players access World of Warcraft.

“Starting today, new players can gain access to all World of Warcraft content up through and including the Legion expansion simply by becoming a subscriber—you no longer need to purchase the original World of Warcraft base game.”

At last year’s BlizzCon, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic, the much-awaited vanilla version of the MMORPG that fans have been clamouring for. How the current subscription model will affect WoW Classic remains to be seen. It’s possible that Blizzard made this move to ensure a smoother experience for anyone picking up World of Warcraft for the first time.

If the past doesn’t interest you, then it may be worth looking at Battle of Azeroth, World of Warcraft’s next big expansion that will be available on August 14th for $49.99.

And no, Mists of Pandaria is still sold separately. How long will that last? We’ll find out in the coming months. You can still purchase World of Warcraft separately for £9.99 either on retail DVD or via digital download from Battle.net in case you want to avoid a prolonged addiction.

What are your thoughts on the new retail edition of World of Warcraft? Let us know in the comments below.