World of Warcraft is getting a sub price increase in several countries, and it couldn't come at a worse time

World of Warcraft is in a precarious situation right now. Its latest patch, 12.0.5, brought with it a slew of major bugs, including one so bad Blizzard has had to temporarily switch off housing in The Americas and Oceania. As the developer-publisher continues to put out the various fires in the MMO, it has somehow deemed that the time is ripe for a pricing adjustment in the UK, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Turkey. The optics are, naturally, atrocious. The good news, at least, is that the changes won't be coming into effect until June.

As shared by Blizzard, from Monday, June 22, 2026, World of Warcraft subscriptions will rise in the affected regions due to "a variety of factors, including global and regional market conditions." The hike is across all sub bands, from one month all the way up to a year. While the UK has gotten off the lightest, with a roughly 10% increase, it's not looking good for Kazakhstani players who will have to pay anywhere up to 40% more to renew. The Turkish Lira, meanwhile, will no longer be supported, with Turkish players now having to pay in Euros. Considering relative buying power in these countries is lower than the US, this is only going to sting more.

While WoW has stuck to its guns with its $15 monthly price point since it launched in 2004, there have been adjustments in other regions since to remain in line with their US counterpart. For example, last year, players in Australia and New Zealand were hit with an increase. As such, this latest move appears to be a continuation of that process. That being said, it never feels good to have to shell out more for the same, especially considering the state WoW is in after its most recent patch. You can check out the changes here.

Following the launch of WoW 12.0.5, players began reporting major bugs that were affecting multiple classes. While some like the Commander of the Dead Death Knight bug have now been fixed, others, such as a Holy Armaments issue that is reportedly causing major fps drops for Paladins, are still running amok - oof.

Perhaps the most egregious issue for players in The Americas and Oceania is that of player housing being temporarily removed due to a "critical bug" that popped up during Blizzard's pre-patch testing. The studio says "fixing this bug is a top priority for us," but it's effectively fire wood at this point. 12.0.5 has been disastrous on multiple fronts, and opting to announce pricing changes now is certainly one of the choices of all time.