WoW Forever guide
WoW Forever Release Date: November 4, 2026
World of Warcraft: Forever launches November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST. Beta runs September 17 to October 21, name reservation October 27 to November 3. What is included with a subscription.
World of Warcraft: Forever launches on November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, worldwide, on a single set of servers. That is 6:00 p.m. EST, 11:00 p.m. GMT and midnight CET. Blizzard announced the date at BlizzCon on September 12, 2026, alongside the beta and name-reservation windows below. Everything on this page comes from Blizzard's announcement and pre-purchase post; the talent data linked from it comes from the playable BlizzCon demo.
The full timeline
| Date | What happens | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| September 12, 2026 | Reveal at BlizzCon 2026; pre-purchase opens | Everyone |
| September 17, 2026 | Beta begins | Skyborne Epic Pack and Warcraft Forever Collection buyers |
| October 20, 2026 | Invite-A-Friend launch codes sent by email | Pack buyers (1 or 3 codes) |
| October 21, 2026 | Beta ends | — |
| October 27 – November 3, 2026 | Early name reservation: create and customise up to three characters | Any pack buyer |
| November 4, 2026, 3:00 p.m. PST | Launch | Anyone with a WoW subscription or game time |
| November 4 – 11, 2026 | Launch week: invited friends play without a subscription | Code recipients |
| January 11, 2027 | Warcraft Forever Collection leaves the shop | — |
What you need to play
A regular World of Warcraft subscription or game time. Forever is a third version of the game next to retail and Classic, and it is included in the same subscription. You do not have to buy anything else to log in on November 4. The three optional packs add the Skyborne race, cosmetics, name reservation and, for the two larger packs, beta access; the beta access guide compares them.
What launches on day one
- The original 1–60 Azeroth with new quests along the whole leveling path (Blizzard's figure is over 1,000) and four new zones: Mount Hyjal, the Riverglades, Shen'dralas and Zephras Isle.
- Nine new dungeons and two new raids, one 20-player and one 10-player. Names shown so far include Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, the City of Dalaran, Alcaz Prison, Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps. A new battleground, Darkspear Islands.
- The Skyborne, a new elven race that joins either faction, plus six new race and class combinations: Undead Paladin, Dwarf Shaman, Human Hunter, Gnome Priest, Orc Mage and Troll Warlock.
- Rebuilt talent trees for all nine classes. The demo showed 470 talents, 119 of them new; the talent changes guide has the per-class breakdown and the calculator has every tooltip.
- Legacy, an account-wide perk system fed by challenges, and camping, a campfire-based rest and profession system.
- Normal, PvP and Roleplaying rulesets from launch, with Hardcore planned afterwards. Opt-in transmog and a Classic visual mode.
Level cap and pacing
The cap is 60 and there is no flying. The first raids open on the roadmap after launch rather than on day one: a December 9 unlock has been mentioned for the first raid tier, though Blizzard has not published a full phase calendar. Expect the first weeks to be about leveling, dungeons and the new zones, which is why a leveling build matters more than a raid build right now.
Launch time by region
The 3:00 p.m. PST launch is a single global time. In practice: 6:00 p.m. in New York, 11:00 p.m. in London, midnight in Paris and Berlin, 8:00 a.m. on November 5 in Tokyo, and 10:00 a.m. on November 5 in Sydney. Blizzard has not announced a staggered rollout; if that changes, this page will be updated.
Do this before November 4
- Decide on a class. The class overview is a five-minute read per class, and each calculator page has a leveling build in pickup order.
- Pick a race with the racials page open; the new combinations change a few old defaults, and the Skyborne pick a faction at creation.
- If you bought a pack, reserve names between October 27 and November 3. Three characters per account, first come first served.
- Save your build. The calculator's share link carries the whole build and the order you took the points in, so it survives the beta wipe and a new browser.
Frequently asked
- When does WoW Forever release?
- November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, worldwide.
- When is the WoW Forever beta?
- September 17 through October 21, 2026. It is included with the Skyborne Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection, not with the Heroic Pack or a plain subscription.
- When can I reserve a character name?
- October 27 through November 3, 2026, for anyone who bought one of the three packs. Up to three characters per account.
- Do I need to buy WoW Forever?
- No. A World of Warcraft subscription or game time includes it. The packs are optional and mainly add the Skyborne race, cosmetics and, for the larger two, beta access.
- What is the level cap in WoW Forever?
- 60, as in Classic. There is no flying and no level scaling.
- Is WoW Forever the same as Classic+?
- Yes, it is the game the community called Classic+ for years: the original Azeroth expanded with new zones, dungeons, raids, a race and rebuilt talents. See the full comparison with Classic.