World of Warcraft: Forever · Release

WoW: Forever release date

Blizzard has set the worldwide launch of World of Warcraft: Forever for November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time.

Launch time in your time zone

Time zone	Launch date and time
Pacific time (PST, US)	Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 3:00 p.m. (Blizzard's figure)
UTC / London time	Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 11:00 p.m.
Paris time (CET)	Thursday, November 5, 2026, 12:00 a.m. (overnight from the 4th to the 5th)

Only the Pacific time comes from Blizzard. The other two rows are our conversion: daylight saving ends on October 25 in France and November 1 in the US, so Paris is 9 hours ahead of the US west coast on that date.

Do you need to buy the game?

No. According to Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever is available with an existing WoW subscription or game time, with no separate purchase. The Skyborne packs are optional: they unlock the new race, cosmetics and, for some, the beta. Details are on the Editions & prices page.

Before launch

September 17 to October 21: the beta, with a level cap of 20 in week one and 30 afterwards.
October 27 to November 3: early character name reservation (up to 3) for holders of the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher.
From October 20: Invite-A-Friend codes emailed, valid November 4 to 11.

After launch: the announced schedule

December 9, 2026: raid unlock for Barrow Deeps (10-player), Hyjal Summit (20-player) and Onyxia's Lair (40-player).
Spring 2027: two more raids, one 10-player and one 20-player.
Summer 2027: a revamped iconic raid and a new raid.
Hardcore mode is announced for "sometime between 2026 and 2027", with no exact date.

This schedule comes only from Icy Veins. Blizzard did not repeat it in the announcements we consulted: treat it as provisional.

Sources

Information checked on September 20, 2026. Points that only come from a community wiki or a single source are flagged in the text.