World of Warcraft: Forever key art
  1. WoW Forever Guide
  2. Start Here
  3. Release Date

WoW Forever Release Date and Launch Time

Checked against official sources ·

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: Forever launches globally on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. That is 23:00 UTC, the same moment in every region. The converter below shows what that means where you live.

WoW: Forever global launch

–Days
–Hours
–Min
–Sec

Wed, Nov 4, 11:00 PM UTC (UTC)

RegionLocal time
US PacificWed, Nov 4, 3:00 PM PST
US EasternWed, Nov 4, 6:00 PM EST
UKWed, Nov 4, 11:00 PM GMT
Central EuropeThu, Nov 5, 12:00 AM GMT+1
KoreaThu, Nov 5, 8:00 AM GMT+9
TaiwanThu, Nov 5, 7:00 AM GMT+8
SydneyThu, Nov 5, 10:00 AM GMT+11

Why 23:00 UTC, not 22:00

Blizzard’s posts write the launch time as “3:00 p.m. PST” in most places and “3:00 p.m. PDT” in one. On November 4 the US West Coast is already back on standard time (daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026), so 3:00 p.m. Pacific on launch day is PST, UTC−8, which is 23:00 UTC. If Blizzard announces a different time we will update this page.

Key dates

Date What happens
September 17, 2026 Beta begins (Skyborne Epic Pack and Warcraft Forever Collection owners)
October 21, 2026 Open stress test for everyone, no subscription needed
October 23, 2026 Beta ends
October 27 – November 3, 2026 Early Name Reservation for upgrade edition owners: up to 3 characters (times by region)
November 4, 2026, 3:00 p.m. Pacific Global launch. Level cap 60, four new zones, nine new dungeons, Skyborne
November 4 – 11, 2026 Invite-A-Friend launch week: invited friends can play without a subscription
December 9, 2026 First raids open: The Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia’s Lair (40)
Winter 2026–27 Hardcore ruleset launches (season only, no exact date)
January 11, 2027 Last day to buy the limited-time Warcraft Forever Collection
Early 2027 Standard Definition Skyborne models and Druid forms

Blizzard’s pre-purchase article originally said the beta would run through October 21. The beta was then extended to October 23, as reported by Wowhead from Blizzard’s announcement.

Do you need to buy anything?

No. Access to WoW: Forever is included with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time; it is not a separate purchase. The optional upgrade editions add the Skyborne race, Early Name Reservation, cosmetics and, for the higher tiers, 30 days of Game Time. See What is WoW Forever for the edition breakdown.

How to be ready at launch

Blizzard’s own checklist for name reservation doubles as a launch checklist:

  1. Update your graphics drivers.
  2. Install or update the Battle.net desktop app.
  3. Select World of Warcraft, then in the Game Version menu above the Play button choose World of Warcraft: Forever and install it.
  4. Decide your ruleset (Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or RP-PvP; Hardcore arrives in winter) and, on PvP, your faction.
  5. Pick a class. Our class picker and race and class table only use official data.

What comes after launch

Blizzard’s official 2026–2027 roadmap puts the first raids on December 9 and the Hardcore launch in winter, followed by major updates in spring 2027 (two new raids, two new dungeons, new quests and a playable area, a legendary questline, a PvP season refresh) and summer 2027 (a revamped iconic raid, a new raid, expanded world content, two more dungeons, a PvP season refresh, profession and Legacy updates). Blizzard notes that content and timing may change. Our roadmap page tracks each item.

Blizzard's official World of Warcraft: Forever 2026 to 2027 roadmap
Blizzard's official roadmap slide from the BlizzCon 2026 What's Next panel. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Sources

Facts on this page come from the sources below: official Blizzard posts unless marked as a secondary source. If Blizzard changes something, we update the page and the date above.