WoW Forever Release Date: Nov 4, 2026 Launch, Beta & Raid Roadmap

Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever at BlizzCon 2026 on September 12, 2026. The Deep Dive panel ran September 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. The legal launch time is November 4, 2026, 3:00 p.m. PST, globally — one clock, not a staggered EU/KR/TW/OCE table. Blizzard has not published per-region go-live hours (searched shop + news September 13, 2026).

PST versus PDT. The Carve a New Path article lede also says “3:00 p.m. PDT.” Later in that same article, and every Battle.net shop footnote we read, the time is PST. November 4, 2026 falls after the US daylight-saving change (first Sunday in November). Treat PST as the legal time. Sources: Blizzard News Carve a New Path (article 24302093) and Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever (article 24301508), both read September 13, 2026; US shop product page, same day.

Forever is included in a normal WoW Subscription / Game Time at launch. The $29.99 / $59.99 / $79.99 packs are optional upgrades (Skyborne, beta, name reservation, cosmetics, invite codes) — not the ticket to log in. Shop regions listed: Americas & Oceania, Europe, Korea, Taiwan. Hub: WoW Forever. How Forever differs from today’s Classic family: Forever vs Classic.

Official dates first. Press-only rows are labelled. Use this table the way the Midnight launch page used its calendar — one row, one clock, one source class.

Beta dates, packs, and the level-30 cap are expanded on WoW Forever Beta. Setting: after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, before Molten Core; Year-1 time bubble; level cap 60 for the foreseeable future (articles 24302093 and 24304071, read September 13, 2026).

Official start is September 17, 2026 (PST). Official end is October 21, 2026 PST on the Battle.net product page and the pre-purchase article. Icy Veins and Blizzard Watch roadmap recaps (read September 13, 2026) print October 22. Delivery gates on this site use October 21.

Access is the Skyborne Epic Pack ($59.99 / €59.99) or the Warcraft Forever Collection ($79.99 / €79.99). The Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99 / €29.99) does not include beta. A subscription alone does not include beta. The beta level cap of 30 appears on the on-stage roadmap and those press recaps — it is not in the official written articles. Treat 30 as press/roadmap until Blizzard writes it.

Blizzard has not said whether beta characters carry over to launch. Treat the window as a test of routes, camps, and the first four new dungeons — not a head start you can bank. Full pack table and a “what to test” list: beta guide. Pre-orders for leveling and dungeons start delivering on November 4, 2026, not during beta.

From October 27 through November 3, 2026 PST you can reserve names and create characters if you own a pack. Official limits: up to three characters, first-come names, pack required. Names are two-part (“first” + “last”) and unique per region (Deep Dive example: “Ana Forever”). Blizzard has not published a paid rename SKU for Forever (searched September 13, 2026).

Invite-A-Friend launch codes are emailed from October 20, 2026 PST and redeemable November 4 through November 11. An invitee can play Forever that week without subscription or Game Time. Gift purchases are excluded. That is a week of access, not a character boost (shop footnote ⁷, read September 13, 2026).

If the name is the product — a guild tag, a two-part first-and-last you will not surrender — the reservation week is the gate, not launch morning. Skyborne itself is a separate paywall; details: Skyborne race guide.

Launch on November 4 does not open raids. The first raid date Blizzard has published is December 9, 2026 (What’s Next recap + press roadmap, read September 13, 2026).

New tier sets and a legendary reward are “revealing in full” later (What’s Next). Spring 2027: unnamed 10 and 20. Summer 2027: unnamed new raid plus a “revamped iconic raid.” Raid pre-orders start delivering on December 9, 2026 — not November 4. We do not book a raid date Blizzard has not set.

US and EU Battle.net shop, scraped September 13, 2026. EU prices include VAT. Base access is the subscription; packs are upgrades.

Heroic contents (official list, article 24301508): Skyborne race + Zephras Isle; Early Name Reservation; Cerulean Prideclaw (riding skill still bought in-game); Shen’dorei Skyseer’s Garb; Veteran Adventurer’s Rucksack; Shen’dorei Windwell toy; Skyborne Housing decor for modern WoW; 1 invite code.

Epic adds beta; 30 days Game Time from November 4; Veteran Adventurer’s Loyal Companion; Outdoor Wear transmog; Zergling, Panda, Diablo, Pachimari pets (Forever-only); Lordaeron and Shen’dorei tabards (Forever-only); two extra invite codes. Collection adds everything in Epic plus Warcraft III: Reforged, the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, and Forsaken & Human Figurine Housing decor (modern WoW; Housing needs Midnight). Collection is on sale through January 11, 2027.

Physical Collector’s Edition (official article 24302498; Gear Store SKU wowccl0012): Collection digital code, 13-inch Dwarf and Bear statue, Zephras Isle mousepad, art prints, pins, companion journal. Box USD/EUR price: missing-evidence in the pages fetched September 13, 2026. Full Skyborne trade-off: Skyborne guide.

Forever is realmless. You pick a ruleset, not a named realm list: Normal (PvP needs consent), PvP (contested-territory world PvP; Season of Discovery-style faction balance), Roleplaying, and Hardcore after launch. Official wording is “large ecosystem,” not “mega-realm.” Named realm count: unpublished. No cross-ruleset grouping. Factions stay separate. Hardcore is a fully enclosed ecosystem; a dead Hardcore character can transfer to another ruleset, including PvP. Collections and Legacy Points are account-wide across rulesets except Hardcore — progress can leave Hardcore; nothing flows in (Deep Dive article 24303313, read September 13, 2026).

Hardcore calendar day: Blizzard has not published one. Press roadmap: “Sometime Between 2026 And 2027.” A Sunday Hardcore panel landed as press only (Wowhead 382875) — world-refresh warning, Legacy-as-roguelike leftovers, Mak’gora tease — with no official written recap. Full permadeath rulebook (buffs, auction house, grouping, corpse runs) remains unpublished. @Warcraft’s “join a new one” line is looser than the Deep Dive article: print transfer to another ruleset, including PvP. Hardcore pre-orders deliver when that ruleset opens — not on November 4.

Spring 2027 (press recaps of the on-stage slide, not the written What’s Next body): two new raids (10 and 20), two new dungeons, new quests and a playable area, a new legendary questline, PvP season refresh. Summer 2027: a revamped iconic raid, a new raid, expanded world content, two new dungeons, PvP refresh, professions and Legacy updates. Those rows have no day stamp.

Four Forever panels ran this weekend. Saturday: What’s Next (official recap 24303862; speakers Ion Hazzikostas, Tim Jones, Nora Mills, Clay Stone). Sunday: Deep Dive (24303313; Wowhead liveblog 382862), Found Photos (24304071), and a Hardcore panel with no official written recap (Wowhead liveblog 382875). The official cinematic is YouTube New Horizons; a Forsaken Paladin leads it. Captions were not read this pass. A live developer Q&A is September 17, 2026 — the same day beta opens (Wowhead 382837; medium). Hardcore is not at launch; the on-stage window is 2026–2027 with no calendar day. First raids unlock December 9, 2026 (Barrow Deeps 10 and Hyjal Summit 20 in official What’s Next; Onyxia 40 is roadmap/press only). Spring 2027 (two raids 10 and 20, two dungeons, a zone, a legendary questline, a PvP season) and Summer 2027 (a revamped iconic raid, a new raid, two dungeons) are press transcriptions of the on-stage slide — medium confidence. Invite-A-Friend codes email from October 20 PST and redeem November 4–11.

Read next.

• BlizzCon 2026 recap
• Hardcore ruleset
• Realmless rulesets
• Raids (December 9)

A checklist that only uses dates Blizzard has set.

• Now–September 16. Decide whether you need beta. If yes, Epic or Collection — Heroic is not enough. Read the beta page before you buy for the cap-30 caveat.
• September 17–October 21. If you have beta, test Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, the Wetlands excavation, and as much of City of Dalaran as a 30 can reach. Do not assume the character survives.
• From October 20. Invite codes land in email. They are for a friend’s first week, not a boost.
• October 27–November 3. Reserve up to three two-part names if you own a pack. First come, first served, per region.
• November 4, 3:00 p.m. PST. Sub or Game Time is enough to play. Skyborne / Zephras still needs Heroic or higher. Leveling is 1–60, no flying, no level scaling, 1,000+ new quests (articles 24303862 + shop). Leveling, dungeons, gold, professions, and coaching pre-orders start delivering that day. Class picks: classes guide. Route notes: leveling guide.
• November 4–11. Invitees without a sub. Expect a tourist week, not a raid week.
• December 9. First raids. Hold a raid plan until then. Custom scope: custom order.
• Hardcore. After launch, 2026–2027. Do not treat it as a launch-week product.

Blizzard has not published a Forever-specific boosting, Token, or instant-60 policy in this week’s articles. We are not inventing one. Company-wide real-money rules still exist as company policy, not as a Forever announcement.

Sources (read September 13, 2026): news.blizzard.com articles 24301145, 24302093, 24301508, 24303862, 24303313, 24304071; us.shop.battle.net and eu.shop.battle.net product pages; Icy Veins and Blizzard Watch roadmap recaps; Wowhead What’s Next liveblog 382824 and Deep Dive liveblog 382862; Hardcore panel liveblog 382875; CE 24302498 / SKU wowccl0012 (box USD missing-evidence).