When does WoW Forever launch?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 12, 2026 | WoW Forever announced at BlizzCon 2026 |
| September 17, 2026 | Beta begins |
| October 15, 2026 | Blizzard announces the stress test, originally set for October 19 |
| October 16, 2026 | Community manager Kaivax moves the stress test to October 21 |
| October 21, 2026 | Stress test: Europe realms at 17:00 UTC, Americas, Oceania, Korea and Taiwan at 21:00 UTC; also the last full day of beta testing |
| October 27, 2026 | Name reservations open; early reservation for pre-purchase players runs October 27 to November 3 |
| November 4, 2026 | Worldwide launch |
Launch day: what is and is not known
The date, November 4, 2026, is confirmed by Blizzard's news post and the Battle.net shop listing. What is not announced: a launch hour, whether the servers open region by region, and whether beta characters carry into the launch game. This page says "not announced" rather than guessing.
The stress test on October 21 runs on the same production hardware that will power the launch servers, so it is the closest public preview of launch day itself. See how long it lasts and how the beta hands over to launch.
Before launch: name reservations
Name reservations open on October 27, 2026. Players who pre-purchase the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack or the limited-time Warcraft Forever Collection get early name reservation from October 27 to November 3. Names are first come, first served and not guaranteed. Full details: name reservation.
Deciding what to play before launch day? See all 9 WoW Forever classes and race combinations.
About prices: WoW Forever is included in an existing WoW subscription or Game Time, with optional paid upgrade packs. We do not list pack prices because we have not verified them — check the official Battle.net shop page.