WoW Forever launch checklist: time, price, names, PC requirements

What time does WoW Forever launch in my time zone?

WoW Forever launches globally on November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, according to Blizzard, and the countdown on its official page targets 23:00 UTC. That is 6 p.m. in New York and Montreal, 11 p.m. in London, and midnight on November 5 in Paris, Berlin and Brussels. In most of continental Europe, the launch falls in the night from Wednesday to Thursday.

Every city, the winter-time change and the dates before launch: WoW Forever release time.

Blizzard's French news gives the launch as November 5 at midnight, Paris time, while its French page says November 4: it is the same moment. What's new at launch and the 2027 roadmap are in our release guide. Coming from Retail or new to Classic? Read WoW Forever vs Classic Era vs Retail and keep our WoW glossary at hand for the words of group chat.

Is WoW Forever free, and how much does it cost?

WoW Forever is not free to play, but it costs nothing on top of World of Warcraft: access is included with any WoW subscription or game time, Blizzard says. Three optional packs add the Skyborne race and extras: the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection, at $29.99, $59.99 and $79.99 in the US as reported from the Battle.net shop. Mamytwink reports the same figures in euros.

Subscription, game time, packs and what is free: is WoW Forever free?

In the game itself, only the Skyborne race and its Zephras Isle quests need a pack (Heroic or higher); the rest of the packs is cosmetics, beta access, game time and Invite-A-Friend codes. Any subscription length works, and so does game time bought with a WoW Token in modern WoW, Blizzard Customer Support said on September 18. Inside Forever, Blizzard has "no plans" for WoW Tokens, MassivelyOP reports.

The Collector's Edition holds a Warcraft Forever Collection code and a 13-inch dwarf and bear statue; restock orders ship in February 2027, one per household. Mamytwink reports €150 for the French edition.

When and how can you reserve your character name?

Early name reservation for WoW Forever runs from October 27 to November 3, 2026 and comes with any Forever pack: Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack, Warcraft Forever Collection or Collector's Edition. It opens at 6 p.m. CET in Europe and 1 p.m. PDT in North America. You create up to three characters across all rulesets, first come, first served, each with a two-part name unique in your region.

• Two parts: a first name and a second name. Only the full combination must be unique in your region, so your characters can share a family-style second name, and the name filter checks both parts together.
• Hide the second name: Options > Nameplates > "My Secondary Name". It still shows in chat.
• Length and characters: 2 to 12 characters, no triple letters, no apostrophes or hyphens, accents allowed, stricter rules on Roleplaying, and no paid name change for now, according to Method.gg.
• No head start: Blizzard Customer Support said on October 7 that "there isn't any early access associated with" the reservation. You create your characters and pick a ruleset from October 27, then you play on November 4.
• Name enforcement: during the beta, Blizzard forced renames and removed beta access over names far outside its code of conduct, and Customer Service "cannot and will not assist with any appeals".

Was there a stress test or Server Slam before the WoW Forever launch?

Yes: the WoW Forever stress test, Blizzard's Server Slam, ran on October 21, 2026 after a move from October 19, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. CEST in Europe and from 2 to 6 p.m. PDT in the Americas. Anyone could play without a subscription on the launch servers, and every character, name and guild was wiped afterwards. Blizzard has posted no results as of October 25, 2026.

The beta closed on October 23 at 10 a.m. PDT (7 p.m. in Paris), two days later than first planned, after a 24-hour "WoW Forever Beta Celebration" in the starting zones; Blizzard warned that it held "items and experiences that will not be a part of WoW Forever after it launches". Kaivax then announced "a few short days" of work on "priority issues and the game service itself" before launch day.

The hours by time zone and how the test went are in our Server Slam guide. Nothing from the beta or the stress test carries over to launch (see the next question).

Does WoW Forever beta progress carry over to launch?

No. Blizzard Support's beta article, updated October 14, 2026, says "progress in Beta will not be carried over after official launch": every WoW Forever character starts from scratch on November 4. The 16 Legacy points granted to all testers on October 8 were a beta gift that ended with the beta on October 23. At launch, Legacy points come from 65 challenges, up to 16 spent per character.

• Legacy at launch: 65 challenges worth 1 point each for your account, and up to 16 points spent per character. The system opens with your first point (level 25, skill 150 in a non-gathering profession, or the whole world map explored) and the Y key. Details in our Legacy guide.
• Beta-only prices: the 1 silver talent respec and the cheap Legacy respec were announced for the beta only.
• Beta bans apply only to the beta account and don't carry over to launch, name reservations included (Blizzard Customer Support, October 6).
• Transfers: Icy Veins reports that Forever "will not launch with the ability for characters to transfer", and no source mentions copying characters from Classic Era or modern WoW.

What PC do you need for WoW Forever?

Blizzard Support lists the WoW Forever minimum as Windows 10 64-bit, a 4-core 3.0 GHz processor, a DirectX 12 graphics card with 4 GB (GeForce GTX 10 series or Radeon RDNA 1), 8 GB of RAM and an SSD with 128 GB free. Recommended: Windows 11, 8 performance cores, an 8 GB card (RTX 40 series or RDNA 3) and 16 GB of RAM. On Mac, the minimum is macOS 12 with an Apple M2.

• Old graphics cards: Forever needs a GPU built on AMD Graphics Core Next 1 (2012), Nvidia Maxwell (2014), Intel Skylake (2015) or newer. A GeForce GTX 760, 770 or 780 or a Radeon HD 6950 is not supported; a GTX 750 Ti or GTX 9xx is, but stays "well below the minimum requirements", Blizzard warns.
• Find your card on Windows: Settings > System > Display > Advanced display, or Device Manager > Display adapters.
• Mac: on the beta, MSAA is turned off on Mac, and a Blizzard developer wrote on October 8 that it may not be fixed before launch.
• Controller: Blizzard announced official gamepad support, and the beta added class flyouts, a compact action bar and gamepad bars in Edit Mode. The requirements still list a keyboard and mouse, and Steam Deck has not been mentioned as of October 15.
• Disk space: a beta known issue (October 1) says the install is "larger than intended", and Blizzard is working to reduce it.
• Console: Blizzard has no console version to announce, developers said at PAX Aus according to JudgeHype (October 13).

Which ruleset should you pick at WoW Forever launch?

WoW Forever has no realms: you pick a ruleset, Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Roleplay-PvP at launch, and Hardcore arrives later, in winter on Blizzard's roadmap. On Normal, world PvP needs mutual consent; on PvP, all your characters must belong to one faction. You can't switch afterwards, and you can't group across rulesets, so pick with your friends before creating characters on October 27.

Playing with players of your language: language servers in WoW Forever.

Battlegrounds mix players from every ruleset except Hardcore, and a Hardcore character who dies can move to another ruleset, PvP included. No French or other language realm is announced: the Preferred Online Language setting (Options > System > Languages and Social) covers your whole account and changes once every 24 hours. More in our realms guide and our Hardcore guide.

What should you do before WoW Forever launches?

Before WoW Forever launches on November 4, 2026: check that your subscription or game time is active, get a pack if you want the Skyborne race and name reservation, reserve up to three names by November 3, check your graphics card and free 128 GB on an SSD, prepare your addons, plan your 16 Legacy points, and choose your class, race, ruleset and leveling route.

1. Subscription or game time active on November 4. The 30 days of the Epic Pack and the Collection are added on November 4; game time from a WoW Token bought with gold in modern WoW also works.
2. Invite-A-Friend codes (pack owners): they arrive by email from October 20. Send one to a friend, who redeems it by November 11 and plays from November 4 to 11 without a subscription.
3. Name reservation from October 27 at 6 p.m. CET in Europe (1 p.m. PDT in North America) to November 3: up to three characters across all rulesets, with any pack.
4. PC and install: check your graphics card and free 128 GB on an SSD. Blizzard's name reservation steps have you install World of Warcraft: Forever from the Game Version menu, so update the Battle.net app and your graphics drivers ahead of time.
5. Addons: install them by hand with our install guide, and pick them from our best addons list.
6. Legacy points: plan your 16 points with our Legacy planner and read the 65 challenges.
7. Class and race: compare the nine classes and the Skyborne race, which needs a pack.
8. Ruleset and language: pick Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Roleplay-PvP with your friends, then set your Preferred Online Language.
9. Leveling plan: our leveling tool lists the zones and dungeons for each level, and the dungeons guide gives the levels of the nine new ones.
10. Interface: set up the game options with our interface settings guide.