Confirmed by Blizzard
The beta opened on 17 September 2026 and, in Blizzard’s words, was first announced to run through 21 October. Blizzard has since said the beta closes permanently at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday 23 October (20:00 in Greece, EEST). The level cap started at 20 and is raised to 30 later in the beta (beta announcement (opens in a new tab)). On 21 October Blizzard runs a Stress Test: the beta goes offline, then the game opens on its launch hardware for a few hours, at 19:00 CEST in the EU and 2:00 p.m. PDT in the Americas and Oceania. Any WoW account can join without a subscription, and all characters and names from that test are wiped afterwards, then the beta reopens (Blizzard announcement (opens in a new tab)).
Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October through 3 November 2026 for eligible upgrade purchases, first come, first served, and covers up to three characters (name reservation article (opens in a new tab), pre-purchase article (opens in a new tab)).
World of Warcraft: Forever launches worldwide on 4 November 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST (launch article (opens in a new tab)). The countdown on this site uses that moment.
Beta access comes with the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. Early name reservation is part of the Skyborne Heroic and Epic packs, and the Collection includes everything in the Epic Pack (pre-purchase article (opens in a new tab)).
Invite-A-Friend codes come with these packs (one with the Heroic Pack, three with the Epic Pack). They are for launch week, 4 to 11 November, and Blizzard says the codes are delivered by email beginning 20 October 2026, PST (pre-purchase article (opens in a new tab)).
What it means for you
There are two weeks between the end of the beta and the launch. Names are not guaranteed, so reserve yours early in the window if you have an eligible pack.