Timeline Events
Every dated milestone from BlizzCon through the 2027 content drops.
22 entries
| 'World of Warcraft Camelot' branch datamined | Jun 16, 2026 | Other | Wowhead dataminer Stiven found a 'World of Warcraft Camelot' branch with licenses for two versions. Fans took it to be Classic+. At the time this was a rumor. It was later described as Forever's internal codename. | Confirmed |
| World of Warcraft: Forever announced at BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony | Sep 12, 2026 | Announcement | Blizzard revealed Forever as a 'new, third World of Warcraft experience' and a permanent home alongside modern WoW and Classic. It launches November 4, 2026 and the beta starts September 17. Pre-purchases opened the same… | Confirmed |
| Pre-purchase opens: Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack, Warcraft Forever Collection, Collector's Edition | Sep 12, 2026 | Announcement | Digital upgrades went on sale on the Battle.net Shop. The physical Collector's Edition ($150) went on sale on the Blizzard Gear Store and now shows as Sold Out. | Confirmed |
| Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom shadow-dropped (lore lead-in to Forever) | Sep 12, 2026 | Other | A new campaign with a prologue, three chapters and a neutral Forsaken Paladin hero. It covers the period from The Frozen Throne to the first days of WoW, and Forever picks up shortly after it. It is included in the Warcr… | Confirmed |
| BlizzCon panel: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next | Sep 12, 2026 | Event | Panelists were Ion Hazzikostas (Senior Game Director), Tim Jones (Lead Classic Designer), Nora Mills (Lead Software Engineer) and Clay Stone (Associate Production Director). They showed the roadmap: beta, name reservatio… | Confirmed |
| BlizzCon panel: World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive (10:00 a.m. PDT) | Sep 13, 2026 | Event | Panelists were Clay Stone, Josh Greenfield (Senior Game Designer), Ana Resendez (Lead Software Engineer) and Kris Zierhut (Principal Game Designer). Topics included the realmless ruleset structure, camping, the Legacy sy… | Confirmed |
| BlizzCon panels: Forever Found Photos and Hardcore | Sep 13, 2026 | Event | The Found Photos panel (Josh Greenfield, Evan Lee, Lead Content Designer) covered the 'found photographs' story approach, the zones and the Year 1 setting. A Hardcore-focused panel was also liveblogged by Wowhead. Exact … | Confirmed |
| WoW: Forever Beta begins | Sep 17, 2026 | Beta | Beta runs Sept 17 to Oct 21, 2026 (PST per Blizzard). Guaranteed access comes with the Skyborne Epic Pack, the Warcraft Forever Collection or the Collector's Edition code. Anyone can also opt in on the Forever site, with… | Confirmed |
| WoW Live Q&A (10:00 a.m. PDT, Twitch/YouTube) | Sep 17, 2026 | Event | Blizzard's BlizzCon round-up post lists a WoW Live Q&A stream on this date. | Confirmed |
| Beta client build 1.60.1.69977 released | Sep 22, 2026 | Beta | First beta client update: Mac stability/display and gamepad fixes only, no class changes. Blue post is dated Sept 22; Icy Veins reported it Sept 23. | Official |
| Next weekly beta update expected | Sep 24, 2026 | Beta | The Sept 24 beta update shipped: a tuning pass on all nine classes (Paladin buffed most; Rogue Sap now flags for PvP), Thorns and Retribution Aura now scale dynamically with spell power, Feral Charge (Cat) can no longer … | Reported |
| Invite-A-Friend Launch Codes start being emailed | Oct 20, 2026 | Other | Codes from upgrade purchases start arriving by email on Oct 20, 2026 PST. They are valid Nov 4-11, 2026 and let friends play launch week without a subscription or Game Time. | Confirmed |
| Beta ends | Oct 21, 2026 | Beta | Blizzard says the beta runs through October 21, 2026 PST. Some secondary sources and a reported roadmap slide say October 22 (see conflicts). | Confirmed |
| Early name reservation and character creation opens | Oct 27, 2026 | Early Access | Runs Oct 27 to Nov 3, 2026. Upgrade owners can create and customize up to three characters. Blizzard lists it in the Skyborne Heroic Pack, which means every tier gets it. | Confirmed |
| Global launch - 3:00 p.m. PST | Nov 4, 2026 | Launch | Launches in all regions at once at 3:00 p.m. PST on Nov 4, 2026. DST will have ended, so that is 23:00 UTC Nov 4; converted times are 00:00 CET Nov 5, 08:00 KST Nov 5 and 10:00 AEDT Nov 5. Those conversions are derived, … | Confirmed |
| Invite-A-Friend Launch Code window closes | Nov 11, 2026 | Other | Launch codes are valid Nov 4-11, 2026 PST. | Confirmed |
| First raids unlock | Dec 9, 2026 | Patch | Blizzard's recap confirms new raids unlock December 9. The roadmap slide, as reported by outlets, lists three raids: Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20 players) and Onyxia's Lair (40 players). The slide footer r… | Confirmed |
| Collector's Edition fine print: game available on or before this date | Dec 31, 2026 | Other | The Gear Store fine print says the game will be available 'on or before December 31, 2026'. CE ships from November 2026, to select North and South American locations only. | Confirmed |
| Warcraft Forever Collection offer ends | Jan 11, 2027 | Other | The Warcraft Forever Collection is a limited-time bundle available through January 11, 2027. | Confirmed |
| Hardcore ruleset launches | Patch | Blizzard confirms Hardcore arrives after launch. Icy Veins and Inven report 'Winter 2026' from the roadmap slide. Inven's table also lists Hardcore with the Dec 9 raids (see conflicts). | Confirmed | |
| Major update (Spring 2027) | Patch | As reported from the roadmap slide: 2 raids, 2 dungeons, 2 new class/race combos and more content. Blizzard's own recap lists more raids, dungeons, PvP updates, world content and quests without dates. | Confirmed | |
| Major update (Summer 2027) | Patch | As reported from the roadmap slide: a revamped iconic raid, a new raid, an expanded world and 2 dungeons. Blizzard's recap mentions 'a revamped iconic raid' but does not say which one. | Confirmed |