Forever Beta
17 September 2026
Azeroth Awaits
World of Warcraft: Forever
A permanent home for the 1–60 journey
Launches 4 November 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST
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Name reservation
27 October 2026
Global launch
4 November 2026, 3:00 p.m. PST
New raids
9 December 2026
World of Warcraft: Forever is Blizzard Entertainment’s third permanent World of Warcraft, standing beside modern WoW and Classic rather than replacing either one. It is not a season, a limited event, or a new coat of paint on Classic. You level from 1 to 60 on the original continents after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core, with more than a thousand new quests, no flying mounts, and no level scaling. An active WoW subscription or Game Time includes Forever at launch; Skyborne and Zephras Isle still need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher.
An active WoW subscription or Game Time includes World of Warcraft: Forever at launch on Windows and macOS. Skyborne and Zephras Isle still need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher.
What Forever adds to Azeroth
Carve A New Path is the official pitch: a living 1–60 Azeroth that keeps original geography and then grows through patches instead of a one-time Classic reset. Lighting passes hit places such as Ashenvale and Darkshore, while new frontiers such as Riverglades and Shen'dralas sit on the same map as Hyjal’s restoration. The original Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are the whole outdoor world. There is no flying, no level scaling, and no later-expansion continent waiting behind a portal.
The New Horizons cinematic is the motion brief for that promise. Open it from the masthead for the tone of the journey; then use the Skyborne, editions, and launch pages when you need pack gates, beta windows, and the 4 November time. The dated facts stay put: beta through 21 October for Epic and Collection, live on 4 November at 3:00 p.m. PST for everyone with a subscription or Game Time.
What you should do next depends on the job. Compare packs if you want Skyborne. Open Azeroth if you want Riverglades, Hyjal, and Shen'dralas. Open dungeons for the nine names. Open systems for Legacy, Camping, and two-name identity. This hub exists so those jobs have a front door instead of a generic wiki dashboard.
A third home, not a Classic season
Blizzard’s own language is blunt: Forever is a permanent home for the 1–60 journey, not a mode inside modern World of Warcraft and not a new version of Classic. If you already play The War Within or a Classic season, those characters stay where they are. Forever is a separate Azeroth with its own characters, names, and long-term patch plan.
The setting is pinned to a specific slice of Warcraft history. The story sits after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core, so the original Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are the whole outdoor world. There is no Outland, no Northrend, and no Dragon Isles on this branch. The level cap is 60. What’s Next also states there are no flying mounts and no level scaling, so a zone’s intended band still matters when you choose where to quest.
That combination is why this wiki treats Forever as its own product. The launch date, the Skyborne gate, and the December raids only make sense if you stop mapping Forever onto a Classic season calendar. Use the launch page for the beta-to-live clock and the roadmap page for Hyjal Summit and Barrow Deeps after 4 November.
- Retail and Classic characters stay on those branches; Forever rolls new names here.
- The outdoor map stops at original Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.
- Level 60 is the cap, and zone bands still matter because scaling is off.
How the 1–60 loop is supposed to feel
The official hub and What’s Next both promise more than a thousand new quests across the 1–60 journey. That is not a restamp of vanilla quest text. New regions such as Riverglades (150-plus quests in the mid-30s to mid-40s) and Shen'dralas (between Mulgore and Desolace) sit next to a restored Mount Hyjal and a Skyborne start on Zephras Isle for levels 1–12.
Nine named dungeons open unfinished corners of that same map, from the Hall of Thanes under Ironforge to the Shaper’s Terrace in Un’Goro. Class work is not a full talent-tree dump in the public notes, but the Deep Dive and hub do lock six new race and class combinations, including Forsaken Paladin, Dwarf Shaman, and Troll Warlock, plus Skyborne Shaman on Horde and Skyborne Mage on Alliance.
Quality-of-life systems sit on top of that loop rather than replacing it. Legacy rewards alt leveling on the same account. Camping turns the old Cooking Fire into a Basic Campfire with rest, vendors, repairs, and profession objects. Honor, professions, two-name realmless identity, and HD or SD visual presets are the other named pillars. None of those systems invent a calculator or a coordinate map; they are the reasons to open the systems and races pages before you roll.
- Riverglades is the mid-30s Eastern Kingdoms frontier with a published 150-plus quest count.
- Shen'dralas fills the Mulgore–Desolace gap; Zephras is the pack-gated 1–12 start.
- Hall of Thanes through Shaper’s Terrace are the nine named dungeons on that same map.
Subscription, packs, and who can log in
An active WoW subscription or Game Time includes Forever at launch on Windows and macOS. Steam search does not return a Blizzard Forever SKU; you play it through Battle.net. That subscription path does not unlock Skyborne or Zephras Isle. Those still require the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher pack.
Epic Pack and Collection buyers also receive Forever Beta, which opened 17 September 2026 PST and runs through 21 October 2026 PST. Heroic does not include beta. Collection is a limited BlizzCon 2026 bundle through 11 January 2027 and adds Warcraft III: Reforged and Forsaken Kingdom material on top of Epic. Compare those three rows on the editions page before you pre-purchase.
Early Name Reservation sits in late October so two-name identities can be claimed before the 4 November 15:00 Pacific launch. Mainland China lists a separate official beta on 6 October 2026 for 《魔兽世界》：“无限”. If you only needed one sentence: subscribe to play Forever at launch, buy Heroic or higher for Skyborne, and buy Epic or Collection if you want the beta that is already open.
- A subscription or Game Time is enough to log into Forever on 4 November.
- Skyborne and Zephras still need Heroic or a higher pack.
- Epic and Collection are the beta keys; Heroic is the cheapest Skyborne key.
Frequently asked questions
Is World of Warcraft: Forever the same as Classic or a new Classic season?
No. Blizzard describes Forever as a third permanent World of Warcraft beside modern WoW and Classic, not a mode, a season, or a new version of Classic. Characters, names, and the 1–60 patch plan live on this branch. Classic seasons and modern expansions keep their own worlds. If you already have a retail or Classic main, that character does not move here.
Does a WoW subscription include Skyborne?
A subscription or Game Time includes Forever at launch, so you can play the 1–60 Azeroth without buying a pack. Skyborne and the Zephras Isle starting questline still require the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher. Epic and Collection also add beta access and thirty days of game time from launch.
When does Forever launch, and is the beta still open?
Forever launches globally on 4 November 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST. Forever Beta opened 17 September 2026 PST for Epic Pack and Collection buyers and runs through 21 October 2026 PST. Heroic Pack does not include that beta window.
Sources
Official Forever hub — official Forever source Official site
Carve a New Path — official Forever source Official site
Pre-purchase upgrades — official Forever source Official site
New Horizons cinematic — official Forever source Official site