WoW Forever launches on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM PST, at the same time worldwide. That's 6:00 PM in New York, 11:00 PM in London and 00:00 on November 5 in mainland Spain (the full table, calculated for your zone). This guide gathers what's worth having done beforehand, what's known about launch night and what to do in the first hours. Where Blizzard hasn't said anything, we say so.
In short
- Before: an active subscription or game time, Windows 10 or later (or a Mac), a first and last name in mind and, if you have an upgrade pack, name reservation from October 27 to November 3.
- That night: there's no official information about queues, capacity or pre-installing. Be patient and don't count on getting in at an exact time.
- First hours: quests in your starting zone, group up if it's crowded, professions and the campfire from the start and, around level 25, the Legacy system.
Before the day
- Subscription or game time. Forever isn't sold separately: it's played with the World of Warcraft subscription. The upgrade packs are optional. Full details, with prices, in Is WoW Forever free or paid?. The Recruit-A-Friend codes in the packs let you play without a subscription from November 5 to 12, according to the pre-purchase page.
- Reserving your name (upgrade pack only). From October 27 to November 3 you can create and customize up to three characters; names are handed out first come, first served and Blizzard doesn't guarantee the one you want. Every character has a first and last name and the full name is unique per region. To arrive with ideas, the name generator gives them by race and class. More rules in no realms: rules and surnames.
- Ruleset. There are no realms: when creating your character you choose Normal, PvP or RP, and you can only group with people in the same ruleset. Hardcore won't be available at launch (Wowhead). If in doubt, Normal. Before deciding you can see what the community voted.
- Requirements. The installer requires Windows 10 or later (Blizzard's official forum); on older Windows it throws an operating-system error. Blizzard has published the graphics card requirements (AMD GCN 1, NVIDIA Maxwell or Intel Skylake at minimum), but not the full requirements sheet for Forever. Which settings to touch for your hardware, in the requirements and graphics settings guide.
- Race and class. The decision people think about most. For criteria: which race to pick and the classes explained by Blizzard. If you'd rather let chance decide: the race and class randomizer. And to arrive with your build planned: the talent calculator.
- Addons. Some already work in the beta: Questie (the official one supports Forever since version 12.0.1), Leatrix Plus, Baganator, Auctionator, Deadly Boss Mods or BigWigs, among others, each with its version and date on the addons page. Keep in mind that Blizzard restricts some combat features and that the game already includes a built-in damage meter: you don't need to install anything to get started.
- Interface and macros. If you like having everything at hand, you can prepare your UI with community designs and, for your class, ready-to-copy macros. They haven't been tested one by one in the launch version of the game yet.
Launch night
This is where the most things are unknown. Status of each:
| Question | What's known |
|---|---|
| Launch time | 3:00 PM PST on November 4, worldwide at once (official pre-purchase page) |
| Will there be queues? | Blizzard hasn't said anything about queues or server capacity |
| Can it be pre-installed? | Not announced, nor is the download size |
| Server status | Forever doesn't use realms; Blizzard hasn't said where its status will appear. Today WoW incidents and maintenance appear on Blizzard support |
| Exact opening time per region | Only the single global time is on record; there's no separate per-region breakdown |
In the meantime, the beta is the only reference for how the game behaves, and in it Blizzard has been fixing latency and queue problems with its updates. The sensible approach: have the client installed and updated before the hour, and expect the first stretch to be waiting or intermittent logins. You can follow official news and any bugs Blizzard acknowledges at what Blizzard says.
The first hours
- Your race's starting zone. Each race starts in its usual zone; the Skyborne start on the Isle of Zephras. What to do at each level, by race and faction, in the 1-20 leveling guide and, for what you're doing right now, in What should I do at my level?.
- Quests that give a bag. If you start in Dun Morogh (dwarves and gnomes), Grund and Gozwin is picked up at level 4 and gives a 6-slot Canvas Latchbag and 410 experience. Every slot counts early on.
- Plenty of people will be in the same zones with the same enemies. Blizzard has confirmed that Forever keeps Classic mob tagging and won't switch to shared tags: whoever hits first keeps the mob. The practical answer is to group up, which shares quests and loot, and to be patient with crowded objectives. In a group there's also bad-luck protection on quest items.
- Campfire and professions from the start. The basic campfire creates a camp where you can rest and use profession items that give bonuses. Pick two professions early: professions and camp.
- Eat and sleep. Cooked food gives extra experience per enemy while well fed, and the Cozy Sleeping Bag (+1% experience per minute lying down, up to 3%) comes early: its chain starts at level 14. Experience needed per level is Classic's.
- Level 10: talents. And your class trainer teaches new spells every few levels.
- Level 25: Legacy. It's the account-wide perk system, with 16 points earned through challenges. How it works in Legacy and how to get the points.
Frequently asked questions
What time does WoW Forever launch in my country?
On November 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM PST. That's 6:00 PM in New York, 11:00 PM in London, 00:00 on November 5 in mainland Spain and 5:00 PM in Mexico City. The full table is on the launch page.
Will there be queues on launch day?
Blizzard hasn't said anything about queues or server capacity. The only official fact is that Forever has no realms and that you choose a ruleset when creating your character.
Can I pre-install the game before November 4?
It isn't known yet: Blizzard hasn't announced pre-installing or the client size. If you play the beta, you already have a version installed and will update it.
Do I have to reserve my name?
Only if you want to secure it before launch, and you need an upgrade pack: the reservation runs October 27 to November 3, first come, first served and with no guarantees. Otherwise you pick it when creating your character, as long as no one else in your region has the same one.
Can I play Hardcore on day one?
No. Hardcore won't be available at launch; it comes later. At launch you choose between Normal, PvP and RP.
