WoW: Forever release date and launch time

WoW Forever release date and launch time

World of Warcraft: Forever launches worldwide on 4 November 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PST. Blizzard confirmed the date and time in its pre-purchase announcement on 12 September 2026, and repeated it again on 24 September on the Collector's Edition page. Access needs only an active World of Warcraft Subscription or Game Time. There is no separate box price for Forever itself.

That single moment, 3:00 p.m. PST, converts to 11:00 p.m. UTC on 4 November. Blizzard is not staggering the rollout region by region. The launch rulesets go live for every player at the same instant, so if you want to build your own countdown, use that one timestamp rather than a regional guess.

What time does WoW Forever launch in your region?

Daylight saving has already ended across the United States, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe by launch day, and Australia's clocks have already moved forward for its summer. Converting that single 11:00 p.m. UTC moment gives you these local times.

Western Australia and Queensland do not move their clocks for daylight saving, so neither matches the AEDT time above. Queensland sits one hour behind AEDT, which is 9:00 a.m. on 5 November. Western Australia sits three hours behind, which is 7:00 a.m. on 5 November.

1. Pacific: 3:00 p.m. on 4 November
2. Mountain: 4:00 p.m. on 4 November
3. Central: 5:00 p.m. on 4 November
4. Eastern: 6:00 p.m. on 4 November
5. United Kingdom, GMT: 11:00 p.m. on 4 November
6. Central Europe, CET, Germany and France: midnight on 5 November
7. Eastern Australia, AEDT, Sydney and Melbourne: 10:00 a.m. on 5 November

Is there WoW Forever early access before 4 November?

Not in the sense of a head start on the finished game. There is no window where paying players get to play the live version before everyone else. What exists instead are two separate, confirmed windows that sit before 4 November.

The WoW: Forever beta runs from 17 September through 21 October 2026, open to buyers of the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection and to players Blizzard invites from its opt-in pool. It is a test server for finding bugs, not a preview of launch day, and it closes two weeks before release.

Early Name Reservation runs 27 October through 3 November 2026, PST, for anyone who owns any of the three paid upgrade editions. During that week you can create and customize up to three characters and lock in their names on a first-come, first-served basis, days before everyone else logs in on launch day.

A qualifying upgrade purchase, not a gift, also comes with Invite-A-Friend Launch Codes, sent by email starting 20 October 2026. An eligible friend can redeem one to play through launch week, 4 November through 11 November 2026, without a subscription of their own. The code does not include beta access.

What happens to your beta character when Forever launches

Nothing from the beta will carry into the live game. When the beta closes on 21 October, every beta character and all of its progress will be deleted, Blizzard Watch reported on 28 September. On 4 November, everyone, beta tester or not, starts at level 1 in the same starting zones.

The only piece of a beta identity that can survive is a name, and only if you bought an upgrade. Early Name Reservation is separate from anything you built in the beta, and it does not require you to have played the beta at all.

Wowdee will keep a simple countdown to your own local launch moment, so you are not converting time zones by hand on 4 November.