WoW: Forever launches November 4: time, Game Time and editions
WoW: Forever launches worldwide on November 4 at 23:00 UTC. A subscription or Game Time is all you need to play; the editions are optional. Here is the short version.
World of Warcraft: Forever launches worldwide on November 4 at 23:00 UTC. That is 3:00 p.m. PST, 11:00 p.m. in the UK and midnight on November 5 in central Europe. Forever sits permanently alongside modern WoW and Classic, and runs from level 1 to 60.
What do you need to play?
According to Blizzard, access is included with a WoW subscription or Game Time, so no extra edition is required to start.
- Game Time codes: World of Warcraft EU and World of Warcraft US. The code's region has to match your Battle.net account.
- Paying with Battle.net balance? The steps are in our balance code guide.
What is in the editions?
The editions are optional. Blizzard's list, in short:
| Edition | Highlights | Game Time | Invite codes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Skyborne Heroic Pack | Skyborne race, Zephras Isle start, a mount and cosmetics | None | 1 | | Skyborne Epic Pack | Everything in Heroic, more cosmetics and pets | 30 days | 3 | | Warcraft Forever Collection | Everything in Epic, Warcraft III: Reforged and Forsaken Kingdom | 30 days | 3 |
Note that the Heroic Pack has no Game Time, so it still needs a subscription or Game Time to play. The same applies once the 30 days in Epic or the Collection run out. The editions are on our World of Warcraft Expansions page, with a comparison table and countdown on our WoW: Forever page.
Invite codes let a friend play during launch week, November 4 to 11, without a subscription.
What is new in the game?
- New zones: Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas, the Riverglades and Zephras Isle. Blizzard says there are more than 1,000 new quests.
- New race: the Skyborne, as Horde Windshapers who can become Shamans or Alliance High-Order Skyborne who can become Mages.
- New race and class combinations: Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin, Human Hunter, Gnome Priest and Dwarf Shaman.
- Rulesets: instead of a realm you choose Normal, PvP, Roleplay or Roleplay PvP. Hardcore comes after launch.
- First raids: Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair open on December 9.
On first login you pick a Classic or Enhanced starting preset, and both can be changed later.
Before launch
- Check your Battle.net account's region and buy the matching code.
- Have your subscription or Game Time on the account before launch.
- Install the game through the Battle.net app.
On the modern WoW side, patch 12.1.7 is on the test server, with the story moving from Silvermoon back to Dornogal. We are not giving a release date here until Blizzard announces one. Looking for gold? See our WoW gold guide.
Sources: Blizzard: Forever goes live November 4, Blizzard: Forever editions. If Blizzard changes anything, we will update this post.