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World of Warcraft: Forever

World of Warcraft: Forever is a new version of World of Warcraft that returns to the game's original 2004 setting and grows it outward instead of moving on to later expansions. Announced at BlizzCon 2026 on September 12, 2026, it keeps the level cap at 60 permanently and adds new zones, dungeons, raids, a new playable race and more than 1,000 new quests. It launches on November 4, 2026, and runs alongside the modern game and World of Warcraft Classic as a third branch of World of Warcraft.

This article covers what Blizzard has announced before launch, as reported by Blizzard and the press (sources below). It will be updated once Forever is live.

What it is

Classic recreates the original game as it was. Forever starts from the same place, the first year of World of Warcraft, and then goes in a different direction: rather than adding expansions with higher level caps, Blizzard plans to expand the original world "horizontally", with new zones and stories set alongside the original ones. Its story runs in a separate continuity from the modern game. Ana Resendes, a senior software engineer on the game, told Inven Global that the name means returning to 2004 and building out from that point.

According to Wikipedia's account of its development, discussions about a new version of the original game began around 2020, Blizzard committed to it as a full project around 2024, and before the announcement the rumored project was often called "Classic Plus". Blizzard has named World of Warcraft Classic and Season of Discovery among its influences. Executive producer Holly Longdale called it "a new beginning for World of Warcraft".

Blizzard has described four design pillars for the game: it should be approachable and familiar; the world is the main character; the journey comes before the destination, so there will be no level cap increases; and social play should be protected.

Announced content

Zones. New zones include Mount Hyjal, the Riverglades and Zephras Isle, and several original zones are being expanded. Dalaran appears in the Alterac Mountains.

Quests. More than 1,000 new quests spread across levels 1 to 60.

Race and classes. The Skyborne, a new elven race, are playable on both factions and start on Zephras Isle. Existing races gain new race and class combinations, such as Forsaken paladins and dwarf shamans. Blizzard has said it has no plans to add races from later expansions.

Dungeons. Forever adds new dungeons to the original lineup, including the Hall of Thanes, the Excavation Site in the Wetlands, the City of Dalaran, the Drowned City, Krol'dok Stronghold in the Riverglades, Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold and Shaper's Terrace.

The City of Dalaran dungeon, from Blizzard's reveal screenshots
The City of Dalaran dungeon, from Blizzard's reveal screenshots © Blizzard Entertainment

Raids. Three raids unlock on December 9, 2026: Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20 players), both new and set on Mount Hyjal, and Onyxia's Lair (40 players) in Dustwallow Marsh.

PvP. A new battleground is set on the Darkspear Islands.

Systems. Announced features include:

  • A Legacy system in place of achievements, which awards points for leveling characters and professions and unlocks account-wide rewards.
  • Camping, a new system unlocked through a starting-zone quest at around level 5.
  • Account-wide collections of appearances, mounts and companions.
  • Dual specialization from level 40.
  • A toggle between the original (SD) and updated (HD) character models.
  • First and last names for every character.
  • Several features from Season of Discovery, such as the Cozy Sleeping Bag and the Chronoboon Displacer.

Graphics. The engine gains new lighting and global illumination, volumetric effects, a new water renderer and real-time shadows.

Realms and rulesets

Forever has no realm list. Players choose a ruleset (Normal, PvP or Roleplay at launch) and share one large world with everyone in their region on that ruleset. A Hardcore ruleset, building on Classic Hardcore, comes after launch. Character names are unique across a region. See How Realms Work in WoW Forever for details.

Editions and pricing

Forever is included with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time; there is no separate box to buy. Optional upgrades are sold in the Battle.net Shop:

Edition Includes
Skyborne Heroic Pack The Skyborne race and Zephras Isle starting experience, early name reservation, a mount, cosmetic items, housing decor for the modern game, and one Invite-A-Friend code
Skyborne Epic Pack Everything in the Heroic Pack, plus beta access, 30 days of Game Time from November 4, more cosmetics and pets, and three Invite-A-Friend codes in total
Warcraft Forever Collection Everything in the Epic Pack, plus Warcraft III: Reforged and the new Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom campaign; sold until January 11, 2027

Forsaken Kingdom is a new real-time strategy campaign about the fall of Lordaeron, the founding of the Undercity and the first Forsaken paladin. Invite-A-Friend codes let a friend play during launch week, November 4 to 11, 2026, without a subscription.

Road to launch

Date Event
September 12, 2026 Announced at BlizzCon 2026
September 17, 2026 Beta begins
October 21, 2026 Launch stress test
Late October 2026 Beta ends with an end-of-beta event; beta characters do not carry over
October 27 to November 3, 2026 Early name reservation for upgrade pack owners, up to three characters
November 4, 2026 Global launch, 3:00 p.m. Pacific time
December 9, 2026 Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair open
The Darkspear Islands battleground, from Blizzard's reveal screenshots
The Darkspear Islands battleground, from Blizzard's reveal screenshots © Blizzard Entertainment

Announced roadmap after launch

Blizzard's published roadmap lists:

  • Winter 2026 to 2027: the Hardcore ruleset.
  • Spring 2027: two new raids, two new dungeons, new quests and a new playable area, a new legendary questline, and a PvP season refresh.
  • Summer 2027: a revamped version of an iconic raid, a new raid, more world content, two new dungeons, a PvP season refresh, and updates to professions and the Legacy system.

Sources

Categories: Game History

Last changed October 29, 2026: Written by QuestCore

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