Blizzard confirmed it on stage: World of Warcraft: Forever is Classic Plus. It launches on November 4, 2026, and the beta opens on September 17. Level 60 is the cap for good, and there are no seasonal resets or character wipes — the world is permanent. This is not the next expansion. It is a third version of the game, running beside modern WoW and Classic and included with a WoW subscription or Game Time.
WoW Forever arrived with very little of what the leaks promised, so this page is written from the announcement, Blizzard’s roadmap and the first hands-on reports from the BlizzCon demo. Below: the release date, beta and editions, what Classic Plus means in practice, the roadmap to summer 2027, the Skyborne race, six new race and class combinations, four new zones, nine dungeons, three raids, a 15v15 battleground, and the systems — Legacy, Camping, professions — that keep a level 60 character growing. Our WoW: Forever boosting hub is open for the launch.
WoW: Forever at a Glance
| Item | WoW: Forever |
|---|---|
| Name | World of Warcraft: Forever (Classic Plus) |
| What it is | A permanent third version of WoW beside modern WoW and Classic |
| Release | November 4, 2026, 3:00 p.m. Pacific |
| Beta | September 17 – October 22, levels 1–30, with the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection |
| Name reservation | October 27, 2026 — early name reservation and character creation |
| Access | Included with a WoW subscription or Game Time; the Skyborne race comes with the Skyborne packs |
| Level cap | 60, permanently — horizontal progression, no level cap increase |
| New race | Skyborne, neutral elves; faction chosen at character creation |
| New zones | Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, The Riverglades, Shen’drala |
| Dungeons | Nine new, from level 13 to 60 |
| Raids | December 9: The Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20 players), Onyxia’s Lair (40 players) |
| Hardcore | Separate Hardcore launch in winter, after the raids unlock |
| Battleground | Darkspear Islands, 15v15 |
| Timeline | Right after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, before Molten Core |
Release Date, Beta and Editions
World of Warcraft: Forever releases on November 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. Pacific. Blizzard gave the date on the opening ceremony stage, the first Classic Plus date the company has ever named. When the realms open, access is included with a WoW subscription or Game Time.
The beta runs from September 17 to October 22 and is capped at level 30. Beta access comes with the Skyborne Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection. On October 27, early name reservation and character creation open, a week before launch.
WoW Forever Editions
| Edition | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Skyborne Heroic Pack | $29.99 | The Skyborne race and the Zephras Isle starting experience, early name reservation, the Cerulean Prideclaw mount, cosmetics, housing decor, one Invite-A-Friend code |
| Skyborne Epic Pack | $59.99 | Everything in Heroic, plus beta access from September 17, 30 days of Game Time, extra cosmetics, pets and tabards, three Invite-A-Friend codes |
| Warcraft Forever Collection | $79.99 | Everything in Epic, plus Warcraft III: Reforged with the Forsaken Kingdom campaign and a figurine decor item; limited time |
| Collector’s Edition | — | Physical edition through the Blizzard Gear Store |
One thing the launch news does not cover: character transfers. Nothing was said about moving characters from existing Classic realms into World of Warcraft: Forever, so plan on starting fresh until Blizzard says otherwise.
What Classic Plus Means Here: Level 60 Forever, No Seasonal Resets
Blizzard’s phrase was “a new beginning that never ends”. In practice that means four rules. The level cap stays at 60 indefinitely. Progression goes outward, not upward: new zones, dungeons, raids and systems arrive without a higher level to reach. There are no seasonal resets and no periodic wipe of characters or gear. And World of Warcraft: Forever is a permanent version of the game, not a limited event.
A character made on November 4 is the same character in five years, with everything it has earned intact. Seasons do exist in one place: PvP, which gets season refreshes in spring and summer 2027 — the characters themselves are never reset.
Hardcore is not part of launch day. Blizzard’s roadmap lists a separate WoW Forever Hardcore launch in winter, after the raids unlock on December 9. Its rules have not been detailed yet.
Two more rules keep the world at its original scale. There are no flying mounts, so every zone is crossed on the ground. And there is no level scaling: a zone is the level it is, and a max-level character walking through The Riverglades meets Riverglades enemies, not enemies scaled up. Horizontal progression, then, means the endgame grows sideways — Mount Hyjal is a level 60 zone, every raid is a level 60 raid, and what changes over time is what you can do at 60.
WoW Forever Roadmap: Beta, Launch, Raids and 2027 Updates
Blizzard’s official roadmap lays out the first year of World of Warcraft: Forever, from the beta to summer 2027:
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 17 – October 22 | Beta — play up to level 30 |
| October 27 | Early name reservation and character creation |
| November 4 | World of Warcraft: Forever launch |
| December 9 | Raids unlock: The Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20 players), Onyxia’s Lair (40 players) |
| Winter | WoW Forever Hardcore launch |
| Spring 2027 | Two new raids (10 and 20 players), two new dungeons, two new class and race combinations, new quests and a new playable area, PvP season refresh |
| Summer 2027 | A revamped iconic raid, a new raid, expanded world content, two new dungeons, PvP season refresh, professions and Legacy updates |
The roadmap gives windows, not dates, for everything after December 9, and Blizzard notes that content and timing may change based on player feedback.
Timeline and Story: Year One of Azeroth
World of Warcraft: Forever is set in the first year of the original World of Warcraft. It picks up right after the events of Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, the new Warcraft III campaign released at the same ceremony, and before the opening of Molten Core. That placement changes the map in ways you can see from the first hour. Dalaran stands as a city again in Alterac, which is why a Dalaran dungeon exists. The skeleton of Archimonde still lies across Mount Hyjal, and the forest around Nordrassil is slowly recovering. The ruins of Lordaeron are recent, not ancient.
Blizzard has gone back to the year the original game covered and filled in what that year never showed: the aftermath of the Third War from the ground. For a Classic Plus player that means every new zone and dungeon fits the world that already exists. Four new zones and more than a thousand new quests across levels 1 to 60 carry that story.
New Zones: Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, The Riverglades, Shen’drala
Four new zones, each built for a different part of the leveling curve, and the original continents expanded with more than a thousand new quests across the whole 1–60 climb.
Mount Hyjal
The endgame zone. Mount Hyjal is where a max-level character spends the first months of WoW: Forever: the slopes below Nordrassil, the skeleton of Archimonde, several questlines, solo and group content, and a few reputations to grind. It is also home to the first raids — Hyjal Summit on the mountain and The Barrow Deeps beneath it.
Zephras Isle
The Skyborne starting zone, levels 1 to 12, and the one place that does not exist on the old map at all. Zephras Isle is a sky island, a fragment of the Skywall realm. Every Skyborne character begins there before choosing a faction and descending to Azeroth.
The Riverglades
A mid-30s to mid-40s zone in the Eastern Kingdoms beside Redridge Mountains — a rugged land of rivers, grasslands and trade routes. It has more than 150 quests for both factions, new reputations and a neutral goblin port. It is also home to Krol’dok Stronghold, the enormous outdoor ogre dungeon. If you are wondering where a Classic Plus leveling route spends its late 30s and early 40s, this is the answer.
Shen’drala
The zone of the Shen’dralar, the Highborne who kept to themselves in Eldre’Thalas. Blizzard showed it without a level range, so its bracket goes on this page once the beta confirms it.
The Skyborne: New Playable Race
The Skyborne are the new race of World of Warcraft: Forever, and the first thing to know is that they are neutral. You pick a faction when you create the character. Every Skyborne starts on Zephras Isle and plays through levels 1 to 12 there, then joins the Horde or the Alliance on Azeroth. They are sky elves from the Skywall realm, and they come with the Skyborne packs.
| Faction | Skyborne classes |
|---|---|
| Horde | Shaman, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid |
| Alliance | Mage, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid |
The class lists differ by exactly one entry. A Horde Skyborne can be a Shaman; an Alliance Skyborne can be a Mage. Warrior, Hunter, Rogue and Druid are open on both sides, and Skyborne Druids get their own new forms. That makes them the first race besides night elves and tauren to play Druid, and the Druid is the class many players will roll first for that reason alone.
Skyborne Racials, Starting Zone and Leveling
Racials got a pass across every race to make each one feel more distinct. From the BlizzCon demo, the Skyborne bring Walk on Air, a ten-second glide, and Read Ley Line, which doubles health and mana regeneration on a ley line. Other races gain new passives too — dwarves deal 5% more damage to beasts, and undead have a chance for their spells to drain health. Demo values can still change before launch.
After level 12, a Skyborne climbs the same road as any other race: through the new dungeons, The Riverglades in the late 30s and Mount Hyjal at the top. For a launch-week player that climb is the whole reason to order a Skyborne leveling run — the new zone is short, and everything after it is the same 48 levels the rest of the realm is racing through.
New Race and Class Combinations
Beyond the Skyborne, WoW Forever opens six new race and class combinations. Blizzard showed the Undead Paladin in the announcement trailer, and the BlizzCon demo lists the full set:
| Faction | New combinations |
|---|---|
| Alliance | Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest |
| Horde | Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin |
Together they give the Horde a Paladin race and the Alliance a Shaman race inside the original timeline, and they change the faction math for raids from the first week: a Horde guild with Paladin blessings and an Alliance guild with Shaman totems. More is coming — the roadmap lists two further class and race combinations for spring 2027, not yet named. Blizzard has not published an official table yet, so treat the demo list as the launch set until it does.
Nine New Dungeons
| Dungeon | Location | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hall of Thanes | Beneath Ironforge, Dun Morogh | 13–18 | Alliance; royal dwarven tombs invaded by Dark Irons |
| Ruins of Lordaeron | The ruined capital of Lordaeron | 15–20 | Horde; the Forsaken reclaim the city from the Scourge |
| Excavation Site | Wetlands | 24–29 | A dig site overrun by errant titan constructs |
| City of Dalaran | Alterac Mountains | 28–33 | The Kirin Tor barrier has fallen; haywire constructs |
| The Drowned City | Off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale | 35–40 | Troll ruins risen from the sea; naga and pirates |
| Krol’dok Stronghold | The Riverglades | 40–55 | Enormous outdoor ogre dungeon; widest level range |
| Alcaz Island Prison | Alcaz Island | 48–53 | Defias and naga at war inside a sealed prison |
| Blackmaw Hold | Behind a gate in Azshara | 55–60 | Corrupted furbolg city; tunnels lead to The Barrow Deeps |
| Shaper’s Terrace | Un’Goro Crater | 58–60 | Titan facility; the last dungeon before the raids |
The spread matters more than the count. Two dungeons sit at the very bottom — Hall of Thanes at 13 for the Alliance and the Ruins of Lordaeron at 15 for the Horde. Three cover the middle: the Excavation Site in the 20s, Dalaran around 30 and the Drowned City in the late 30s. The late game adds Krol’dok Stronghold across 40–55, Alcaz Island Prison at 48–53, and two endgame dungeons, Blackmaw Hold and Shaper’s Terrace, where characters build their pre-raid sets.
What Nine Dungeons Do to Leveling
For leveling this rewrites the route. Every bracket now has a new dungeon worth running. A group that chains Hall of Thanes, the Excavation Site, Dalaran, the Drowned City and Krol’dok in order can stay in instances for most of the way from 13 to 55. That is what a WoW: Forever dungeon leveling run will look like from launch, and it is why the leveling section of our hub is built around the new instances. One consequence for groups: with a dungeon in every bracket, the demand for tanks and healers only grows.
Raids: The Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia’s Lair
Three raids unlock on December 9, five weeks after launch, in three sizes. The Barrow Deeps is a 10-player raid beneath the night elf barrows of Mount Hyjal, where the kaldorei keep their most dangerous prisoners — including, rumour has it, a certain infamous demon hunter. Hyjal Summit is the 20-player raid on the mountain itself, set long after Archimonde’s defeat. Onyxia’s Lair returns as the 40-player raid.
New tier sets and a legendary reward come from the WoW Forever raids, and those are the first long-term goals of horizontal progression: a character at the cap has nowhere to level and everything to earn. The sizes change who can raid — a group of a dozen friends can take on The Barrow Deeps, while Onyxia keeps the full forty. The roadmap adds two more raids (10 and 20 players) in spring 2027, then a revamped iconic raid and another new raid in summer. Getting ready for December 9 means pre-raid and BiS gear from the endgame dungeons.
Darkspear Islands: New 15v15 Battleground and the Honor Rework
Darkspear Islands is the new battleground: 15 players a side on a cluster of islands off the coast of Kalimdor, with teams fighting for control of strategic positions across the islands.
Alongside it comes a revamped honor system. PvP keeps a ladder of 14 PvP ranks, from Scout and Private up to High Warlord and Grand Marshal, and runs in PvP seasons, with season refreshes planned for spring and summer 2027. PvP also feeds the Legacy system — in the pre-release build, reaching ranks 3, 7, 10, 13 and 14 each awards Legacy Points. Rank rewards and gear have not been published yet.
Classes, Talents and Skills
Every class is being reworked, and the direction was stated plainly: talents will no longer give small stat improvements. The trees are rebuilt so that a talent point changes how a spell or ability works instead of adding a percentage. New skills are added across the board, and racial abilities get their own pass.
The Paladin was the example on stage, and it is the class the Undead combination makes newly relevant. Three changes were named: a new seal built for tanking, new healing talents in the Holy tree, and Retribution described as “viable”. With the Undead Paladin on the Horde and the Dwarf Shaman on the Alliance, the two factions are closer in class options than ever in the original world. Numbers, coefficients and full trees come with the beta.
Legacy System, Camping, Professions and Reputations
The Legacy System is WoW Forever’s answer to alts. It is account-wide: progress on your characters unlocks bonuses for the next ones — “aids for the leveling journey”, in Blizzard’s phrase — so a second character climbs faster than the first. The pre-release build shows how it works:
| Legacy part | Pre-release details |
|---|---|
| Challenges | Milestones across classes, professions, PvP, quests and exploration, dungeons and raids — for example levels 25, 45 and 60 per class, profession skill 150, 225 and 300, PvP ranks, and raid encounters |
| Points | One Legacy Point per first-time milestone |
| Perks | Account-wide bonuses such as Talented (talent points from level 9), Well Rested (faster rested experience), Diplomat (+2% reputation gains per rank) and Working Overtime (+4% skill-up chance per rank) |
| Collection | Rewards for total points earned, up to the Reins of the Spectral Bear mount at 55 points |
Camping is a social system, not a profession. You set up a camp almost anywhere in the open world. Other players walk up to it and use their own professions to craft something for the camp, and everyone there receives a buff that builds while they stay. Clay Stone put the design goal in one line: “maybe they just might talk to each other”.
Professions go up to 300 skill, with two primary professions and three secondary ones per character. First Aid is the biggest change shown so far: on top of bandages it crafts healing potions, cures for bleeds, diseases and poisons, and a First Aid Kit for camps. Reputations are new too — The Riverglades and Mount Hyjal bring new factions, and reputations unlock items and account-wide perks. Between Camping, reputations and recipes, the economy of WoW: Forever is busy from the first week, which is what our WoW: Forever gold section is built for.
Graphics, SD/HD Toggle and Transmog
World of Warcraft: Forever runs on a rebuilt renderer: new lighting with global illumination, volumetric particles, a new water system with flowing rivers, and real shadows. An SD/HD toggle flips between the original low-detail models and the new high-detail ones at any moment, and a classic or modern interface preset is offered at first login, so the game can look like 2004 or like now, per player.
Transmog exists, and it is opt-in. You see other players’ transmogs only if you turn the option on; with it off, everyone wears what they are actually wearing.
What We Still Don’t Know
- Character transfers from existing Classic realms — not mentioned either way.
- Hardcore rules — the roadmap gives a winter launch, nothing more.
- The summer 2027 raid — which iconic raid is being revamped.
- The two spring 2027 class and race combinations — not yet named.
- Shen’drala’s level range, the full racial list and final values.
- Raid details — bosses, difficulties, lockouts and loot tables.
- PvP rewards — rank rewards and gear of the revamped honor system.
- Reputation factions — names and reward lists.
World of Warcraft: Forever is the Classic Plus that was asked for and the opposite of the one that was rumoured: a permanent world at level 60 with new places to go instead of new numbers to reach. It launches on November 4 and the beta opens on September 17. Our WoW: Forever boosting hub is open from day one — leveling through the new dungeons, Skyborne characters to 60, gold for the new economy, and all three raids from December 9.
