WoW: Forever launches November 4 with a level 60 cap
Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever at BlizzCon 2026. It is a new, permanent version of the game from the team behind WoW Classic, and it brings Classic into a new era. The details released since the reveal show how much of the old rulebook it keeps.
A third version of WoW
Forever sits alongside modern WoW and the existing Classic versions. Classic stays available. Forever starts from the original 2004 world and moves into an alternate storyline. Blizzard describes it as a permanent part of the lineup, not a limited seasonal run, and more content is already planned after release.
The level cap stays at 60. Future content expands what you can do at that level instead of raising the cap. The goal is a lasting home for your characters, where the time you invest continues to matter.
What you get at launch
Reports on the announcement list three new zones and more than 1,000 new quests. Existing zones are expanded with new quests, stories and gear, some of it drawn from unused or cut vanilla content. Skyborne is a new playable race. World visuals and lighting are updated.
Account-wide perks and new race and class combos are also on Blizzard’s feature list. Hardcore realms are planned for winter 2026, with no exact date yet.
The calendar
The beta opened September 17 and is capped at level 30. Reports put its end at October 21 or 22. Early name reservation and character creation opens October 27.
Launch is November 4 at 3 p.m. Pacific. Raids unlock December 9. Forever is included with an active WoW subscription or game time, so there is no separate purchase to play.
Classes stay simple
In a Kotaku interview, the designers said some Season of Discovery choices, such as classes taking on roles they normally couldn’t, did not fit the simplicity they want for Forever. They are starting from a baseline closer to Classic than Season of Discovery was.
There is no one-button rotation either.
Add-ons are allowed, with limits
Forever shares retail WoW’s UI architecture and adopts the same add-on restrictions introduced with the Midnight expansion. You can still customize your interface. What gets restricted are add-ons that automate communicating or marking for players.
Blizzard has said it doesn’t want add-ons to have too much power over a player’s experience. Its built-in damage meter and cooldown manager are coming to Forever as well.
Raids, groups and the walk to the door
Every raid tier offers at least one 10-player and one 20-player raid, and some tiers add 40-player options. Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20 players) unlock on December 9.
Meeting Stones stand outside dungeon entrances and open a group window. They do not teleport anyone. The Looking For Group tool helps you organize a party but does not form it automatically. The only summon is the Warlock’s Ritual of Summoning, which needs two other party members on site. In practice, you walk to the dungeon.
Mounts follow the same logic. There is no free mount training at level 40. Riding training costs more gold than before, and the developers describe earning it as time and effort.
PvP gets seasons and a new battleground
The designers combined the seasonal PvP of later Classic versions with the Rank 14 system from the original game. Each season or content patch, you start again at Rank 1 and can climb to Rank 14. Rewards include cosmetics and PvP armor with stats. Honor and rank are tracked separately, and weekly rank gains are capped.
Darkspear Islands is the new battleground. It is a 15v15 map off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh. Teams earn points by holding four capture points and grabbing a central flag, and the first to 2,000 points wins. Two reputation tracks, Darkspear Raiders and Theramore Expeditionary Force, unlock armor, weapons and tabards. It is open to levels 30 to 60.
