Roadmap and Content Phases

This page lists every dated milestone for World of Warcraft: Forever, from the beta that started on September 17, 2026, through the first post-launch raid unlock on December 9, 2026. Dates that Blizzard has published are stated plainly. Dates that only the general community has published are marked “according to the general community”.

Blizzard has committed to more raids, dungeons, PvP updates, world content, a Hardcore mode, and a revamped iconic raid after launch, but has not given calendar dates for anything past December 9 (Blizzard: What’s Next Panel Recap).

The beta began Thursday, September 17, 2026, and runs through October 21, 2026, which Blizzard calls “the last full day of testing” (Blizzard: Beta Now Live). The level cap is 20 at launch and is “raised to 30 later in the beta” (Blizzard: Beta Now Live). According to the general community, the raise to 30 happens “after a couple of weeks”.

One discrepancy: the general community’s roadmap page lists the beta window as September 17 – October 22, 2026, one day later than Blizzard’s October 21 end date. The Blizzard date is the one to plan around.

The beta overview guide covers access methods, testable content, and known issues.

The general name reservation window is October 27 – November 3, 2026. Pre-purchasers of the Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack, or Warcraft Forever Collection get “Early Name Reservation” starting October 27, 2026 (Blizzard: Pre-Purchase Upgrades). The general community lists the same window.

Forever uses a two-part character naming convention to work around account-wide name uniqueness (Blizzard: Deep Dive Panel Recap), which affects what “reserving a name” means in practice.

Global launch is November 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PDT/PST, with the level cap at 60 (Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever). Nine new dungeons are confirmed for launch: Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, an unnamed excavation site, City of Dalaran, Blackmaw Hold, Drowned City, Krol’dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison, and Shaper’s Terrace (Blizzard: Deep Dive Panel Recap). Four of the nine are in build 1.60.1.69913 with boss lists, and the excavation site is named Excavation Site: Wetlands there; see the dungeons overview and Dungeons.

Blizzard’s roadmap states that “new raids unlock on December 9, followed by more raids, dungeons, PvP updates, world content” (Blizzard: What’s Next Panel Recap). The two raids confirmed by name are Hyjal Summit (20-player) and Barrow Deeps (10-player max-level) (Blizzard: Deep Dive Panel Recap). Neither has a map in build 1.60.1.69913, but the Legacy challenge criteria in the game name 13 encounters for Hyjal Summit and 8 for Barrow Deeps; see the raids overview.

According to the general community, the December 9 unlock also includes Onyxia’s Lair as a 40-player raid. This detail does not appear in the official What’s Next recap.

Build 1.60.1.69913 has Onyxia’s Lair as a 40-player raid map and a Legacy challenge for defeating Onyxia; neither carries a date.

None of the following has a Blizzard date. One note from the game data on Hardcore: the 65 Legacy challenges exist twice in build 1.60.1.69913, one set for the Normal, PvP and Roleplay rulesets and one set for Hardcore. The general community lists Winter 2026 for a separate opt-in Hardcore Mode ruleset; Spring 2027 for two new raids (10-player and 20-player), two new dungeons, and two new class/race combinations; and Summer 2027 for a revamped iconic raid, one additional new raid, expanded world content, and two new dungeons.

The general community also projects “4–6 phases with 2–4 months” between updates. That is their extrapolation, not a Blizzard commitment.

Blizzard’s own commitment is limited to the general list above: more raids, dungeons, PvP and world content, a Hardcore mode, and a revamped iconic raid, with no Spring or Summer 2027 dates (Blizzard: What’s Next Panel Recap).