WoW Forever Release Time: Launch Time in Every Time Zone, How to Install and System Requirements
World of Warcraft: Forever launches globally on November 4 at 3 p.m. PST (23:00 UTC). Here's the launch time in every major time zone, how to install it on Battle.net, the official PC and Mac requirements, and the GPU cutoff that blocks older cards.
World of Warcraft: Forever goes live worldwide at the same moment: 3:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday, November 4 (23:00 UTC). There's no rolling regional launch, so players in Europe, Asia and Australia log in on the morning or night of Thursday, November 5, at exactly the same time as everyone in the Americas.
Below is the launch time for every major region, how to get the client installed before servers open, and the official PC and Mac requirements, including the graphics card cutoff that will stop some older machines from running Forever at all.
WoW Forever launch time in every time zone
US clocks went back on November 1 and Europe's on October 25, so these times use standard time across North America and Europe. Australia and New Zealand are on daylight saving time.
| Region | Local launch time | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (PST) | 3:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| Denver (MST) | 4:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| Chicago / Mexico City (CST) | 5:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| New York (EST) | 6:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| São Paulo (BRT) | 8:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| UTC | 23:00 | Wed, Nov 4 |
| London (GMT) | 11:00 p.m. | Wed, Nov 4 |
| Paris / Berlin / Madrid (CET) | 12:00 a.m. (midnight) | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Athens / Helsinki (EET) | 1:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Moscow (MSK) | 2:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| India (IST) | 4:30 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Beijing / Taipei / Singapore | 7:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Seoul (KST) / Tokyo (JST) | 8:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Brisbane (AEST) | 9:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Sydney / Melbourne (AEDT) | 10:00 a.m. | Thu, Nov 5 |
| Auckland (NZDT) | 12:00 p.m. (noon) | Thu, Nov 5 |
One thing to watch if you're in Central Europe: launch lands at midnight, so "November 4" on a US announcement means the very start of Thursday for you, not Wednesday evening.
Do you need to buy WoW Forever?
No separate purchase is needed. Forever is included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time, the same way Classic is.
The paid upgrades on the Battle.net Shop are optional extras:
| Edition | US price | Key extras |
|---|---|---|
| Skyborne Heroic Pack | $29.99 | Skyborne race and Zephras Isle starting zone, Early Name Reservation, Cerulean Prideclaw mount, cosmetics, 1 Invite-A-Friend code |
| Skyborne Epic Pack | $59.99 | Everything above, plus 30 days of Game Time from Nov 4, extra cosmetics, tabards, pets, 3 Invite-A-Friend codes in total |
| Warcraft Forever Collection | $79.99 | Everything in the Epic Pack, plus Warcraft III: Reforged and the Forsaken Kingdom campaign (on sale until Jan 11, 2027) |
The big catch is the new race: playing a Skyborne requires the Heroic Pack or higher. A plain subscription gets you every other race and class combo, including new pairings such as Orc Mages, Troll Warlocks, Undead Paladins, Human Hunters, Gnome Priests and Dwarf Shamans.
Two dates worth knowing:
- Early Name Reservation ends November 3 (PST). If you bought any upgrade and haven't locked in your names yet, you can create and customize up to three characters before the window closes. Names are first come, first served.
- Invite-A-Friend Launch Codes work from November 4 to November 11. If someone sent you a code from their upgrade purchase, you can play Forever during launch week without a subscription.
How to install WoW Forever on Battle.net
Blizzard hasn't announced a separate preload window, but the install itself works through the normal World of Warcraft entry in the Battle.net app. Do it now rather than at 3 p.m. PST on launch day, when everyone else is downloading.
- Download and sign in to the Battle.net desktop app.
- Make sure your account has an active subscription or Game Time.
- Select World of Warcraft in the game list.
- Open the game version dropdown above the Play button and choose World of Warcraft: Forever.
- Click Install and let it finish.
Tip: Leave more than the listed 128GB free on your SSD. Add-ons, cache files and day-one patches all eat into that number, and you don't want to be clearing space while your friends are already in the starting zone.
WoW Forever system requirements (PC)
These are the requirements Blizzard lists on the Battle.net Shop page for Forever.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit (May 2019 Update or newer) | Windows 11 |
| CPU | 4 cores, 3.0 GHz (Intel Core Haswell / AMD Ryzen Zen) | 8 performance cores, 5.2 GHz boost (Intel Core Ultra Series 2 / AMD Ryzen Zen 5) |
| GPU | DirectX 12, 4GB (GeForce GTX 10 series / AMD RDNA 1 / Intel Iris Xe2 Lunar Lake) | DirectX 12, 8GB (GeForce RTX 40 series / AMD RDNA 3 / Intel Arc B-Series) |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 128GB available on an SSD | 128GB available on an SSD |
| Display | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse | Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel |
| Internet | Broadband | Broadband |
WoW Forever system requirements (Mac)
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | macOS 12 | macOS 15 |
| Chip | Apple M2 / 9th Gen Intel Core (Coffee Lake) | Apple M4 |
| GPU | Metal-capable 4GB (Apple M2 8GB) | Apple M4 16GB |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 128GB available on an SSD | 128GB available on an SSD |
Controller support is also available, though Blizzard labels it as beta.
Will your graphics card run Forever?
Forever's new look relies on a GPU feature that older architectures don't have, so some cards are blocked outright, not just slow. You need a GPU built on AMD Graphics Core Next 1, NVIDIA Maxwell, Intel Skylake or newer.
| Supported architecture (example) | Not supported (example) | |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | GeForce GTX 9xx, GTX 750 / 750 Ti | GeForce GTX 760 / 770 / 780, GTX 8xxM |
| AMD | Radeon HD 7850 | Radeon HD 6950 |
| Intel | HD Graphics 530 | HD Graphics 6000 |
Don't go by model numbers alone. The GTX 760, 770 and 780 sound newer than a GTX 750 but use an older architecture, so they won't run Forever. And passing this cutoff doesn't mean you meet the minimum spec. Blizzard points out that these older supported cards still sit well below the GTX 10 series level in the table above.
To check what you have on Windows, go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display, or open Device Manager and expand Display adapters.
What to expect when you first log in
Your first login asks you to pick an Experience Preset before anything else:
- Classic: Standard Definition models, no quest objective markers, one-bag off, transmog off and the original UI layout.
- Enhanced: HD models, quest markers on, one-bag and transmog on, and a centered modern UI.
If you're unsure, Blizzard's own advice is to start with Enhanced. Every setting can be changed later under Game Menu > Options, and you can switch a character between HD and SD models at any time.
Next comes the Ruleset, which replaces the old realm list. Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP are live at launch. Hardcore is coming after launch, with no date yet. You can only group, guild, run dungeons and raid with players on the same Ruleset and faction, so settle that with your friends before 3 p.m. PST.
Character names also work differently: every character gets a main name plus a secondary name, and the full combination has to be unique across your region.
Watch the WoW Forever launch trailer
Quick answers
When does WoW Forever launch? November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST / 6:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 p.m. GMT, which is November 5 at 12:00 a.m. CET, 7:00 a.m. in Beijing and 10:00 a.m. AEDT.
Is it a staggered regional launch? No. Every region goes live at 23:00 UTC.
How big is the download? Blizzard asks for 128GB of free SSD space.
Is Skyborne free? No. The Skyborne race needs the Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99) or a higher edition.
Is Hardcore available on day one? No. Blizzard says the Hardcore Ruleset arrives sometime after launch.