Blizzard announces World of Warcraft: Forever, a Classic+ branch launching November 4

The long-rumored Classic+ is real, and it has a name. At the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever, a third version of the game that runs alongside the current expansion and Classic. It starts from the original world with the level cap at 60 and, instead of moving on to old expansions, adds new content inside that world.

The dates are close. The beta opens Thursday, September 17 and runs through October 21. Launch is November 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PST. Access is included with an existing subscription or Game Time; the paid Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack and Warcraft Forever Collection add the new Skyborne Elves race, beta access, name reservation and cosmetics.

The headline contents, per Blizzard’s briefing to press: three new zones plus several overhauled ones, nine new dungeons, two new raids for 10 and 20 players, more than 1,000 new quests across levels 1 to 60, new race and class combinations including Forsaken Paladins, account-wide perks, and updated visuals with a toggle back to the classic look. A deep-dive panel follows on September 13.

Why it matters: this is Blizzard building the game the Classic community has asked for since 2019, on a seven-week runway. Everything confirmed so far is on everything we know, and the editions are compared in which edition should you buy.