World of Warcraft: Forever early name reservation opens today, October 27, at 17:00 UTC in Europe and 1:00 p.m. PDT (20:00 UTC) in North America, and it runs through November 3. Players who bought any WoW: Forever upgrade edition can create up to three characters before the November 4 launch, and every full name is first come, first served.
Blizzard confirmed the schedule in its name reservation announcement. A last-minute racial rework may also change which race you lock in.
Table of Contents
WoW Forever name reservation start times by region
Regions open at different moments (Europe is on winter time since October 25; the US stays on daylight time until November 1):
| Region | Blizzard’s time | UTC |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | Oct 27, 18:00 CET | Oct 27, 17:00 |
| North America | Oct 27, 1:00 p.m. PDT | Oct 27, 20:00 |
| Korea | Oct 28, 07:00 KST | Oct 27, 22:00 |
| Taiwan | Oct 28, 07:00 CST | Oct 27, 23:00 |
The window closes on November 3 (Pacific time, per Blizzard’s edition page). The game itself launches on November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST, which is 23:00 UTC.
Who can reserve a name
Name reservation is a pre-purchase perk, not a subscription perk. According to Blizzard, it comes with every upgrade edition on the Battle.net Shop. The announcement’s fine print also counts the Collector’s Edition. US prices, checked October 27 at 01:00 UTC:
- Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99): the Skyborne race and Zephras Isle start, early name reservation, a mount, a transmog set and one Invite-A-Friend launch code.
- Skyborne Epic Pack ($59.99): everything above, plus 30 days of game time from November 4, extra cosmetics and pets, and two more invite codes.
- Warcraft Forever Collection ($79.99): everything in the Epic Pack, plus Warcraft III: Reforged and the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign. Blizzard says it’s on sale until January 11, 2027.
The perk applies only to the WoW account the edition was bought for. Base access to WoW: Forever at launch comes with a normal World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time.
Every WoW: Forever upgrade edition, from the $29.99 Heroic Pack up, includes early name reservation. Image: Blizzard Entertainment
How to reserve your WoW Forever character names
- Update your graphics drivers and open the Battle.net desktop app.
- Select World of Warcraft, open the Game Version menu above the Play button, choose World of Warcraft: Forever and click Install.
- Click Play and pick your Ruleset (Normal, PvP or Role-Play).
- Create up to three characters with the names you want.
The three-character cap covers all Rulesets together. If you make two characters on PvP, you get only one more on Normal or Role-Play. The limit applies only during early reservation.
How WoW Forever’s two-part names work
WoW: Forever has no realms, so names are unique across your whole region instead of one server. So every character gets a first name and a surname, and only the full pair has to be unique. If someone already took “Thalen”, you can still be “Thalen Brightvale” as long as nobody else has that exact pair.
Blizzard’s naming explainer says the usual code of conduct still applies. Both halves are checked together, so splitting a banned word across the two names won’t get it through. If you’d rather not show the surname, you can hide it in the world under Options, Nameplates, “My Secondary Name”. It still appears in chat.
Untick "My Secondary Name" under Options, Nameplates to hide your surname in the world. Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Racial changes posted the day before reservation
On October 26, community manager Kaivax posted a final racial tuning pass in Blizzard’s WoW Forever development notes. Blizzard says it now puts racial identity ahead of perfect balance. Some role- and class-flavored racials are coming back, but weapon specializations stay gone so loot tables don’t turn into “required” weapon types. The highlights:
- Tauren: Plainsrunning now gives 2% movement speed per stack, up to 60% (was 30%), but no longer affects mounts. Endurance is back to just 5% more Health.
- Human: Ruthless drops to 1% crit (was 2%). Human Spirit rises to 10% Spirit.
- Dwarf: Earth Fury is removed, and the new Artisan’s Precision gives 1% hit with spells and attacks.
- Orc: Savage is removed, and Command returns, adding 5% Warlock and Hunter pet damage.
- Skyborne: Wind-Blessed haste drops to 2%. Read Leyline and Skysight are weaker on their own but gain one-hour “Attuned” and “Charged” buffs when used at Ley Lines and elemental convergences.
We first covered Forever’s server tests in our WoW Forever stress test guide.
What’s next
Reservations stay open until November 3, and WoW: Forever launches worldwide on November 4 at 23:00 UTC. Invite-A-Friend codes from the packs let a friend play without a subscription from November 4 to 11. Still deciding? See what’s most timeless in World of Warcraft or our Windwalker Monk class guide for modern WoW.
Sources: Blizzard (name reservation), Blizzard (upgrade editions), Blizzard (naming system) and Blizzard forums (development notes).
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Featured image: Blizzard Entertainment
