Europe: Launch Times, Beta Access and Name Reservation
Checked: 2026-10-10 · Europe
European launch times, beta eligibility, reservation dates and the language settings to agree on with your group.
Blizzard’s European English What’s Next and pre-purchase articles announce a global launch at 15:00 PST on 4 November 2026. That converts to 23:00 GMT on 4 November, or 00:00 CET / 01:00 EET on 5 November. The roadmap lists new raids on 9 December without an exact opening time or timezone.
The published beta window is 17 September–21 October, with 21 October described as the last full testing day. The pre-purchase article labels these dates PST, including dates when Pacific daylight saving would normally apply. Date-only windows below retain the published label; they do not establish exact European start or end times.
Beta access comes through selection after opting in, or through the Skyborne Epic Pack or Warcraft Forever Collection. Purchased access can take up to 30 minutes to appear and may require restarting Battle.net. Choose World of Warcraft, then World of Warcraft: Forever Beta under In Development in the game-version menu to install. The separate public Server Slam still needs its own dated announcement.
Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October to 3 November in the source’s PST dates. Every upgrade includes it, with up to three characters and names allocated in arrival order. A full two-part name must be unique within the region, so prepare several combinations. See the name reservation guide.
Invite-A-Friend emails begin on 20 October, with access from 4 to 11 November, using the source’s PST dates. The Heroic Pack includes one code; the Epic Pack and Warcraft Forever Collection include three. These codes cover the launch-week invitation and do not grant beta access.
Before creating characters, agree on the same faction and ruleset with your friends. Normal, PvP and Roleplaying are the launch choices; Hardcore follows later. Grouping requires the same ruleset and faction. Full names remain unique within a region; a realmless structure does not establish cross-region grouping.
To meet players with a shared language preference, open Esc → Options → System → Languages and Social and choose Preferred Online Language. This setting applies across the account and has a 24-hour cooldown before another change. This website’s Europe edition changes the information shown here; it does not change your Battle.net region, game eligibility or in-game language preference.
For European beta updates, use the EU forum sources linked in the beta guide and known issues. On 21 September, Blizzard described fixes for EU beta routing problems and continued monitoring. That dated update is not a promise of current latency or proof that every connection issue is resolved.
Source: World of Warcraft: Forever What’s Next Panel Recap · The World of Warcraft: Forever Beta Now Live · Create a Name of Your Own in WoW: Forever · Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever Upgrades and Begin Your Next Journey in Azeroth · Choose Your Ruleset in World of Warcraft: Forever · Addressing EU Beta Routing Issues
A fan-site summary. Dates and test content may change; consult the original announcements.