Blizzard Extends WoW: Forever Beta to October 23, Name Reservations Open October 27
Blizzard announced that the World of Warcraft: Forever closed beta, originally slated to end October 20, will now run until Friday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. ET). The extension gives invited testers a few extra days in Azeroth and gives Blizzard room to run a public stress test and collect feedback ahead of the November 4 launch.
Blizzard posted on X/Twitter that the beta would be extended by three days, moving the end from October 20 to October 23 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. After the beta closes, Early Name Reservations open October 27, letting eligible pre-purchase players lock in names for up to three characters. A Blizzard community manager confirmed on the official forums: "We plan to close the WoW Forever Beta ... forever at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 23."
The extension is tied to a public stress test that was postponed due to beta layering anomalies. During the stress test, regular beta servers go offline and all players start fresh on a separate server. No subscription, Game Time, or beta invite is required to join via the "World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test" client option on Battle.net. The extension keeps the beta alive after the stress test so testers retain playtime.
Beta testers face a level 30 cap and incomplete content, so a few extra days means more time to explore new zones, test classes, and file feedback. For planners, the October 27 to November 3 reservation window lets pre-purchase players secure up to three character names before launch-day rushes. Stress-test progress does not carry over to live servers.
The stress test opens October 21 (2:00 p.m. PDT North America/Oceania, 19:00 CEST Europe, 06:00 KST Korea on October 22, 05:00 CST Taiwan on October 22). Name reservations open October 27. WoW: Forever launches November 4, when level caps and content restrictions lift.
The stress test has a low barrier to entry: no subscription, Game Time, or beta invite is required — just log in with the "World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test" client on Battle.net. Beta servers will go offline during the test and everyone starts from scratch, with no progress carrying over to the live game. Blizzard's community manager confirmed on the official forums that the beta will close for good at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 23. The name reservation window runs October 27 through November 3, letting players lock in up to three character names ahead of the November 4 launch, when the level 30 cap and content restrictions lift.