Quick answer: World of Warcraft: Forever launches November 4, 2026, included free with any existing WoW subscription. There's no raid content at launch — the first raid tier, and the first real race to world first in this new mode, opens December 9, 2026, with three raids at once: Barrow Deeps (10-player), Hyjal Summit (20-player), and Onyxia's Lair (40-player).
What makes WoW Forever different
Forever isn't a new expansion. It's built on the original 2004 vanilla client, with a permanent level 60 cap — horizontal progression instead of vertical. Instead of raising the level cap and chasing higher item level, Blizzard adds new zones, dungeons, and raids on top of classic Azeroth, with no flying and no higher number ever appearing over your head. It's included with any existing WoW subscription, so the entire current player base has day-one access with nothing extra to buy.
The launch window — no raids yet
November 4 brings the leveling and dungeon content: new zones, over 1,000 new quests, and 9 new dungeons. There's a five-week gap before any raid opens, giving players time to hit 60 and gear up first.
December 9 — the first raid tier
Three raids open simultaneously:
- Barrow Deeps — 10-player, 8 bosses, beneath Mount Hyjal.
- Hyjal Summit — 20-player, 13 bosses, the largest boss count of the three.
- Onyxia's Lair — 40-player, a single boss.
That's a genuinely different raid-race shape than retail, where every Mythic tier is a fixed 20-player roster. Blizzard has said every future Forever tier will include at least one 10-player and one 20-player raid, with 40-player raids only showing up in some tiers, and there's no Flex raiding at launch — raid size is fixed per raid, not adjustable.
Is it bigger than retail?
Open question, but the ingredients are there: it's free with an existing subscription (no purchase wall at all), it's the first-ever chance to play new content on the original vanilla ruleset, and the beta already drew enough attention that competing community trackers for the race existed before the game even launched. Whether that translates into a bigger race-to-world-first audience than retail's own Race to World First plays out starting December 9.
Where to follow it
- WoW Forever hub — raid sizes, boss counts, and what's confirmed so far for all three December 9 raids.
- Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit, Onyxia's Lair — individual raid pages.
- Retail Race to World First tracker — live pull counts and kill order for the current Mythic tier, in the meantime.
Live guild progress, pull counts, and boss kill order for the Forever race go live on PullCount once Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit, and Onyxia's Lair open on December 9, 2026.