Patch Notes
Retail live12.1
Forever launchNov 4
Next expansionThe Last Titan
Two games now, two schedules
Patch
notes
Patch assumptions based on what we know. Anything can be moved back so none of it is concrete — the further down a list a row sits the more it has already been proved right. Two games now, so pick a schedule: retail has numbered patches and the countdown, and Warcraft Forever has dated milestones instead of version numbers.
Warcraft ForeverRetail runs to The Last TitanForever never leaves 60
Retail · newest first
The retail schedule#
Released patches carry a shipped marker, and the countdown above is this list's.
13.0.1August 2027Expected#
- New Expansion Launch - The Last Titan
- New Zones
- New Dungeons
- New Raid - ???
- New PvP Season
- Early Access - August 7th 2027
13.0July 2027Expected#
- New Expansion Pre-patch - The Last Titan
12.2.7June 2027Expected#
- Will fill in later
12.2.5April 2027Expected#
- Will fill in later
12.2February 2027Expected#
- Will fill in later
12.1.7December 2026Expected#
- Confirmed pieces so far: additional story quests, holiday content updates, a new standalone mode, and another Turbulent Timeways event. Blizzard hasn't detailed this one much beyond that yet.
12.1.5October 2026Expected#
- A new raid, plus other new content and systems, and Labyrinth megadelves. The Labyrinths are the headline: nine labeled rooms across three rows in a branching, partially non-linear layout closer to a raid floorplan than a normal Delve, built for one to five players rather than requiring a full five-player group, with rewards expected to sit above the standard Delve gear ceiling.
12.1August 2026Released#
- New zone: the Coiled Isle, an island off the east coast of Zul'Aman
- New raid: an eight-boss raid themed around the Amani trolls, culminating in Ula'tek
- New dungeon: Altar of Fangs, a three-boss dungeon themed around poison and snake enemies, joining the Season 2 Mythic+ rotation
- New world-boss system: Lairs, a scalable instanced world boss system OverGear
- Housing overhaul: Blueprints for saving/sharing house layouts, pet beds and new endeavors, and houses reaching level 12
- Marks the start of Midnight Season 2
12.0.7June 2026Released#
- New story and quest content, Void Assault Escalations, a one-boss raid called Sporefall in Harandar, and the return of Turbulent Timeways
- Two new zones reached through a portal in Voidstorm: Naigtal, a fungal world occupied by the ethereal Hal'hadar, and Val, an icy former Legion world
- The Omnium Folio, a runic ledger of power players fill in through weekly activities
12.0.5April 2026Released#
- Void Assaults
- Prop Hunt
12.0.1March 2 2026Released#
- New Expansion Launch - Midnight
- New Zones
- New Dungeons
- New Raid - ???
- New PvP Season
- Early Access - February 7th 2026
12.0January 13 2026Released#
- New Expansion Pre-patch - Midnight
- Player Housing
11.2.7December 2 2025Released#
- New Content & Systems Updates
- Story & Quests
- Brawlers Guild Return
- Player Housing Early Access
Legion Remix - October 7 2025 - Released#
- Just like with Pandaria Remix
- Artifact Weapon Updates?
11.2.5September 23 2025Released#
- New Content & Systems Updates
- 21st Anniversary
Announcement - August 21 2025#
- Gamescom
- Next Expansion Announcement: Midnight
11.2August 5 2025Released#
- New World Events
- New Dungeon
- New Raid
- New Open World Challenges
- Warbands Updates
- Brewfest Updates
- Season Rewards Refresh
- Go to homeworld of Ethereal faction?
- Season 3
11.1.7June 17 2025Released#
- Story & Quests
- New Content and System Updates
- Turbulent Timeways
- Timewalking Event
- Shaman Tanks Spec?
11.1.5April 22 2025Released#
- New Content: Nightfall
- Horrific Visions Revisited
- Children's Week Update
11.1February 25 2025Released#
- New Zone: UndermineD
- New Raid: Liberation of Undermine
- New Dungeon Operation: Floodgate
- DRIVE (Dragonriding but with cars)
- New Delves
- Cartel Renown
- Warband Updates
- Season 2 - March 4th
Plunderstorm - January 14 2025 - Released#
- Plunderstorm v2
11.0.7December 17 2024Released#
- New Zone: Siren Isle
- Turbulent Timeways
- Timewalking Event
11.0.5October 22 2024Released#
- WoW 20th Anniversary Celebration
- Classic Dungeons Added to Timewalking
- More Flexibility for Dracthyr - New Classes
- New Ascendance Forms for Shamans
- Dragonflight PvP Ensembles
- Changes to Transmog Collecting
11.0August 26 2024Released#
- New Expansion Launch - War Within
- Delves
- Hero Talents
- Dynamic Flight
- Warbands
- Earthen Allied Race
- New Zones
- New Dungeons
- New Raid - Nerub-ar Palace
- New PvP Season
Blizzard's own version
The retail roadmaps#
The slides the dates above were read off, kept so the guesses can be checked against what was actually announced.
Forever · newest first
The Forever schedule#
No version numbers here — Forever ships dated milestones, and after December they are seasons.
Nothing on this list has shipped yet — the beta at the bottom is the first thing to land. Everything from winter onwards is a season rather than a date, and Blizzard's own slide says as much.
Summer 2027 — Major update#
- A revamped iconic raid, not yet named
- Another new raid
- Two new dungeons
- Expanded world content
- PvP season refresh
- Professions and Legacy system updates
Spring 2027 — Major update#
- Two new raids, one ten-player and one twenty-player
- Two new dungeons
- New quests and a new playable area
- A new legendary questline
- PvP season refresh
Winter 2026 — Hardcore#
- Forever Hardcore launches as its own sealed mode. It is not available at launch.
- Hardcore is a closed ecosystem: no grouping with the other rulesets, and Legacy Points are not shared with them
- Characters can transfer out of Hardcore into the other modes
December 9 2026 — Raids unlock#
- The Barrow Deeps, a ten-player raid
- Hyjal Summit, a twenty-player raid, in the new Mount Hyjal zone
- Onyxia's Lair returns as a forty-player raid. Blizzard has not said whether it is reworked or simply restored.
November 4 2026 — Launch#
- Live at 3:00pm PST. Everyone starts at level 1, and 60 is the permanent cap.
- Four new zones: Zephras Isle (1–12), Riverglades (35–45), Shen'dralas, and Mount Hyjal (60)
- Nine new dungeons, from the Hall of Thanes at 13–18 to Shaper's Terrace at 58–60
- The Skyborne playable race, which needs the $29.99 Heroic pack or above
- Six new race and class combinations: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin
- Over a thousand new quests spread across the whole 1–60 range
- Reworked talents, new spells, and reworked racials — still three trees and 51 points
- The Legacy system, camping, optional transmog, and the updated water and lighting on a toggle
- Darkspear Islands, a 15v15 battleground
- No realms: Normal, PvP and Roleplay rulesets, with no cross-faction and no cross-ruleset grouping
- No WoW Token and no character boosts
- Invite-a-Friend codes from the packs let somebody play free until 11 November
October 27 2026 — Name reservation#
- Early name reservation and character creation, for anyone holding a pack
September 17 2026 — Beta#
- Runs to 22 October. The level cap starts at 20 and is raised to 30 before it closes.
- Three ways in: the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection, the Battle.net beta opt-in, which guarantees nothing, or McDonald's reward points if you live in Australia
- Wowhead's talent trees get rebuilt off the beta client from this date, so anything planned before it is provisional
The full Forever writeup — zones, dungeons, the Skyborne, the editions, the talent calculators, and who from the group is playing — is on the Warcraft Forever page.