WoW Forever Beta Extended: Name Lock Schedule [Confirmed]

Blizzard Entertainment has officially extended the World of Warcraft Forever beta through Friday, October 23, 2026, at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET, while scheduling character name reservations to unlock worldwide on Tuesday, October 27, across all launch realms. According to verified reporting from IGN Articles, Blizzard initially planned to conclude the server test on October 20, but high player influx compelled developers to grant three extra days of testing uptime. Since going live in September, the Classic+ inspired test client has drawn unprecedented global engagement, with players generating over one million unique characters during the testing phase alone. Blizzard developers acknowledged that server loads far exceeded initial forecast expectations, necessitating further stress testing on faction capitals and dungeon instances. Following the beta closure on October 23, the live infrastructure will prepare for the highly anticipated name reservation window opening on October 27. Players holding active subscriptions will be permitted to secure up to three character designations per linked Battle.net account ahead of full launch deployment. With cloud-driven server infrastructure scaling up—paralleling changes seen in [Xbox Cloud Gaming: Playtime Hourly Packs Revealed [Confirmed]](/news/xbox-cloud-gaming-playtime-pricing-update)—Blizzard aims to ensure rock-solid server integrity before millions rush to claim pristine realm identities.