WoW Forever's Collector Edition may activate game time immediately
A player confirmed that redeeming the physical edition's code started their 30 days of game time weeks before launch.
Here you are, you bought your Collector's Edition of World of Warcraft: Forever, and it finally arrived! You are so excited about it that you decide to redeem the Key code for the game directly on your Battle.net account... Well, you might have just made the biggest mistake of your life.
Players are receiving their Collector's Editions and discovering that redeeming the Physical code for it also means you immediately start the 30 days of free game time. If you play Retail or Classic, no problem, you will make use of that game time. But for those who want to just play Forever, you are essentially losing 3 weeks of game time for nothing.
Why Is the Game Time Activating Directly
If you check the official Collector's Edition page, it confirms that both packages include a Warcraft Forever Collection digital code. That code unlocks the Skyborne Epic Pack, Warcraft III: Reforged, and the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, alongside 30 days of WoW game time.
The problem is that Blizzard is not really giving proper indications. The fine print specifically says, "30 Days WoW Game Time will be added to your WoW account with the launch of WoW: Forever." And "with the launch of Forever" should mean that it only starts on November 4th, no matter when or how you redeem the code on your account. But sadly, that is not the case.
The player who shared his experience on Reddit, also shared the customer service's response, claiming that the physical and digital codes work differently. If you bought the digital version, your game time will only activate at launch, but for the Physical version, it activates once you redeem the code. And that is the part that confused a lot of people.
Why are the two versions working differently when it is essentially the exact same package? Well, that is a mystery...
The problem remains since both bundles, physical and digital, indicate the same exact thing: the 30-day unlock on launch. But for the Physical version, it turns out it simply unlocks ALL the digital items immediately after redeeming your key, and that includes the game time.
Should You Redeem Your Collector Key Immediately?
For those who only bought the digital version, you are pretty much safe. All the digital items will only unlock once the game releases.
But if you get your Physical Collector's Edition and you are only interested in WoW Forever, and not the other versions of World of Warcarft, I would advise you to keep your key and redeem it on your Battle.net account only on November 4th, when the game releases, so you are not losing any "free" game time.
And for more news about the game, check out our WoW Forever hub!