WoW Forever lets everyone try the game before launch
Join the upcoming stress test, help with launch servers, and play without a subscription.
Not everyone could get into the WoW Forever Beta, but everyone will be able to participate in the upcoming Stress Test for the game!
Blizzard is conducting the first Stress Test on October 19 and October 20, depending on the region:
North America: 2:00 p.m. PDT
Europe: 19:00 CEST
Korea: 06:00 KST (October 20)
Taiwan: 05:00 CST (October 20)
The game will be put on the production realms for a few hours, and then it will be shut down again, and all characters will be deleted before they reopen the normal Beta servers.
How to Participate in the Stress Test
Any player with a WoW account is eligible to participate, and you do not need an active subscription for it. So yes, it is completely free for everyone.
You just have to follow a few steps to make it in:
Update your graphics drivers
Open the Battle.net desktop app and allow it to update if needed
Select World of Warcraft from the list of games
In the Game Version menu above the Play button, select World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test under "In Development," then select Install
Once installation is complete and the Stress Test begins, select Play and choose an available test realm
Create a new test character, enter the game, and enjoy until the server closes again
You can already pre-install the Stress Test through Battle.net, but until it opens, you will obviously not be able to get in.
Everything Will Be Wiped After the Test
Keep in mind that ALL the characters created on these servers will be deleted, so do not expect to collect anything you will keep later on. Names and guilds will also get wiped at the end of the test.
This is due to the Name Reservations opening on October 27. The last Beta day is October 21, since after that Blizzard is preparing for launch on November 4.
If you pre-purchased the Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack, or limited-time Warcraft Forever Collection, you will have access to the early Name Reservation. Character names will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and no name can be guaranteed.
Please join us for the WoW Forever Stress Test on October 19.
On that day, we will first take the WoW Forever Beta offline, and we will then open WoW Forever on the regional hardware that it will operate on when the game goes live.
On October 19, the Stress Test will begin at 19:00 CEST for players in the EU region, 2:00 p.m. PDT for players in the Americas+Oceania, and at 5:00 a.m. in Taipei and 6:00 a.m. in Korea on October 20.
Any player with a WoW account is eligible to participate. No active subscription is needed.
Once you’re in, make a character, do a few quests, trade some items, chat, and group up with others to really put the game through its paces. This is a highly valuable event, since you’ll participate in our discovering of issues that would have otherwise happened on launch day.
WoW Forever will be available on production realms for a few hours, and then when we shut down the Stress Test, all characters will be deleted* and we will re-open the Beta.
*This is a complete wipe; names and everything else will be completely removed.
Thank you very much for joining us. We’ll see you there!
Join the World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test - WoW
The gates are opening for the World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test. For a limited time on October 19, all interested players can sign into World of Warcraft: Forever and help us put the servers through their paces. Anyone can take part and no...