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WoW: Forever name reservation: dates, who can, and how it works

Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October to 3 November 2026, Pacific time, the week before launch. It comes with any of the upgrade packs, not with a subscription alone. You can create up to three characters, and names go first come, first served.

LaunchAccount-wide4 steps

Last verified 7 October 2026

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  1. 1

    Know the dates: 27 October to 3 November, Pacific time

    Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October to 3 November 2026. Blizzard gives the dates in Pacific time. This is confirmed: it is in Blizzard's pre-purchase article and on its roadmap, which calls 27 October "Early Name Reservation & Character Creation".

    In Korea and Taiwan, Blizzard's own pages give the window as 28 October to 4 November, local time. It is the same week: Korea and Taiwan are a day ahead.

    What Blizzard hasn't said: the hour the window opens or closes. Treat the 27th as "sometime that day", and don't leave it until the 3rd.

    The game itself launches the next day, 4 November at 3:00 p.m. PST.

    ~2 min
  2. 2

    Check you can take part: it comes with the upgrade packs

    Blizzard says Early Name Reservation is "included with any upgrade purchase". The upgrades are the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection. Any one of them is enough.

    A subscription or Game Time is what you need to play from 4 November, but on its own it does not get you into the reservation week. If you don't buy a pack, you make your characters at launch like everyone else.

    Which pack is worth it, if any, is in launch week: what to do before 4 November.

    ~3 min
  3. 3

    Plan up to three characters, not just three names

    You can create and customize up to three characters during the week. It is not a list of names on a form: you make the character, and its name is held from then on. Names go first come, first served.

    So have each character's race, class and look decided before the window opens, as well as its name. Choosing a ruleset is its own decision, and choosing a ruleset covers it.

    ~10 min
  4. 4

    Have a backup first and last name ready

    Every character has two names, a first and a last, and it is the pair that has to be unique, across your whole region. There are no realms to spread people out, so the name you want may already be taken by the time you get to it.

    The upside is that your first name doesn't have to be unique on its own: plenty of people can share it, as long as the last name differs. Have two or three pairs ready rather than inventing one under pressure.

    More on how names work, and on hiding your last name, is in names and language settings.

    ~10 min

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