WoW: Forever’s Beta Just Keeps Getting Bigger

World of Warcraft: Forever's beta is in full swing, and if its popularity is any indication of how the full launch might go, it's going to be big, as Blizzard has had to increase the beta's population cap multiple times.

Forever was Blizzard's big finale during its BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony, a modified version of WoW Classic that keeps the old-school MMORPG's gameplay and world but brings plenty of new changes and content as well. It's something WoW Classic players have asked for years, and Blizzard is now finally ready to deliver.

The beta kicked off September 17 with an initial level cap of 20 and will run through October 21, with Forever's full launch slated for November 4. It's important to note that it's not an open beta that anyone can join. Players need to purchase the $60 Skyborne Epic Pack (which unlocks the new playable Skyborne race in Forever) to gain access.

Despite a $60 barrier to entry, everything points towards the beta being huge. From the get go, the beta ran into problems due to sheer popularity, with WoW: Forever senior game producer Tom Ellis (who has since deleted their X account) posting a technical breakdown that boiled many of the beta's initial issues down to the game's beta environment simply not being accustomed to such high demand.

It wasn't long before other developers at Blizzard began to chime in on how unprecedented the Forever's beta seemed to be. WoW executive producer Holly Longdale posted that Forever's beta was "setting records." Two days later on September 19, she said "launch will be wild…and we are here for it, come what may."

Most recently, Longdale chimed in about the beta's success once more. On September 27, she wrote Blizzard had to increase the beta's population cap once again. "The wild ride continues," she said.

Longdale hasn't been the only one commenting on how big the beta seems to be. Senior game designer Josh Greenfield, who frequently answers from the game's community on X, said the beta "has been crazy."

"The craziest numbers I've seen in 17 years working at Blizzard and almost 8 years on Classic," Greenfield said. "We've got something really special here." 

When asked how Blizzard was preparing to handle potential login queues at launch, Greenfield said the beta itself was the answer, as the team had found and fixed more problems on beta launch day than it would have in six months of internal testing. 

Still, given how some previous WoW launches have gone, it certainly wouldn't be surprising if Forever were to run into technical issues at launch, despite the game essentially doing away with traditional servers. Blizzard hasn't yet released exact beta numbers, but off of everything we've seen so far, Forever's launch is shaping up to be a doozy.

For more on WoW: Forever, be sure check out how Blizzard approached designing over 1,000 new quests, why it won't include Season of Discovery's biggest changes, and how big a deal it is that it's launching with full controller support.