WoW Forever Name Reservation Is Live: Dates, Times and How to Reserve Up to 3 Names

WoW Forever name reservation opens today, October 27, and runs until November 3 - the last week before launch. If you bought a WoW Forever upgrade pack, you can log in early, create up to three characters and lock in the names you want before everyone else arrives on November 4. Here's when name reservation for WoW Forever opens in your region, who can use it, how the new two-part names work, and how to reserve your WoW Forever name step by step.

Europe name reservation opens in

Europe: Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 18:00 CET (17:00 UTC).

Americas name reservation opens in

Americas: Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (20:00 UTC).

WoW Forever name reservation October 27 to November 3, 2026: three character slots with first and second names, opening at 18:00 CET in Europe, 1:00 PM PDT in the Americas and 07:00 on October 28 in Korea and Taiwan — WoW Forever name reservation: three names, one week.

WoW Forever name reservation: the short version

When: October 27 to November 3, 2026. Europe opens at 18:00 CET, the Americas at 1:00 p.m. PDT on October 27, and Korea and Taiwan at 07:00 local time on October 28.
Who: players who bought the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. Beta access alone doesn't count.
How many: up to three characters in total, across all Rulesets.
How names work: every character has a first and a second name, and the full combination must be unique in your region - there are no realms.
Launch: WoW Forever goes live on November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST, and the window closes the day before.

WoW Forever name reservation times in every region

Blizzard's European announcement gives the start in Europe as "27 October at 18:00 CET". For the other regions, Blizzard Watch and GameFragger list 1:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 27 for the Americas, and 07:00 local time on Wednesday, October 28 for Korea and Taiwan. Each region opens at its own time, so check the one you'll play in:

Table of WoW Forever name reservation opening times: Europe region at 5 PM London, 6 PM Berlin and Paris, 7 PM Athens; Americas region at 1 PM Los Angeles, 4 PM New York, 5 PM São Paulo, 7 AM Wednesday in Sydney — When WoW Forever name reservation opens, by city.

Americas: Tuesday, October 27 at 1:00 p.m. PDT - 4:00 p.m. EDT, 5:00 p.m. in São Paulo, and 7:00 a.m. Wednesday in Sydney.
Europe: Tuesday, October 27 at 18:00 CET - 17:00 in London, 19:00 in Athens and Helsinki.
Korea and Taiwan: Wednesday, October 28 at 07:00 local time.

Europe left summer time on October 25 and the US leaves it on November 1, so these are the current clock times. The countdowns above show the opening in your own time zone.

Who can reserve a name in WoW Forever?

Early name reservation is a pre-purchase bonus. Blizzard's pre-purchase page says it is "included with any upgrade purchase" - the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. According to Blizzard Watch, being in the beta isn't enough on its own: "beta access does not guarantee early name reservation." If you haven't bought an upgrade, you'll pick your name on launch day with everyone else. Our price and editions guide explains what each pack includes.

How many names can you reserve?

Three. The announcement says eligible players can "reserve names for up to three characters total across all Rulesets". Those three slots are shared between Normal, PvP and Role-Play, so two characters on PvP leave one for any other Ruleset. The three-character cap only applies to early name reservation, not to the game after launch.

How WoW Forever names work: first name and second name

WoW Forever has no traditional realms, so a name isn't reserved "on a server" any more. Blizzard's name guide explains that every character has two names, and that "your complete two-name combination is unique to you" across your whole region. Two players can both use the same first name, as long as their second names differ.

Both parts are checked together against the naming rules, so you can't split a banned word across the two names.
Names are first come, first served. If your combination is taken, try another second name - or use the random name generator.
You can hide your second name in the game world: Options, then Nameplates, then "My Secondary Name". It still shows in chat.

How to reserve your WoW Forever name, step by step

Blizzard's checklist, as summarised by GameFragger:

Update your graphics drivers and install the Battle.net app if you don't have it.
Open Battle.net and let any updates finish.
Select World of Warcraft, then choose WoW: Forever in the Game Version menu above the Play button, and install it.
Click Play when the window opens in your region and choose a Ruleset.
Create up to three characters with the names you want.

Tip: install WoW Forever before your region opens - popular names will go in the first minutes. Have two or three second names ready for each first name, and decide your race and class before you log in, because you're creating real characters, not just booking a name.

Choosing a race before you reserve

Blizzard changed several racials on October 26, the day before reservation opened (Warcraft Tavern called it "just in time" for name reservations). If you're still deciding, our WoW Forever racial changes article covers every change, and we've simulated the best race for every class: Mage, Warlock, Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Warrior, Shaman, Paladin and Druid.

What happens after November 3?

Name reservation ends on November 3, and WoW Forever launches for everyone on November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST (00:00 CET on November 5). The characters you created are the ones you will play at launch. For the launch time in every region, see our release date and launch countdown.

Our take: the realmless, two-name system makes WoW Forever name reservation less of a race than it used to be - with a second name, almost any first name is still possible. The real pressure is on short, popular first names with common second names. If you have one in mind, be there when your region opens.