To play World of Warcraft: Forever, you need three things: a Battle.net account, an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time, and the Battle.net app on Windows or Mac. There is no separate game to buy. In the US the subscription costs $14.99 a month on the monthly plan, the same plan also covers modern WoW and Classic, and the Skyborne packs sold alongside Forever are optional.
Below we cover what each subscription plan costs, what the paid packs add, the free ways in that exist right now, how to download and launch the game step by step, the choices you make on your first login, and what your PC needs. Requirements come from Blizzard’s New Player’s Starter Guide and its launch announcement, and prices come from the Battle.net Shop.
What WoW Forever Costs Each Month
WoW Forever has no price of its own. Blizzard says access “is included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time,” and there is only one World of Warcraft subscription, so a single plan pays for modern WoW, Classic and Forever at once. If you already subscribe, you can play Forever today at no extra cost.
These are the US plans on the Battle.net Shop:
| Plan | Price per month | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month | $14.99 | $14.99 every month |
| 3 Months | $13.99 | $41.97 every 3 months |
| 6 Months | $12.99 | $77.94 every 6 months |
| 12 Months | $12.99 | $155.88 every 12 months |
| 60 Days of Game Time | about $15 | $29.99 once, with no auto-renewal |
Prices differ by region and currency. Game Time suits anyone who would rather not keep a card on file, because it simply runs out instead of renewing, and you buy more when you want to keep playing. Our World of Warcraft cost guide walks through every plan in more detail.
Do You Need to Buy a Pack?
No. Blizzard sells three optional upgrades for Forever, and none of them is needed to play:
| Pack | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Skyborne Heroic Pack | $29.99 | The Skyborne race and its Zephras Isle starting zone, cosmetics, and one Invite-A-Friend code |
| Skyborne Epic Pack | $59.99 | Everything in Heroic, plus 30 days of Game Time, more cosmetics, and three codes |
| Warcraft Forever Collection | $79.99 | Everything in Epic, plus Warcraft III: Reforged and its Forsaken Kingdom campaign |
The only part of the game a plain subscriber cannot reach is the Skyborne race. Blizzard’s Return to Azeroth guide says access to the Skyborne race and starting experience “requires the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher.” The other eight races and all nine classes are open to every subscriber. Our guide to which upgrade pack to buy weighs up each one, how to unlock the Skyborne race covers the race itself, and our guide to getting to Zephras Isle covers its starting zone.
Free Ways In (and Ways to Pay Less)
Blizzard has not announced a free trial. Its starter guide lists a subscription or Game Time as the way in, and nothing in its launch material mentions a trial or Starter Edition for Forever, so do not assume the free trial for modern WoW covers it. That leaves a few options:
- An Invite-A-Friend Launch Code. A friend who bought a pack can send you a code that lets you play free from launch through November 11, 2026, with no subscription or Game Time. Our guide to Invite-A-Friend launch codes explains who can redeem one and what happens when it ends.
- A WoW Token from modern WoW. Forever has no WoW Token of its own, but a Token bought with gold in modern WoW can be redeemed for Game Time, and Game Time covers Forever. Our guide on buying gold in WoW Forever covers what that does and does not allow.
- The Epic Pack’s Game Time. The Skyborne Epic Pack includes 30 days of Game Time, so if you were going to subscribe anyway, that month offsets part of its price.
- A longer plan. The 6- and 12-month plans bring the monthly cost down to $12.99.
How to Download and Play WoW Forever
- Make a Battle.net account. Sign up on Battle.net if you do not have one. An account you already use for any Blizzard game works.
- Add a subscription or Game Time. Buy it on the Battle.net Shop or from the Shop tab in the Battle.net app. This is the only paid requirement.
- Install the Battle.net app on Windows or Mac and sign in.
- Select World of Warcraft, then open the Game Version menu and pick WoW: Forever. If your Battle.net account holds more than one World of Warcraft license, a second dropdown lets you choose which one to play on.
- Click Install, then Play once the download finishes.
- Pick your experience preset. The first time you log in, Forever asks you to choose Classic or Enhanced. Enhanced turns on HD character models and other modern features, while Classic keeps the original look and layout. Blizzard suggests Enhanced if you are unsure, and every setting the preset changes can be changed later under Game Menu, Options.
- Choose a ruleset. There is no realm list. Instead you pick a ruleset: Normal, PvP, Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP at launch, with Hardcore coming later (Blizzard has not given a date). You can only group with players on the same ruleset and faction, so settle on one with your friends before anyone makes a character. Our ruleset guide helps you choose, and our guide to grouping across rulesets explains the limits.
- Create your character. Pick Alliance or Horde, a race and a class, and choose HD or SD models for that character. Names have two parts and must be unique in your region, first come, first served. Our guide on hiding your last name explains how the second name works.
What Your PC Needs
Blizzard’s starter guide says you can play on Windows or Mac with a keyboard and mouse, and that controller support is available in a beta state. There is no console version: Blizzard lists only Windows and Mac.
The firmest hardware rule is on the graphics card. Blizzard’s GPU requirements post sets a cutoff at AMD’s Graphics Core Next 1 cards (2012), NVIDIA’s Maxwell cards (2014) and Intel’s Skylake graphics (2015), or anything newer. The oldest cards it names, such as the Radeon HD 7850, the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and Intel HD Graphics 530, can run the game’s new effects, but Blizzard adds that they are “still well below the minimum requirements for the game.” On an older machine, our best graphics settings guide shows what to lower first, and our GPU requirements story lists the cards Blizzard ruled out entirely.
Your First Hours in Azeroth
- Expect a queue at busy times. Our guide to how login queues work explains the wait, and if the game will not connect at all, check whether the servers are down.
- Pick a class that suits you. Our best class for new players and best race and class combos guides cover the first big decision.
- Know how layers work. Each ruleset is one large world split into layers, which decides who you can see in a busy zone. Our layers guide covers how to join a friend’s layer.
- Start on your Legacy points. Forever’s account-wide Legacy System rewards alts and exploration, and our guide to getting Legacy points shows where they come from.
Every guide we have written for the game is on our World of Warcraft hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does WoW Forever cost? It needs a World of Warcraft subscription, which costs $14.99 a month in the US on the monthly plan and $12.99 a month on the 6- and 12-month plans. The Skyborne packs are optional.
Do I need to buy WoW Forever separately? No. Blizzard says access is included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time.
Does one subscription cover modern WoW, Classic and Forever? Yes. There is one World of Warcraft subscription, and it covers all three.
Is there a free trial for WoW Forever? Not one that Blizzard has announced. The only free play is an Invite-A-Friend Launch Code from a friend who bought a pack, which runs through November 11, 2026.
Can you play WoW Forever on PS5, Xbox or Switch? No. Blizzard lists Windows and Mac only, with controller support in a beta state.
Do I need the Midnight expansion to play WoW Forever? No. Blizzard lists only a subscription or Game Time as the requirement.