WoW Forever: Collector's Edition codes and name reservation

Early name reservation for WoW Forever opens in Europe at 18:00 CET on 27 October, and it has caught out some buyers of the physical Collector's Edition. Reserving names needs one of the Skyborne packs or the Warcraft Forever Collection on the account, and for the boxed edition that digital part only arrives with the box itself. Players who bought the box got their beta code by email, but Blizzard support has confirmed on its forums that the other digital codes are inside the box and are only available once it is delivered.

Not every box will be there in time. The French version is planned to ship in October and the German one in November, while English orders placed before 24 September are due out in October and later ones in February 2027. Anyone still waiting can buy a WoW Forever pack in the Battle.net Shop now. Blizzard support says some of these purchases qualify for a Battle.net Balance credit equal to the amount paid once the Collector's Edition code is redeemed later. That credit stays in the Battle.net wallet and is not paid back to a card. The cheapest pack that unlocks reservation is the Skyborne Heroic Pack, and it covers the same 3 names as the others.

There is a second catch for players who already have the box. Redeeming its code adds every reward to the account straight away, and that includes the 30 days of game time, which begin counting down on the spot. The digital packs only start their 30 days when the game launches. Players who redeemed the box code in October found their time running weeks before WoW Forever opens, and one was told by support that the time would only start at release. A Blizzard community MVP on the forums replied that the game time in a boxed edition has always been used up as soon as the code goes in.

For returning players without a subscription, the safest order is to reserve names with a digital pack and hold the box code until closer to launch. Players who already pay for World of Warcraft lose nothing, because extra game time simply pushes back the next payment. Blizzard has not announced any compensation for game time that started early. Reservation runs until 3 November, and WoW Forever opens in Europe at 23:00 London time on 4 November, which is midnight on 5 November in Central Europe. Blizzard's own rules for name reservation are unchanged.