Five things are coming, and only one of them is an expansion

How much of this Blizzard has actually written down

A convention reveals more on stage than it publishes, and outlets add estimates of their own. Across the 49 claims tracked on this site, 5 rest on panel coverage or press reporting rather than a Blizzard article. Every one of them is tagged, here and on the full pages, so you can tell which you are reading. Tags get upgraded as Blizzard posts catch up, and the wording stays put.

blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

panel report. Shown at the BlizzCon 2026 panels and reported by outlets, but not yet written into a Blizzard post. Treat it as provisional.

Shown at the BlizzCon 2026 panels and reported by outlets, but not yet written into a Blizzard post. Treat it as provisional.

press estimate. Reported by an outlet on its own, such as a datamined patch number or a release-date guess. No panel showed it and no Blizzard post confirms it.

Reported by an outlet on its own, such as a datamined patch number or a release-date guess. No panel showed it and no Blizzard post confirms it.

The mid-season patch between Curse of Ula'tek and Eclipse. A story campaign against the C'Thraxxi general Kith'ix, a one-boss raid to finish him, a new instance type called Labyrinths, an hourly outdoor invasion, and a currency that keeps Season 2 gear moving.

• The Promise of Tomorrow campaign

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Runs through Quel'thalas, Zul'Aman and the Coiled Isle against Kith'ix, a C'Thraxxi general. It continues the Season 2 story rather than starting a new one.

• The Unbinding of Kith'ix, a single-boss raid

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  One encounter beneath the Vaults of Ula'tek, with Lady Liadrin fighting alongside you. Difficulties and lockout were not spelled out in the overview.

• Labyrinths, starting with Kindo'jan

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A new instance type Blizzard describes as sprawling, mega-dungeon-like. The first is Kindo'jan, an ancient Amani funeral complex, with Valeera Sanguinar as your guide, and progress can be done in one sitting or piecemeal.

• The Aqir Invasion, ten minutes every hour

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Zone-wide public events in Eversong or Zul'Aman with eight possible affixes and six scenario types, three combat and three not.

• Ascendant Venomstones replace Voidcores

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Ten stones boost one Season 2 weapon, trinket or necklace. Orin Straylight in Silvermoon City handles the exchange.

• Expected around early October

  press estimate. Reported by an outlet on its own, such as a datamined patch number or a release-date guess. No panel showed it and no Blizzard post confirms it.

  Outlets estimate an October 6 launch from Blizzard's usual eight-week cadence. Blizzard has given no date; treat the week as a guess.

A new game mode arriving in the Echoes of the Worldcore content update. You are pulled into a Storyteller's dark tales as one of three mode-only classes, run themed levels of enemies, bosses, puzzles and treasure, and rest in the village of Quillgrave between runs.

• A new game mode, solo or with friends

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Themed levels filled with enemies, bosses, puzzles, treasure, relics and rewards, played alone or cooperatively. Every class in it can double jump, dodge and guard, so positioning matters more than a rotation.

• Three classes: Slayer, Inquisitor, Witch

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Mode-only classes with their own ability lists, separate from your character's class.

• Four stories at launch

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Darkhaven, Greenthistle Wood, Greywake's Expedition, and Grove of the Night Court.

• Quillgrave is the hub

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A lantern-lit village where you rest between runs. Its four vendors carry the progression: the Arcanist sells potions, draughts and flasks, the Scribe talents that change your abilities, the Outfitter starting health, damage, energy and focus, and the Antiquarian passives that change how a tale can be approached.

• Rewards: a transmog set, housing items, and a mount

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Ensemble: Witch Hunter's Shadow Attire, housing decor, and the Shadowbound Storybook mount.

• Numbered 12.1.7 by outlets

  press estimate. Reported by an outlet on its own, such as a datamined patch number or a release-date guess. No panel showed it and no Blizzard post confirms it.

  Blizzard's post names the content update, Echoes of the Worldcore, without a patch number. Coverage out of BlizzCon calls it 12.1.7.

The long-rumored Classic Plus, announced and dated in the same breath. Forever is a permanent version of the game alongside Modern and Classic: level 1 to 60 on the original continents, but with new zones, new dungeons, a new race, no realms, and updates that keep arriving. Blizzard's Day 2 panels wrote most of the systems down.

• Launches November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Beta opens September 17, 2026. Access is included with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time; the paid packs are optional.

• Beta access comes with a paid pack

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  The Skyborne Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection carry beta access from September 17. The cheaper Skyborne Heroic Pack (the race, the Zephras Isle start, cosmetics, one Invite-A-Friend code) does not.

• Set between Forsaken Kingdom and Molten Core

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  After the events of Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core opens. A reimagined original Azeroth rather than a fresh Classic realm on the old timeline.

• Level 60 is still the cap, and nothing scales

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  The 1 to 60 bracket is the whole game: no flying mounts and no level scaling. New content is spread through the bracket instead of stacked past it, which is the part that separates Forever from an expansion.

• The Skyborne pick a faction at creation

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A new playable race from Zephras Isle. Choosing Alliance opens Mage, choosing Horde opens Shaman; both sides can also play Warrior, Hunter, Rogue and Druid. The neutral-race framing from the opening ceremony was replaced by this on Day 2.

• No realms: four rulesets instead

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Normal, PvP, Roleplaying, and Hardcore, each working like one mega-realm. No grouping across rulesets, factions stay separate, and characters carry two-part names per region.

Xal'atath reaches the thing she has been walking toward since The War Within: the Worldsoul itself. Eclipse is the last major content update Midnight gets, and it hands the Worldsoul Saga to The Last Titan.

• The Worldcore, eight bosses

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A raid inside the worldcore that mixes void enemies, Titan constructs and living Azerite before it puts you in front of Xal'atath. Eight encounters, the same size as The Venomous Abyss.

• Thraegar's Stand, three bosses

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A new dungeon. The excavation foremen Cragcleaver and Foreman Sullk hold the first encounter between them, then the azerite elemental Monokk, then a titan construct called Stenvarg the Inevitable.

• Midnight's Edge brings legendaries back

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A caster dagger, and the first legendary weapon of the expansion. Its questline opens by clearing The Worldcore, so the raid gates it rather than a separate grind.

• The Mantle Vault

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  The patch zone, full of stone worms and crystalline elementals, sitting above the worldcore the raid descends into.

• Forsaken, Night Elf and Troll Paladins

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Three races gain the class. Pre-12.2 guides that describe the Paladin race list as closed are wrong from the day Eclipse lands.

• Season 3 starts shortly after the patch

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  A new Mythic+ pool of eight keys, a new Delve nemesis, and the raid on its own schedule. Season 2 item level tracks stop being the ceiling.

The third and final chapter of the Worldsoul Saga, and a return to Northrend. Eclipse is written to hand off to it, which is why the worldcore matters: what Xal'atath finds there is what The Last Titan opens on.

• A return to Northrend

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Blizzard has confirmed the destination and nothing past it. Northrend was last the setting of Wrath of the Lich King.

• The end of the Worldsoul Saga

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  The arc that began with The War Within and continued through Midnight. Eclipse sets up the revelation it opens with.

• Details come early in 2027

  blizzard post. Transcribed from an official Blizzard article. Names and numbers are theirs.

  Blizzard said the full reveal is early next year, so zones, systems and a release date are all still unannounced.

• Reported for 2027

  press estimate. Reported by an outlet on its own, such as a datamined patch number or a release-date guess. No panel showed it and no Blizzard post confirms it.

  Outlets covering BlizzCon put the release in 2027. Blizzard itself has given a reveal window, not a launch date, so treat the year as press reporting.

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