World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test

The WoW stress test ran October 21, 2026. Any WoW account could log in — no active subscription needed. Below are the full regional times, how the test client appeared in Battle.net, and what happened to the characters afterward.

Ran Oct 21, 2026 No sub required Battle.net install Characters wiped after
Status: this test window has ended. The stress test ran October 21, 2026 in a single four-hour window per region. Blizzard planned to reopen the beta afterward, with the beta scheduled to close Friday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. If you're landing here from a search, the beta client is the thing to watch next — watch the in-client Battle.net news for any repeat windows.

Stress test times by region

The window ran four hours everywhere; local clocks differed by region.

Time zoneStartEnd
PDT2:00 p.m. Oct 216:00 p.m. Oct 21
EDT5:00 p.m. Oct 219:00 p.m. Oct 21
BST / IST6:00 p.m. Oct 212:00 a.m. Oct 22
CEST7:00 p.m. Oct 213:00 a.m. Oct 22
Taipei5:00 a.m. Oct 229:00 a.m. Oct 22
Seoul6:00 a.m. Oct 2210:00 a.m. Oct 22
AEDT8:00 a.m. Oct 2212:00 p.m. Oct 22
NZDT10:00 a.m. Oct 222:00 p.m. Oct 22

How the test worked

  1. 1
    No invite, no subscription

    Any World of Warcraft account could participate — even lapsed accounts without game time.

  2. 2
    Battle.net → World of Warcraft

    Update drivers, open the Battle.net app, and select World of Warcraft. The test client appeared under "In Development" as World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test.

  3. 3
    Install the test client

    The stress-test build was a separate install from retail or the ongoing beta.

  4. 4
    Pick a test realm at go-time

    Realm selection opened when the window began; the point of the event was a login crush, so queue times were part of the exercise.

FAQ

Do stress-test characters carry over?

No. Stress-test characters were wiped after the event — the test existed to measure login and realm-load behavior, not to progress.

Is the stress test still available to install?

The October 21 window has closed. Blizzard planned to reopen the beta after the test, with a final beta closure scheduled for Friday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT.

Did you need a WoW subscription?

No — participation only required a Battle.net account with a World of Warcraft license, active sub or not.

What if it didn't show under "In Development"?

The build only appeared on eligible accounts in the lead-up to the window. Restarting the Battle.net app usually made it surface.