Dated milestones

Milestone Official timing Planning limit
Beta September 17–October 21 Access, stages and server availability are separate checks
Full release November 4, 2026 at 3 p.m. PST / 23:00 UTC See the release page for your local time
New raids December 9, 2026 Barrow Deeps (10), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia’s Lair (40, reported) unlock together
Hardcore ruleset After launch (reported: winter) No exact date announced
Spring 2027 Reported Two raids, two dungeons, a new zone, a legendary questline and a PvP refresh
Summer 2027 Reported A revamped classic raid and another new raid

The What’s Next recap names Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps as the new raids: the Barrow Deeps is a ten-player challenge and Hyjal Summit a twenty-player raid. Several outlets report that Onyxia’s Lair returns as a 40-player raid on the same day. The 2027 entries above come from reporting on the BlizzCon panels, not from a dated official schedule.

Content awaiting dates

Blizzard describes more raids and dungeons, PvP updates, world activities, further level-1-to-60 quests, a revamped iconic raid and later major updates. The first release also presents new and reimagined regions, including Mount Hyjal, Shen’dralas, Riverglades and Zephras Isle.

These activities do not yet have specific dates in the linked roadmap. Check for an opening announcement before planning a session around them.

Hardcore and rulesets

The Deep Dive lists Normal, PvP and Roleplaying rulesets and says Hardcore comes after launch. It also describes Hardcore as a distinct progression ecosystem. The linked announcements do not give a precise Hardcore opening date.

Hardcore will not be available on day one. For ordinary group play, agree on faction and ruleset with friends — see servers and rulesets.

How this differs from patch notes

A roadmap describes intended future content. A patch log records a particular published update. The patch notes digest covers changes reported in the latest log reviewed here, while the beta schedule explains testing stages.

Check the current opening announcement before assuming a planned activity is playable.

What to use for your next decision

Use the release-date page for regional planning, the dungeon directory for announced destinations and the class changes guide for present build decisions. This page keeps the broader sequence in one place. It does not promise an exhaustive season-by-season schedule that Blizzard has not published.