World of Warcraft Forever does not share a timeline with the modern game, Senior Game Designer Josh Greenfield said at the World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photographs panel at BlizzCon 2026. Answering what he called “the million gold question,” he said Forever “does not exist in the same continuity as modern World of Warcraft,” and that Chris Metzen likes to call it “our little time bubble.”
The goal, Greenfield said, is creative freedom “without creating problematic situations that require a direct response in the modern game.”
There are limits. The team will not upend the foundational lore of the real-time strategy games, Greenfield said: “We aren’t going to suddenly say, in this universe, Jaina was a dread lord all along, or Arthas never became the Lich King.” The stated approach is to “paint inside the lines of established foundational lore as much as possible.”
The team also sorts new content into three groups. Evan, lead content designer on the World of Warcraft Classic team, who gave only his first name, described “anticipated” content such as Mount Hyjal. If there is well-known content fans want, he said, “the chances are pretty good it’s on a whiteboard back at the office or perhaps even in production right now.”
“New but familiar” content tells new stories in original locations or with original characters. “Unexpected” content, places and characters from Warcraft lore that have never been explored, will be introduced sparingly. Neither developer said which unexpected additions are planned.