Blizzard released World of Warcraft Forever with its servers holding up despite the high demand when it launched on November 5, 2026. No lag or disconnects on my end, just me joining thousands of players flooding into the game's megaservers all at once.
Close to No Issues at Launch, Which Is Rare to See
I joined the moment the server gates opened, and to my surprise, my estimated wait time to get in was 10 minutes, with the game showing at least 2,000 players ahead of me. I prepared my breakfast, and before I knew it, I was in the starting zone of the new Skyborne race. A few hours went by, and I was leveling up, fixing my settings, adjusting my UI, and just playing the game like it had been online for years.
This was a pleasant surprise, as I've been around for many launches that resulted in disaster. I was there for Diablo III's launch, with its notorious Error 37, which prevented players from logging into the game when the franchise went online-only for the first time. It was one of the most painful experiences because a couple of friends and I took days off for it, and the problems weren't limited to launch day. They persisted for days.
I was also around during the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the last expansion I played before my long hiatus from the MMORPG. That too was plagued with login issues and server instability. Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV also had their share of launch problems.
World of Warcraft Forever was a different story. On launch day, nothing exploded. No fires broke out that resulted in emergency maintenance, no lag issues that made me feel like I should wait for things to stabilize. I was just playing. Forever's beta had its fair share of server issues, and for once, Blizzard seemed to have learned from the experience.
For someone living in the Philippines, decent latency would be a blessing. Even with my ping averaging between 150 and 180 ms, the game was still playable. However, I'll reserve my final verdict until after a couple of days, when I get to experience group content that requires a bit more finesse. I'm sure some players have reported issues, but nothing that seems to have left a significant number of players unable to play for hours.
Maybe this is Blizzard finally understanding what it takes to deliver a smooth launch for online games, or maybe it was simply a lucky day for them. It's only been a day, and if things remain this smooth throughout the first weekend, World of Warcraft Forever is off to a good start.
I'll share more in a couple of days, but day one felt good, nostalgic, and a bit more relaxed.
About the Author - Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen brings out the best in Capcom's action RPG with a massive new region, rewarding gear progression, challenging endgame dungeons, and a more focused story. It's a fantastic expansion, even if its improvements make much of the base game's content feel obsolete.