System Requirements

World of Warcraft: Forever's official requirements, as the Battle.net Shop lists them: minimum Windows 10, a 4 GB DirectX 12 card such as a GTX 10 series, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB on an SSD; recommended Windows 11, an RTX 40 series and 16 GB. Mac figures, and why older graphics cards are refused.

World of Warcraft: Forever needs at least Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 12, 8 GB of RAM, a 4 GB graphics card and 128 GB of available space on a solid state drive, according to the requirements on its Battle.net Shop page, read on Oct 31, 2026 (Battle.net Shop). Recommended is Windows 11 or macOS 15 with 16 GB of RAM. These are the only figures this page gives: Blizzard's own, as its GPU article of Sep 17, 2026 and its guides of Oct 28 and Oct 29 direct players to them. Blizzard also says "update your operating system and graphics drivers" before installing.

Quick facts

Platforms	Windows and Mac
Minimum on Windows	Windows 10 64-bit (May 2019 Update or newer), 4 GB GPU, 8 GB RAM
Recommended on Windows	Windows 11, 8 GB GPU, 16 GB RAM
Minimum on Mac	macOS 12, Apple M2 or 9th generation Intel Core, 8 GB RAM
Recommended on Mac	macOS 15, Apple M4, 16 GB RAM
Storage	128 GB available on an SSD, in every column
Hard limit on graphics	AMD Graphics Core Next 1, NVIDIA Maxwell or Intel Skylake, or newer
Required to play	Internet connection, Battle.net account, Battle.net desktop app, a subscription or Game Time
Controller	Supported "in a beta state" (Blizzard)

Windows

	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system	Windows 10 64-bit (May 2019 Update or newer)	Windows 11
Processor	4 cores, 3.0 GHz; Intel Core Haswell, AMD Ryzen Zen	8 performance cores, 5.2 GHz boost clock; Intel Core Ultra (Series 2), AMD Ryzen Zen 5
Video	DirectX 12 capable 4 GB GPU; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 series, AMD RDNA 1, Intel Iris Xe2-LPG Lunar Lake Graphics	DirectX 12 capable 8 GB GPU; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series, AMD RDNA 3, Intel Arc B-Series Graphics
Memory	8 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
Storage	SSD, 128 GB available space	SSD, 128 GB available space
Internet	Broadband	Broadband
Input	Keyboard and mouse required	Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel
Resolution	1280 x 720 minimum	1280 x 720 minimum

Mac

	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system	macOS 12	macOS 15
Processor	Apple M2; 9th generation Intel Core Coffee Lake	Apple M4
Video	Metal capable 4 GB GPU; Apple M2 8 GB	Apple M4 16 GB
Memory	8 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
Storage	SSD, 128 GB available space	SSD, 128 GB available space
Internet	Broadband	Broadband
Input	Keyboard and mouse required	Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel
Resolution	1280 x 720 minimum	1280 x 720 minimum

Graphics cards the game refuses

Two different lines apply. The minimum above is what Blizzard expects to run the game; a separate floor is what the game supports at all. From launch, "GPUs based on certain older graphics architectures" are no longer supported, and players need one of these microarchitectures or newer (Blizzard):

AMD Graphics Core Next 1 (2012)
NVIDIA Maxwell (2014)
Intel Skylake (2015)

	Examples Blizzard names
Compatible, but "well below the minimum requirements"	AMD Radeon HD 7850; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9xx and 750/750 Ti; Intel HD Graphics 530
Unsupported	AMD Radeon HD 6950; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760/770/780 and GTX 8xxM; Intel HD Graphics 6000

Blizzard gives the reason as Forever's new visual look, which relies on "RGBA16F UAV support in compute shaders". On Windows, it says, a player can find the card under Settings, System, Display, Advanced display, or in Device Manager under Display adapters.

22:37 The new lighting does not lift the minimum further. Blizzard's graphics team said on its Evolving a Timeless World panel at BlizzCon that the custom raytracer behind the global illumination was built to run on minimum hardware as well as recommended. The visual settings are covered on Graphics and Visuals.

Controllers

The shop's minimum column asks for a keyboard and mouse. Blizzard's starter guide of Oct 28, 2026 says "Controller support is also available in a beta state" for players who prefer a gamepad; see Gamepad Support.

What is not known yet

As of Oct 31, 2026:

Forever's own download size. The 128 GB is the available space Blizzard asks for, not a stated size for the client, and Blizzard has announced no separate pre-download date.
Linux and Steam Deck. The shop lists Windows and Mac only.

The steps for getting ready are on What to Do First, and the launch moment is on Launch Time.

Frequently asked questions

What are the minimum requirements for World of Warcraft: Forever? On Windows: Windows 10 64-bit (May 2019 Update or newer), a 4-core 3.0 GHz processor, a DirectX 12 capable 4 GB GPU such as a GeForce GTX 10 series, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB on an SSD, says the Battle.net Shop, read Oct 31, 2026.

What are the recommended specs for WoW Forever? Windows 11, 8 performance cores at a 5.2 GHz boost clock, a DirectX 12 capable 8 GB GPU such as a GeForce RTX 40 series, 16 GB of RAM and 128 GB on an SSD.

Can WoW Forever run on a Mac? Yes. World of Warcraft: Forever's minimum is macOS 12 with an Apple M2 or a 9th generation Intel Core, and its recommended setup is macOS 15 with an Apple M4 and 16 GB of RAM.

Does WoW Forever need an SSD? Yes. Every column on the Battle.net Shop lists a solid state drive with 128 GB of available space.

Will my GTX 970 run WoW Forever? A GTX 970 is a GTX 9xx card, which World of Warcraft: Forever supports, but Blizzard says such cards are "well below the minimum requirements for the game", whose minimum is the GTX 10 series.

Which graphics cards do not work with WoW Forever? Cards older than AMD Graphics Core Next 1, NVIDIA Maxwell and Intel Skylake. Blizzard's examples are the Radeon HD 6950, GeForce GTX 760/770/780 and GTX 8xxM, and Intel HD Graphics 6000.

Does WoW Forever work on Windows 7 or 8? No such version is listed. The Battle.net Shop's minimum is Windows 10 64-bit, May 2019 Update or newer.

How big is the WoW Forever download? Blizzard asks for 128 GB of available SSD space and has not stated the client's own size, as of Oct 31, 2026.