September 17, 2026 — captures from the Forever client (via Icy Veins, September 16) surface instance maps Blizzard has not announced, alongside the nine announced dungeons: a second Dalaran map, Hyjal Crater, Warsong Gulch (Winter), Battle for Gilneas, "Half-Pint Tavern", "Manor Mistmantle" (sic) and "Eastern Kingdoms Preserved" — plus older cut content in Azshara Crater and Karazhan Crypts. The captures carry their own warning: presence in game data does not mean the map ships.
Separating announced from unannounced
The announced set all appear in the data — Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Whelgar's Excavation (as "Excavation Site: Wetlands"), City of Dalaran, Blackmaw Hold, The Drowned City, Krol'dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison and Shaper's Terrace — matching the hub's table with its level brackets. The five announced zones (Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, Darkspear Islands, Riverglades, Shen'dralas) show up too, with no sixth zone surprise.
Everything else is signal, not confirmation:
- Dalaran City — a second, separately-named Dalaran instance next to the announced City of Dalaran dungeon.
- Hyjal Crater — distinct from the Hyjal Summit raid map.
- Warsong Gulch (Winter) — a winter variant of the classic battleground.
- Battle for Gilneas — the Cataclysm-era battleground asset, which ties into the tracker's long pre-reveal speculation history naming Gilneas as a wanted zone.
- Azshara Crater — the battleground concept Blizzard famously cut in 2007; Karazhan Crypts — the dungeon planned for the original Karazhan and never shipped.
- Event-cluster maps — Scarab Dais, Searing Basin, Tainted Scar (Silithus/AQ-adjacent), Shadow Hold, Storm Cliffs, Starfall Barrow Den, The Crystal Vale.
The SoD caveat
Season of Discovery lineage is all over the files — Demon Fall Canyon, Scarlet Enclave, Nightmare Grove, an Emerald Dream minimap, even a "Development Land" map. The captures state explicitly that classic and SoD maps being present "doesn't mean they will be used." Treat the unannounced list the same way: interesting teases, zero shipping guarantee, and none BlizzCon-announced.
Why it matters now
The beta client is capturable, which means the verification hit list can finally start being answered from data — see the beta-live post for today's status. One honest wrinkle: Forever's own loot-surprise design hides item stats until first drop, so the client answers questions about content while deliberately staying silent about gear. Maps in data ≠ maps in the patch schedule — expect the first real confirmation when the December 9 raid window approaches.