If you’re one of those excited to play the Shadowlands expansion of World of Warcraft, there’s some bad news. Originally set to be released this October 27, Blizzard has since announced that Shadowlands is going to be delayed. There’s a bit of a silver lining though, as while no actual new date was given, the release is going to be later this year.
So what happened? In a post, World of Warcraft Executive Producer John Hight revealed that the team had “made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands.” The campaign, zones, level-up questing experience, and even the story are pretty much ready to share. However, Hight said while everything was started coming together, they listened to player feedback and it “became clear we need a little more time for additional polish, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking pieces-particularly those related to the endgame.”
The team also had to face the fact that aside from being the “most intricate expansion” developed by Blizzard, there was also the issue of the team working from home. Considering the team’s commitment when it comes to quality, Hight added that this new expansion is expected to be something special and the additional time is to make sure “that Shadowlands lives up to its full potential.”
While indeed the longer wait is a bit sad, especially for the fans, there is another bit of good news. Starting October 13, Blizzard is going to be releasing a pre-patch for Shadowlands. This patch lays the groundwork for the expansion and has a lot to offer. You can read more about the pre-patch here.
In addition, Hight also reminded everyone that as the date of Shadowlands release gets closer, everyone is going “to be called upon to defend Azeroth against a resurgence of the Scourge during our pre-launch event.”
Shadowlands is the eighth expansion arriving to World of Warcraft. The previous expansion, Battle for Azeroth, was released in 2018. Shadowlands was announced during last year’s BlizzCon. This new expansion is set to introduce new features like Covenants in the new zones and access to the new Death Knight class.
