Blizzard Entertainment has delayed the release of World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands expansion due to working from home conditions caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A new release date has not been determined, but the studio said Shadowlands will still release later this year as mentioned by the official blogpost.
According to a statement from WoW executive producer John Hight, the delay will allow time for “additional polish,” balancing, and work on the endgame, which he says has been a challenge in part because Shadowlands is “one of the most intricate expansions” in WoW history, and in part because the developers have had to work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) October 1, 2020
“As everything started coming together and we’ve been listening to and building upon your feedback, it’s become 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. Shadowlands is one of the most intricate expansions we’ve yet created, and while we’ve made great progress, the challenge of tuning the endgame was compounded by the team having to work from home. Blizzard has a commitment to quality. We believe Shadowlands will be something special, and we’ve heard from many of you who feel the same. We need this extra time to ensure that Shadowlands lives up to its full potential,” Hight said.
On 13 October, Blizzard will release the Shadowlands pre-patch, which includes the new player experience of Exile’s Reach, and a bevy of new character customization options. A pre-launch event, where the Scourge invade Azeroth, will begin later in the year.
