Blizzard announced today that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is delayed. The game will come later this year, planning to release it before the end of 2020.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands originally received an October 27 release date. At the moment, the Blizzard devs moved the expansion back, citing the need for “more polish.” Even then, they don’t have a precise release date as of yet.
WoW devs need more time for “polishing”
According to a statement from WoW producer John Hight, the delay will give them more time. This new time allowance will let them balance the game and allow work on the endgame. They say it’s the most intricate part of the entire game thus far.
“I wanted to let you know that we’re delaying the release of Shadowlands to later this year—and while we’re still in the process of determining the right new date to launch, we felt it was important to let you know about this change in plans as soon as we could,” said the post on their official website.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision for the team, as we’re as eager to get the expansion into your hands as you are to play it—but ultimately, we feel it’s the right decision for the game—and for our players.
“…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.”
Pre-patch for upcoming Shadowlands coming on October 13
The new World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion will be one of the biggest so far. It will contain a ton of end-game content, which is crucial to tying the entire world. The devs promised to release a pre-patch of sorts on October 13.
“In the meantime, we’re excited to announce that beginning October 13 we will be releasing the Shadowlands pre-patch, which lays a lot of the groundwork for the expansion and includes our revamped character leveling, new-player experience on Exile’s Reach, and a host of new character customization options,” said the post.
The pre-launch will have a “defense” against the undead Scourge event. It will likely happen as the launch of the game comes nearer.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands isn’t coming any time soon. Fans can expect it until the end of the year, barring another delay. More information will come out over the next few weeks.
Featured image courtesy of World of Warcraft/Youtube Screenshot