Originally, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands was scheduled to release on October 27th, a date that is now past. However, much to the chagrin of numerous excited gamers, the game was delayed in order to “add more polish” and ensure that it was as good as it could be before release. Thankfully, the delay is a matter of weeks, not months, like many other 2020 releases. We know now that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be available on November 23rd.
Via a note posted on the series’ official Twitter account, executive producer John Hight stated that the extra time is being used to not only add polish, but also improve the endgame content in the expansion, change the combat, and rework Covenant systems and certain rewards. Needless to say, the developers felt as though none of the mentioned aspects were up to snuff, hence the several week’s delay.
The game’s pre-patch went live already, a first step that many Warcraft gamers are familiar with, as this must always happen when it comes to expansions. A pre-launch event begins on November 10 and will feature the Scourge. As for the first raid, that will begin on December 8. This raid, called Castle Nathria, will also be the beginning of the game’s season one content.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the first expansion, major or otherwise, for the popular game since the Battle of Azeroth expansion from 2018, which unfortunately had a mixed reception at best. Shadowlands will feature some significant changes compared to previous expansions, likely due to that aforementioned mixed reception that those expansions had. Some of these changes include the ability to change your character’s gender without a fee, as well as the return of a level 60 cap for characters to combat the sense of power creep players have been feeling for the last few years. Characters at higher levels than this will be scaled down to the new level cap, which should hopefully make the game more welcoming for new players, as they won’t be so outmatched by veteran players.
The new Covenant system also has a few facets and aspects from the previous expansions and will allow you to align with one of four sects for special powers that you won’t be able to get any other way.
While you can of course purchase the standard edition of the game, you can also preorder a World of Warcraft: Shadowlands collector’s edition for $120. This premium edition includes a level boost, a flying mount, a transmog quest, pet, weapon effect, and much more.
Needless to say, the developers are probably hoping this expansion and the many changes that it brings to the table will make it more successful than some of the expansions in the past, which, while not being failures, also weren’t the massive successes they were probably hoping for. Whether or not that will actually be the case remains to be seen come the end of November.
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