We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands delayed to “later this year”

"it's become clear we need a little more time for additional polish"

One of WoW: Shadowlands locations

Blizzard has made the call to delay World of Warcraft‘s Shadowlands expansion to “later this year”. The publisher took to Twitter to reveal the news, explaining that the team has been taking in feedback and has decided that the new WoW update needs some more polish, and some work on the endgame.

“Over the past several months of testing, we’ve made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands,” says World of Warcraft executive producer John Hight. “We’re at a point where the zones, the campaign, the level-up questing experience, and the story we have to tell are essentially ready to share. We’re excited by the Covenants at the heart of the expansion, and it’s been a thrill to see Torghast take shape into a fun new kind of WoW experience, thanks in no small part to your input.

“However, 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.”

Hight further explains that WoW: Shadowlands’ pre-patch will release October 13. If you’ve been out the loop, it includes revamped character levelling, new-player experience on Exile’s Reach, and a host of new character customisation options.

You can see the full tweet below:

As for the new WoW: Shadowlands release date, Hight says it’ll be later this year, though the team haven’t locked in anything more specific yet. We will, of course, update you if we hear more.