An Update on Shadowlands from Executive Producer John Hight
Blizzard has shared an update about Shadowlands. The Pre-Patch will be released on October 13, however the Shadowlands expansion will launch sometime later this year.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
To the WoW community,

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. 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.

Over the past several months of testing, we’ve made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands. 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.

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.

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. And once we get closer to Shadowlands’ release, you’ll be called upon to defend Azeroth against a resurgence of the Scourge during our pre-launch event.

Thanks for your support and passion, and for your continued help and feedback as we head toward the finish line.

We’ll see you in the Shadowlands soon,

John Hight, Executive Producer of World of Warcraft

Impressive Influence Returns
The Impressive Influence reputation buff has returned and will remain active until the end of October.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
Impressive Influence

  • The Impressive Influence 100% reputation buff has returned and will continue through the entirety of October.
This article was originally published in forum thread: An Update on Shadowlands from Executive Producer John Hight started by Lumy View original post
Comments 736 Comments
  1. Dread Pirate Phayde's Avatar
    I'd rather have it delayed than having them rush it out just to meet a deadline.
  1. Laqweeta's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Sesethi View Post
    Man, if only Blizzard didn't have to spend time balancing those goddamn covenants and made them cosmestic only
    I mean yeah pretty much

    But ya' know, #JustTimePlayedMetrics things :]
  1. Fayenoor's Avatar
    Delayed till when? How about a new release date?
  1. Tamrik's Avatar
    Good, good, we like it
  1. AlmightyGerkin's Avatar
    A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” -Shigeru Miyamoto
  1. HexaDroid's Avatar
    While I'm sad that my vacation days are fucked. I think it's good that this happened.
  1. Edlarel's Avatar
    I'm okay with it. A little sad, but I had to spend PTO anyway, so I'll just use that week to finish moving into my new home
  1. Sarsoman's Avatar
    YES!!! Thank you Blizzard.
  1. Crysis's Avatar
    Holy sh*t Blizzard, well I was constantly saying no way they delay it, its not that bad, but boy was I wrong.

    Anyway, now since we know the prepatch date but dont know the release date, its gonna be speculation time all over again. 2020 is truly amazing.
  1. Adoxe's Avatar
    I genuinely did not expect them to ever delay anything again, this expac really does feel like old Blizzard.
  1. McNeil's Avatar
    Wow, this is kinda awkward for all the Blizzard fanboys who claimed that Shadowlands would be finished and it would never be delayed :P

    Obviously this game was far from ready. So glad they delayed this (sadly means more BFA, but its for the better). This gives me more hope that SL turns out to be good.
  1. Wries's Avatar
    Suspected as much. In the nick of time for telling us. I'm gonna scrub those vacation days tomorrow.

    I do hope that in some weeks time they will be able to say a new date, though.
  1. Toybox's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Clozer View Post
    So, for balance they delay the whole expansion?

    I can guarantee you that balance will be an issue anyway.
    Balance? Some things just straight up don't work. The Massacre talent for Arms Warrior hasn't worked for several months at this point
  1. Galathir's Avatar
    Are you fucking shitting me? They've already announced it ridiculously late and now that I've had my vacation authorized they are delaying?!
  1. Siph's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Fayenoor View Post
    Delayed till when? How about a new release date?
    How about some basic reading comprehension - I mean, it's literally in the first sentence.
  1. Biglog's Avatar
    So 9.0x patch 10/13, but TBD pre-SL event start and TBD SL launch.
  1. drukai's Avatar
    Seems to me like NOW is the time to actually make Ion step down.
  1. Krimzin's Avatar
    It wont push that far, middle of November or so.
  1. ExtremelyCrusty's Avatar
    Very good call. Props to them.
  1. Orby's Avatar
    Didn't think they'd do it, but they did. I am happy they did. I cannot speak on the state of the game personally in beta I haven't played enough of it to know, but if this means they can iron out their problems then thats cool

    Also I am still trying to finish off Banner Saga. So good use of that delayed time

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