Guessing the new Shadowlands release date

[AngerFork]

I was already thinking 2021, but after a few more days to think about it, I think so even more. I can't imagine even trying to navigate the holidays this year. If they delayed it, it probably needed a ton of work, and with the pushback against crunch in the industry and Blizzard being who they are, I think they are gonna prioritize the game's state, their employees mental and physical health, and just bump this into 2021. Just my opinion. I think whatever consequences of the pre-order listed year are(if any), they will probably just deal with them instead of trying to minimize the delay.

On a theoretical level I would do this in their place as well. If you are going to eat the delay already, might as well get the value out of it and push it as far as possible, or until the game is 100% ready. Quality of an expansion on launch would be remembered long after the delay was forgotten.

This is almost exactly why I also feel 2021. The end of year holidays complicate things. It would be a tall ask to fix all the bugs and have a smooth release in two extra months as it was, but with the complications of the holidays release windows and developer time becomes far more of an issue than it was beforehand.

[Hyrja]

Before the end of the year

[matheney2k]

"Later this year"

Just confirmed by Blizzard seems I was right all along

[Pohut]

"Later this year"

Just confirmed by Blizzard seems I was right all along

You know that means absolutely nothing, right? Next week they can just say "Early next year." and absolutely nothing will happen because of it. Just a lot of forum crying.
Their latest update just reinforced my opinion that it is not coming out in 2020.

[matheney2k]

You know that means absolutely nothing, right? Next week they can just say "Early next year." and absolutely nothing will happen because of it. .

Suuuure, sure

We'll see what you have to say when it releases in 2020 I guess hehe

[Kyphael]

November 17th. Gives us a month of pre-patch.

[Nyel]

"Later this year"

Just confirmed by Blizzard seems I was right all along

And yesterday in the developer update for October they replaced later this year with when the time comes which implies they would delay it until 2021 if they deem it necessary.

[mrcodez]

November 17th. Gives us a month of pre-patch.

But only gives them 3 extra weeks of dev time. I think if they are going to delay (allowing refunds) they are going to make the delay worth while and go big to really put more polish on the game.

Dec 8th is a 6 week delay and Dec 29th is a 9 week delay.

Pushing to Dec 29th avoids all holidays for their own staff, puts the race to world first far away from any holidays as well, and gives them a maximum amount of time to put polish on the game.

[boyzma]

November 17th...just calls to me. Was my grandma's birthday too...rest her soul...so November 17th it is. Second guess.....when they say "here" and it releases.

[RainL]

Whenever the next FFXIV update is. That's my guess.

[apelsinjuice]

November 17th...just calls to me. Was my grandma's birthday too...rest her soul...so November 17th it is. Second guess.....when they say "here" and it releases.

annnoucing a delay for only 3 weeks seems a bit small, not really that much extra time

As we continue to work towards making Shadowlands worth the wait, we have an update on several changes and improvements players can expect to see coming to the Beta over the next few weeks.

Alongside these specific areas of focus, we are all using this time to tune various endgame rewards, fix bugs (thousands of which continue to come from the in-game Bug Report tool - thank you!), and add the finishing touches that will hopefully make your journey into Shadowlands a magical one when the time comes.

some stuff from their latest october blog update make it seem like early december or maybe even 2021 at this point

[Ryonas]

November 9. It was originally going to release on a Monday, so I would guess it still will.

[apelsinjuice]

November 9. It was originally going to release on a Monday, so I would guess it still will.

why would they even delay for just 2 extra weeks, makes no sense

[AntenoraDK]

I'd say 1st-2nd week of December for release.

Raid tier first or 2nd week of January.

[Citano]

With the recent announcement of phase 6 of Classic going onto PTR, I think the delay of SL means they will try to get Naxx and phase 6 out on Classic before SL release.
My guess is Naxx mid November and then SL on the week of Nov 30th - Dec 4th, or Dec 7th - Dec 11th. Depends how close to the Winter holidays they want to go.
Regardless of Dec 1st or 8th, Castle Nathria for Normal/Heroic modes will prolly open on Jan 5th 2021.

Also if you look at the past, Cataclysm prepatch was released on Oct 12th 2010 and the expansion released Dec 7th 2010.

[Foxhoundn]

Voted delayed again till 2021, but personally hope that is not the case, but then again, releasing just before Christmas seems like a suicide scenario, poor devs & support. :/

[Dracullus]

And yesterday in the developer update for October they replaced later this year with when the time comes which implies they would delay it until 2021 if they deem it necessary.

It doesn't matter what they say now. SL is already delayed, even if they put exact date we can't be sure until like 2-3 weeks before (and with stable situation in Beta).

[Nyel]

It doesn't matter what they say now. SL is already delayed, even if they put exact date we can't be sure until like 2-3 weeks before (and with stable situation in Beta).

Yeah, I just wanted to point out that as unlikely a delay was seen by most players a weeg ago, it happened. So even a release in 2021, as unlikely as it might seem, could still be on the table. That's why their wording when the time comes struck me a bit.

[Dystemper]

Early to mid Jan. Cyberpunk 2077 launches(hopefully) Nov 19. No way in hell they launch near that date . With all the work they have to do to make this expansion look good and not another cluster fuck, they will need till Jan . Too many still have to work at home. Even then I dont expect much in the way of quality. Blizzard simply doesnt have that any more. I would not be surprised if we dont see it till FEB, Highly doubt that but still....

[Yunzi]

Those of you making wild 2021 predictions should note that a prepatch has never lasted more than 8 weeks. So if this record is not to be broken, the xpac will launch no later than December 7th PST. Even if the 2 week window from launch to raid is maintained, that puts the start of the world first race on December 29th, after Christmas and avoiding the worst time for holiday activities.

A release even on the first monday in January, January 4th, would result in a completely unprecedented and ridiculous twelve week prepatch.