Guessing the new Shadowlands release date

[Nize]

You guys gotta keep in mind that they won't release a raid and especially an xpac while they aren't at the office. They typically take a break from mid-December to mid-January

[Spiffums]

Voting Nov 24th just because my healer friend wants it then so she can be Adult responsibility free till 1st of the year lol

[Dystemper]

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.

You forget what year it is? Most people at Blizzard are working from home. They havent delayed a expansion since TBC , Then you have the Pandemic, bad economy now, California being California, and on top of all that, the reports of the very low morale at Blizzard . They can not afford another BFA . They have to get this right . If not then Blizzard is pretty much done for.

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You guys gotta keep in mind that they won't release a raid and especially an xpac while they aren't at the office. They typically take a break from mid-December to mid-January

MOst employees are not in the office anymore . They have been working from home for months

[Mirishka]

Early December. I feel like if the delay was only 2 or 3 weeks, they would have said as much. The fact that they specifically stated 'until later in the year' implies a non-insignificant amount of time, IMO.

[shise]

I would guess an extra couple of months, but I think they are pushing for 1 month and no more than 1.

[Azerate]

Just a blind guess - 8th of December.

Who really knows in the end though

[Onikaroshi]

MOst employees are not in the office anymore . They have been working from home for months

There's still this thing called vacation.

[Dystemper]

There's still this thing called vacation.

Depends, did they have to use PTO to make up for lost work ? Not many places to go For vacation around California with the restrictions still pretty heavy there. Many companies made you use your Vacation days first if you didnt work. Vacation is not going to be much of a factor for this as in years past

[Onikaroshi]

Depends, did they have to use PTO to make up for lost work ? Not many places to go For vacation around California with the restrictions still pretty heavy there. Many companies made you use your Vacation days first if you didnt work. Vacation is not going to be much of a factor for this as in years past

Blizzard never had a lost work period, they just moved everyone to WFH, I'd been money they still do their usual breaks around christmas and new years.

[ranzino]

with the transfer services rebate ending nov 15 the next rumour is nov17.
which is by chance also the "anniversary of wow" event

[Nyel]

with the transfer services rebate ending nov 15 the next rumour is nov17.
which is by chance also the "anniversary of wow" event

And on top of that it‘s:

- 7 days after Xbox Series X release
- 7 days after AC Valhalla release
- 5 days after PS5 release
- 5 days after Demon‘s Souls release
- 2 days before Cyberpunk 2077 release
- only 3 weeks later than their initial release date

Granted, pre patch would have had a 5 week run and the anniversary is a neat thing, but the 17th would basically be the worst possible date for the Shadowlands release. It’s the busiest week(s) in video gaming.

[rrayy]

You guys gotta keep in mind that they won't release a raid and especially an xpac while they aren't at the office. They typically take a break from mid-December to mid-January

They can wait until January to release the raid. There is no rule that stated the raid absolutely has to be released x weeks after expansion.

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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.

They aren't goin to delay a 2nd time. They do not want that PR fiasco. It's coming out in 2020.

[kaintk]

imagine working in blizzard right now, everyday, your boss push you to be quick and efficient
and those boss are pushing by other boss
and the other boss are pushed by activision to be quick for money
and between them there is the high boss of blizard who try to persuade activision to let them make a good product
haha omg

[zantheus1993]

i say the 1st because it gives them
6 more weeks not taking into account a technical holiday week/weekend
it gives them time to fix the multiple game breaking bugs that are in the game (the delay is not just balancing)
then it allows them a few weeks to polish after launch
allows them to hold of raid for 5 weeks which isnt too bad because you would still have people who even min maxing with 1 leggo and a renown level of 15 meaning two soulbinds and a few conduits

[Onikaroshi]

And on top of that it‘s:

- 7 days after Xbox Series X release
- 7 days after AC Valhalla release
- 5 days after PS5 release
- 5 days after Demon‘s Souls release
- 2 days before Cyberpunk 2077 release
- only 3 weeks later than their initial release date

Granted, pre patch would have had a 5 week run and the anniversary is a neat thing, but the 17th would basically be the worst possible date for the Shadowlands release. It’s the busiest week(s) in video gaming.

It's also the only decent date (well, the 24th wouldn't be too bad) any later and they'd have to delay the raid too much, which would be just as bad.

If they have to delay the raid til jan, I'd rather they just delay the expansion til jan, at least we can still raid and do M+ during prepatch.

[Nyel]

It's also the only decent date (well, the 24th wouldn't be too bad) any later and they'd have to delay the raid too much, which would be just as bad.

If they have to delay the raid til jan, I'd rather they just delay the expansion til jan, at least we can still raid and do M+ during prepatch.

I honestly don’t see any problem with releasing Shadowlands in December and delaying the raid until January. During Christmas and New Year’s Eve most guilds don’t raid. And it would give players enough time to level one or two characters until the raid opens, farm some mythic dungeons etc. - 8/15 December for launch and 5/12 January for raid opening seems to line up perfectly imho.

[Othraerir]

SL might launch before 2021, but i doubt the raid will.

[Sevryn]

Chwelf of July choo thousands and chwelve

[Onikaroshi]

I honestly don’t see any problem with releasing Shadowlands in December and delaying the raid until January. During Christmas and New Year’s Eve most guilds don’t raid. And it would give players enough time to level one or two characters until the raid opens, farm some mythic dungeons etc. - 8/15 December for launch and 5/12 January for raid opening seems to line up perfectly imho.

I was already ready for end game launch after a week of BfA, and there's no real grind in SL, it'll be a disaster. People will be bored of the new SL baby, Torghast, because it will be the only thing to do.

At least there will still be raiding, M+ and pvp to do if they just delay everything til Jan.

[Casperite]

What is this automatic upper limit? Some pre-patches have been 6-8 weeks in the past. If the game was only being delayed by 2-3 weeks, we likely would have been given a date.

The fact we weren't means they feel the delay is a timeline they cannot pinpoint, thus gives credibility to it being a longer one. I think a further delay to early 2021 is more likely than an early November release at this point.

You contradict yourself. How could they give a release date if they knew it was delayed 2-3 weeks? It could be that they were unsure if it would take 2 weeks or 3 weeks, so no release date until they know for certain. Same can be said for 1-2 weeks delay, or 5-6. Saying it definitely will not release in November because no release date was given is silly and makes no sense.

I think it may be November 17th.