Postponing their original October 2020 release date, Blizzard Entertainment has this week confirmed their eighth major expansion pack for World of Warcraft since launching in 2004 – dubbed Shadowlands – will go live across all game servers on 24 November 2020 (AEDT/NZDT). Blizzard claim that this postponement was “to allow more time for fine-tuning and polish based on feedback from the ongoing beta test, helping ensure players’ journey into Azeroth’s afterlife will be an epic experience at launch“.
To keep players busy over the next couple of months, the development team has also confirmed two World of Warcraft: Shadowlands related events both pre-launch and post-launched:
The Scourge Invade Azeroth
Goes Live 11 November
With the Helm of Domination torn apart and the sky over Icecrown shattered, the undead Scourge make a resurgence—and Azeroth’s heroes must confront this Death-born threat before it consumes the mortal world of Azeroth. This Shadowlands pre-expansion event goes live starting 11 November.
The Gates of Castle Nathria
Goes Live 9 December
Castle Nathria, the first epic 10-boss raid of Shadowlands, will be available starting 9 December. The opening of the raid also signals the start of Shadowlands Raid, Mythic Dungeon, and PvP Season 1.
The eighth World of Warcraft expansion sends players on a journey into the Shadowlands, a realm of infinite afterlives where mortal souls go to find new purpose—or suffer eternal torment at the mercy of the Jailer in his Tower of the Damned. As players explore this otherworldly frontier, they’ll discover the fates of Warcraft legends, forge a bond with one of four Covenants who rule over the Shadowlands’ disparate domains, and ultimately confront a threat shrouded in darkness with designs to unmake the cosmos.
