Since World of Warcraft announced Dragonflight in April, there has been precious little information revealed about the expansion, much less a release date. However, World of Warcraft just surprised players by announcing it plans on shipping Dragonflight before the end of the year.Pre-orders for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight just recently went live. Dragonflight is available in four different editions: Base, Heroic, Epic, and Collector’s. Each edition gives more rewards than the last, though their prices have increased since Shadowlands.However, in the product requirements section of the pre-order page on Battle.net, players discovered a bold claim. According to the page, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will be available on or before December 31 of this year. If this claim proves to be true, it would be the shortest period of time between an expansion announcement and launch in World of Warcraft history, let alone in the history of MMOs in general.
In previous interviews, Blizzard has stated it was "very far along" in the production of Dragonflight. According to several developers, it has been working on the expansion for several years now. Shadowlands additionally only had two major raid tier patches, as opposed to the normal three most expansions have. It is possible World of Warcraft has been able to power through the production process much faster than anyone anticipated.
Many fans are worried about the ambitious plans to release Dragonflight before the end of the year. While players would be excited to play the game earlier than expected, they would rather it take the time it needs to be completely finished, rather than rushed as so many games tend to be. What’s more, many World of Warcraft fans believe Dragonflight could be its most important expansion yet, given the poor reputation Blizzard has gotten over the last several years.
World of Warcraft has not yet begun its public alpha or beta testing for Dragonflight, which has led many fans to doubt the prospective release window. A winter release would also cause Dragonflight to compete with Wrath of the Lich King Classic, creating further skepticism. Without a solid date, World of Warcraft can generate hype and excitement for the pre-orders and appease shareholders, while not making a hard commitment. Players will have to wait and see if World of Warcraft can make its 2022 goal, but it is both possible and likely Dragonflight will be delayed to Q1 or even Q2 of 2023.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC. Dragonflight plans to launch later this year.
Source: Battle.net