For years, every World of Warcraft expansion has been a truly big deal for everyone who plays the game. However, even among the biggest moments in World of Warcraft's history, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands looks to be a particularly big event. The reason for this is simple: since the expansion looks at events in the world's afterlife, it may well recontextualize several of those biggest moments.
The looks at the Shadowlands of World of Warcraft that have been seen so far have been tantalizing for many reasons. There is actually a lot already known about the expansion, thanks to leaks, official reveals, and some creative probing beyond the edge of the map. The biggest mystery at this point was simply when players were going to get their hands on the new expansion.
Earlier in the year, Blizzard promised that Shadowlands would launch this year. Considering the multiple problems that the COVID-19 Pandemic has caused, it was uncertain whether or not this promise would be kept. It seems it is definitely happening however, as at Gamescom this year, a new trailer dropped for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. According to the trailer, which is short but sweet, Shadowlands will be dropping on October 27, exactly two months from today.
One of the biggest questions players have had, and will continue to have over the next two months, has been about Shadowlands' story. With the afterlife of Azeroth on full display, it's hard not to be excited for what became of old, dead characters. The teased first episode of Blizzard's Afterlives animated shorts dropped alongside the release date reveal trailer, and it gave a fun answer to some of those questions. In particular, it showed what Uther became after he died, and the answer was definitely grimmer than some expected.
The release date reveal trailer also showed off some of the landscapes of the Shadowlands themselves, although this has been known for a while. Less touched on were the Class Covenant abilities, which have been similarly explained in past releases. The time to try out those abilities now approaches, and it seems likely that WOW players are already dreaming up ways to use them to break the game. It would be the traditionally WOW thing to do.
All of this, of course, will be proceeded by the Shadowlands pre-patch, which will include class changes and a level squish down to 50 maximum. Now that the release date is known, it seems a safe bet that the Shadowlands pre-patch will arrive a few weeks before the launch proper. Two months is still a long time away, but there is still some room for hype to grow. Check out what's coming in Shadowlands, and see if it's to die for or not.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will become available on October 27th, 2020 for PC.