Blizzard tainment has delayed this year's release of WoTLK Classic Gold 's Shadowlands expansion due the working from house conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic that is currently in full swing. A new release date is not yet set but the studio did say that Shadowlands will release later in the year.

In a blog entry announcing the delay Executive Producer John Hight said it wasn't an easy decision to take but it was a necessity in order to expand the game and to World of Warcraft players. Hight added that the added development time will enable the team to bring additional quality to Shadowlands the game's final. In general, a pre-patch occurs about a month ahead of when the new expansion launches. The pre-patch was not yet released which led some players to believe that the release date was being delayed forward before the release date was announced.

"As the game began to take shape and we've been listening to and building on your suggestions It's been clear that it's time to give us a little time to work on polishing, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking elements, specifically those related to the endgame," Hight said. "Shadowlands is among the most complex expansions we've developed to date. And while we've made tremendous progress, the difficulty of fine-tuning the endgame was made more difficult by the fact that our team is working at home.

"Blizzard has a commitment to quality. We believe Shadowlands will be an exceptional experience We've received feedback from many of you who feel the same. We'll need this extra time to ensure that Shadowlands fulfills its full potential."

Despite the setback, the studio still plans to release the Shadowlands Pre-Patch on October 13. The update will lay the groundwork for the expansion, replete with a revamped character leveling system with cheap WoTLK Gold, an entirely new experience for players in Exile's Reach and a plethora of more character customization options.