World of Warcraft: Blizzard Make Announcement on Upcoming Expansion

World of Warcraft is one of the most extensive and popular MMORPGs to have ever existed. The remarkable success of WoW has turned it into one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time.

In November 2019, Blizzard Entertainment declared the eighth expansion for their MMORPG series, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, at BlizzCon. The Shadowlands expansion, set for a late 2020 release, will implement the concept of level reduction for the first time in a WoW game.

Recently, the studio had announced a live stream presentation for the Shadowlands expansion, which is still undergoing development. Scheduled for June 9, executive producer John Hight, along with game director Ion Hazzikostas, were going to showcase some of the new content for the upcoming expansion.

However, Blizzard has now temporarily postponed the live stream, initially planned for June 9. The postponement is due to the ongoing protests against systemic racism in the United States and several other regions around the world.

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Blizzard delay live stream event for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

The studio announced the news via the official handle for World of Warcraft on Twitter.

“More important voices than ours need to be heard, and now is the time to listen,” the studio wrote. “We are postponing our upcoming World of Warcraft: Shadowlands livestream planned for June 9, and will share more details about the expansion in the future.”

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The unfortunate death of George Floyd has sparked a wave of continuing protests in the United States, demanding significant changes. So, this delay isn’t a big surprise as Blizzard is following the precedent set by several other gaming companies.

Earlier this week, Sony postponed the gameplay reveal event for PlayStation 5, Google delayed its launch of Android 11 beta. Moreover, Electronic Arts canceled the celebration event for Madden NFL 21; Infinity Ward delayed the start of Season 4 for Modern Warfare, and Epic Games also did the same for Fortnite Season 3.

In this hour of need, everyone is engaging in serious conversations about systemic racism and inequality. Suspending events or releases is just another way of showing solidarity for the cause. For now, Blizzard has not stated a new date for the Shadowlands live stream. More details will likely emerge in the coming days. Till then, we’ll keep you posted.