Asmongold explains why WoW: Shadowlands delay is a “huge win”

[jwplayer 91I9RIGm]

The most popular World of Warcraft streamer in the world Asmongold has explained why he’s not disappointed that the Shadowlands expansion has been delayed, but rather is excited by the news that its release date has been pushed back. 

While Shadowlands was initially expected to be released in October 2020, that date has now been postponed, with Executive Producer John Hight stating that after months of testing, the team have made significant progress on core feature and gameplay in Shadowlands, but after listening to feedback it’s clear Blizzard need a little more time for “additional polish, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking pieces,” particularly in regards to the endgame. 

Surprisingly, Asmongold isn’t upset by the news that the expansion has been delayed, but is instead excited to hear that Blizzard are taking some more time to work on the game, despite the fact that the release of Shadowlands would prove to be massive for him on his stream.

In late September, Asmongold aired his concerns about the upcoming Shadowlands expansion, explaining that long-time players really needed to love the game, saying: “For a lot of us who have played WoW for 15 years, we really don’t even like video games; we just like WoW. If this game sucks, there’s nothing else for us to do. That’s it. We have to make the game good because it’s all we do.”

For players like Asmongold and Bellular, their concerns came after spending some time on the Public Test Realm, with many creators saying the game wasn’t ready to be pushed with PvP balance, Monk balance, and Borrowed Power issues, while some portions of the expansion were not even ready to be tested. With fears that Blizzard could release an expansion that simply isn’t ready, many have been campaigning for the devs to push it back and ensure they get it right.

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The news of the delay finally broke during a recording of his Allcast podcast. with Asmongold clearly delighted with the news: “I can’t believe it, man. This is a big deal. Everybody’s happy about this, this is a huge success and a huge win for the community. We just want the game to be good, and I’m glad that Blizzard shares that sentiment. I think everyone who saw or played that beta realized that there were a ton of problems, and here we are. It seems like we’re actually on the road to recovery.”

Of course, while many are happy with the news, there are some who are disappointed to hear that October 17 will come with no Shadowlands release, complaining that they had booked vacation days to play the expansion only for Blizzard to make this announcement.

At the moment, there is no official word on when World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will release, but with pre-patch still scheduled for October 13, there is hope that it won’t take too long for the developers to finish polishing.