Gamescom 2020‘s Opening Night livestream event was filled with exciting news for World of Warcraft fans. Not only will the popular MMORPG be receiving a new expansion, entitled Shadowlands, but that expansion now has an official release date of October 27.
Additionally, a series of four animated shorts, collectively titled Afterlives, will be produced and revealed alongside the expansion. These shorts introduce players to the four zones of the Shadowlands, the world of the dead, as well as the powerful Covenants which rule over them. The first of these shorts debuted during Gamescom’s Opening Night and can be watched on YouTube. Called Bastion, this short features the titular realm as well as the Kyrian Aspirants, a race of Valkyrie-like beings which inhabit it.
In addition to letting players explore the realm of the dead for the first time ever, Shadowlands will bring plenty of new content and gameplay updates to the wildly popular MMORPG. In particular, it will feature a “level squish,” in which players will find their levels decreased or “squish” in order to fit into a new leveling scheme. According to hints dropped by developer Blizzard, this level squish could see level 120 players waking up in the world of the dead to find themselves a full 70 levels lower than before.
Shadowlands will also provide players with a free option to change their characters’ gender and allow several new races to access the Death Knight class, which previously featured quite strict race limits.
The expansion has been open for beta for over a month, and beta testers are already reporting exciting new content, including dungeons, raids, quests, items, and even some hidden pop cultural reference. Pre-order is available now for players who can’t wait to get their hands on this brand new adventure.
Are you looking forward to playing Shadowlands in October? Let us know!
I like this idea. I will play Shadowlands on the raidline server (for the alliance).
Please come back and tell us how you are liking it! 😀 – Kate