World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Release Date Set for October

During the Gamescom opening ceremony, Blizzard revealed that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be released in October.

“World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands has a launch date!” says Blizzard via a recent press release. “Dead or alive, all Horde and Alliance heroes will be journeying into the afterlife when Shadowlands launches globally on October 27th.”

As previously revealed, Shadowlands will focus on what is essentially World of Warcraft‘s afterlife. There, players will need to choose between the Shadowlands’ ruling factions (known as Covenants) who will each offer unique abilities, benefits, and narrative paths.

“In Shadowlands, players will explore one of the Warcraft universe’s most mysterious undiscovered frontiers,” says J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “And in selecting a Covenant to align themselves with, they’ll face one of the most challenging decisions they’ve ever made in the game—one that will impact nearly every aspect of their experience with this expansion.”

While Shadowlands‘ narrative promises to expand World of Warcraft‘s incredible lore and reveal the next chapter in what has been one of the most chaotic times in Azeroth’s history, many fans will tell you that they’re looking forward to Shadowlands mostly because of the suite of welcome gameplay changes it will bring.

Somewhere near the top of those welcome changes is Shadowlands “level squish” which will reduce the character level cap to 60. That cap reduction should help remove some of the clutter that has plagued the game in recent years as well as make the journey to the level cap feel a little less daunting for new players.

Players of all experience levels will also be able to enjoy Shadowlands’ Torghast tower: a roguelike challenge built into the World of Warcraft. We were impressed by what we’ve seen of the Torghast so far, and we think it will end up being one of Shadowlands‘ best new additions. For more on what Shadowlands has to offer, check out this release date trailer:

While you’re here, you’ll also want to watch this incredible debut episode for Shadowlands Afterlives which helps set-up one of the expansion’s main plot points:

When Shadowlands is released on October 27, you’ll be able to choose between the $39.99 base edition, the $59.99 Heroic Edition, the $79.99 Epic Edition, and the $119.99 Collector’s Edition. Be sure to check out this website for more information regarding the special items and in-game benefits that you’ll get with each version of the game.