Due to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, Blizzard has decided to delay a livestream promoting the upcoming release of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Since its debut in 2004, World of Warcraft has dominated the MMORPG genre, and developer Blizzard has consistently updated its flagship title with new content and regular expansions that completely overhaul the game with full storylines and endgame raids.
The latest expansion, Shadowlands, was announced in 2019, with a scheduled release window of 2020.Despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Blizzard remains committed to delivering the game before the end of 2020. A livestream promoting the expansion and its new features was scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, but in the wake of the ongoing BLM protests demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality, many expected Blizzard to follow the lead of several other industry leaders and delay the major reveal indefinitely.
The official World of Warcraft Twitter account revealed that this would be the case, as the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands livestream has been delayed from its scheduled June 9 date. This change will have no effect on the actual release date of Shadowlands, which is still scheduled to release before the end of 2020. This move is solely a decision made to ensure Blizzard’s video game news does not distract from the ongoing controversies that caused these protests in the first place.
In this precarious environment, it’s hard to fault Blizzard for not wanting to have their frivolous video game take away from the current discussions that are actively shaping and altering the future of the United States. Activision Blizzard has experience in politics, and likely wishes to avoid repeating its past mistakes. Just last year, Hearthstone player Blitzchung was disqualified from a tournament following comments supporting Hong Kong’s protests against the government of mainland China.
Blizzard’s attempt to remain neutral was harshly criticized by the gaming public, and the company was ultimately forced to release a half-baked apology at BlizzCon 2019. As things currently stand, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is still scheduled for release before the end of 2020, and Blizzard’s previously-scheduled livestream will occur at some point between now and then. Whether it occurs within a matter of days, weeks, or months is largely dependent on how the ongoing protests play out in the immediate future.
