Blizzard Postpones World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Update Stream Amidst Social Unrest
Blizzard has decided to delay an upcoming game update stream for its highly anticipated expansion of World of Warcraft, Shadowlands. Originally scheduled for June 9, the stream has been postponed due to the ongoing social unrest in America following the tragic murder of George Floyd by police officers.
While many developers have been striving to maintain some level of normalcy in producing and promoting video games despite the COVID-19 pandemic, several entertainment entities, including Blizzard, are temporarily halting their social media promotions. This is in response to the overwhelming calls for social action and protest that have flooded platforms like Twitter.
During “Blackout Tuesday,” many content creators, such as TimTheTatman, Ninja, and Dr Disrespect, chose not to stream in an initiative to encourage viewers to reflect on the social unrest in the country. This move aimed to remind regular viewers that escapism should take a back seat to the pressing issues of police brutality and systemic racism.
Around the same time, Twitch announced that it would scale back its usual social media presence due to the current social circumstances in the United States. Additionally, the platform canceled its monthly “Twitch Prime” show.
Blizzard’s decision to postpone the Shadowlands update stream appears to align with these similar reasons. The company wants to ensure that social protests remain the central focus of the American public, allowing communities to actively seek solutions to issues of police brutality and systemic racism.
The official WoW Twitter account stressed the importance of listening to more critical voices, stating, “More important voices than ours need to be heard, and now is the time to listen. 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.”
Initially, Blizzard had scheduled the release of Shadowlands before the end of the year. However, work-from-home policies implemented due to COVID-19 caused setbacks. Despite these challenges, WoW lead developer, Ion Hazzikostas, remains determined to release the game before the year’s end.
Shadowlands’ alpha testing began in April, and the development team has since introduced numerous new features for testing. There hasn’t been an official announcement regarding the start of beta testing, but Hazzikostas has been engaging with content creators through live streams to discuss the upcoming expansion over the past two months.