‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ release date, gameplay: 6 new zones to launch with the next expansion in 2020

“World of Warcraft” players will welcome the new decade with the release of the game’s next expansion titled after Shadowlands, the location where the action will take place. This means Shadowlands is going to be expanded specifically with the introduction of six new zones within its map that will all be added to the game this year.

‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ gameplay: What to expect from the next expansion’s map

Each zone in “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands” serves a specific purpose and is ruled by a different covenant. Shadowlands, as a whole, is the game’s version of the underworld that is the Shadowlands. This is where the undead’s soul goes and then assigned to a zone that fits their previous actions.

Shadowlands’ capital city is called Oribos and it is placed at the center of the map -- it is also one of the six new zones arriving in “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.” It is also where souls go first and meet The Arbiter to determine in which zone they belong. The crystal skies fans have been seeing in the promo images are representing the Bastion zone ruled by the Kyrian covenant and where souls that lived in the service of others go.

“World of Warcraft: Shadowlands” has the Maldraxxus zone as the military zone with the Necrolord covenant leading it. Souls who have been into war and lived under the tenets of chaos could be sent here. Meanwhile, souls that were close to nature have a place in Ardenweald, a zone characterized as an enchanted forest and ruled by the Night Fae, and where souls are practically prepared for reincarnation.

The last two zones in “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands” are also the darkest areas in the map. In Revendreth, the Venthyr rules and it is where souls who lived “prideful or flawed” lives are sent. By definition, it is the closest to the common connotation of hell for the atonement of sins. Lastly, The Maw serves as much like a prison fittingly ruled by The Jailer. The worst kinds of souls are sent here to essentially be locked up and not wreak havoc in Shadowlands.

‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ release date speculations

The announcement of “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands” was one of the major events in the 2019 BlizzCon. Blizzard promised to release the game sometime in 2020. A release date window corresponds with the release of a new expansion every two years since “Wrath of the Lich King” in 2008.