Today during a special broadcast for Blizzard, World of Warcraft executive producer John High confirmed the release window for the upcoming Shadowlands expansion. It's unfortunately not as specific as World of Warcraft players were likely hoping for. Nevertheless, a window is better than nothing. Blizzard has dedicated itself to ensuring that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be releasing on PC this fall.
Blizzard likely wants to be more specific with its release plans for Shadowlands -- as much or more as fans want a release date. But while Blizzard didn't explicitly state this during the live stream, it's fair to assume that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is forcing things to be done a bit unusually. So while Blizzard can commit to having the game done this fall, it can't be sure exactly when this fall it will be done. It simply has to wait for both the expansion's development to finish and for retail copies of the game to get in position.
The good news is that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is feature complete. The content of Shadowlands is finished. It just needs a robust round of testing and polish. That's why Blizzard is officially launching the Shadowlands beta next week. A big wave of invites should be going out soon as Blizzard ramps up for a major beta test for all of Shadowlands' content, including endgame.
For comparison's sake, the Battle for Azeroth beta started in April 2018. The full expansion then launched in August, four months later. Legion's beta began mid-May, followed by a late August launch 3 and a half months later. The closest comparison is perhaps Warlords of Draenor's beta, which started on June 27. Warlords of Draenor then launched on November 13, four and a half months later.
It's possible that Blizzard is getting faster and more efficient at beta testing World of Warcraft expansions, so that Shadowlands could be out sooner than its predecessors. It's also possible that the pandemic will make beta development slower and less efficient, so Shadowlands' release is further off than expected.
Fall 2020, if exact, falls between September 22 and December 21. A best case scenario would likely see Shadowlands launching in October, while a worst cast would be in December. But with the current state of the world, anything is possible. Expect further updates from Blizzard as the beta starts and progresses.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.