Games giant Blizzard has delayed the release of the upcoming Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft.

In a blog post, executive producer John Hight (pictured) said that this new content would be coming out "later this year" and not its original October 21st date. The decision was made to ensure that the final version of Shadowlands is as high-quality as possible.

No doubt this is a good indication of how Blizzard is being handled in the overall Activision Blizzard business, following concerns that execs were interested in quantity, not quality after a management shakeup.

"Over the past several months of testing, we’ve made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands," Hight wrote.

"We’re at a point where the zones, the campaign, the level-up questing experience, and the story we have to tell are essentially ready to share. We’re excited by the Covenants at the heart of the expansion, and it’s been a thrill to see Torghast take shape into a fun new kind of WoW experience, thanks in no small part to your input.

"However, as everything started coming together and we’ve been listening to and building upon your feedback, it’s become clear we need a little more time for additional polish, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking pieces—particularly those related to the endgame. Shadowlands is one of the most intricate expansions we’ve yet created, and while we’ve made great progress, the challenge of tuning the endgame was compounded by the team having to work from home.

"Blizzard has a commitment to quality. We believe Shadowlands will be something special, and we’ve heard from many of you who feel the same. We need this extra time to ensure that Shadowlands lives up to its full potential."