Online role-playing game World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be released later this year, Blizzard Entertainment said on Thursday, as employees working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed some processes.

Blizzard, a unit of videogame publisher Activision Blizzard Inc, did not announce a date for the release, but said the parent company does not expect the delay to have a material impact on its financials for the year.

The expansion of one of Blizzard’s biggest labels, initially slated for release at October-end, is now in public beta testing.

Activision’s shares have gained about 39 per cent this year as it posted strong quarterly results after people turned to its other games, including Call of Duty and Diablo, to shake off lockdown boredom.

Blizzard will roll out a substantial patch for World of Warcraft players from October 13 onwards, ahead of the Shadowlands release.