The new expansion World of Warcraft Shadowlands is entering beta – and you can be part of it. MeinMMO tells you how to play the new addon in advance and what to expect there.
How do I play the beta? If you want to participate in the beta, simply follow these steps:
- create a Battle.net account on the official site, if you do not have one yet
- visit the official beta sign-up page
- log in, if you haven’t already, and click “Sign up now”
You do not need an active WoW subscription to participate, but reports of players without a subscription being invited are rare. However, you must own a Blizzard game in order to register, ideally World of Warcraft itself.
Once you are registered, you will need to wait for activation. You will then be notified by email that you are allowed to play. The email contains no further information and there are no keys, so be wary of scammers!
The email may sometimes arrive several days later than the actual activation. You can also check in the Battle.net client on your PC. There, under World of Warcraft, the option “Alpha of Shadowlands” or “Beta of Shadowlands” should appear:
When does the beta start? As Game Director Ion Hazzocostas revealed in the announcement for the Shadowlands beta, the beta will begin “next week”. We expect it to be on Tuesday, June 14, or Thursday, June 16. Tuesdays and Thursdays are often the days when Blizzard makes new content available.
Content and Gameplay of the Beta
What can I test? Unlike in the Alpha of Shadowlands, this time you have access to many more features. You can explore all the new areas of Shadowlands and create a character that is already at a higher level. At the moment it is even still possible to create a character specifically for each area.
Additionally, the end area “The Maw” is playable for the first time. You will probably spend a lot of time grinding there after the release of Shadowlands. WoW developer Kevin Martens has already revealed to MeinMMO in an interview how The Maw works and what you can expect.
You will have the opportunity to view the covenants of Shadowlands in the beta, one of the biggest features of the expansion. There you will see the story campaigns of the individual covenants as well as their unique abilities and their respective sanctum. So far, only the Venthyr are available.
Due to the larger number of invited players, it should also be possible to test the new dungeons faster and better. World quests, Mythic+, and PvP should also be playable.
In our stream about the Shadowlands beta on MAX, we have already shown some of the content for over three hours. You can find the video either on the Twitch channel of MonstersAndExplosions or in the embedded YouTube video here:
When does Shadowlands start? A specific date for Shadowlands is still unknown, only that it is supposed to be released “in fall 2020”. So far, a beta in World of Warcraft has roughly lasted four months. If Blizzard follows this trend, Shadowlands should be released in early to mid-November 2020. Everything you need to know about Shadowlands can be found in our compilation article.
