The 9.1 update, Chains of Domination, for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands recently touched down, giving players access to the expansion's first major patch in well over 200 days. Interestingly, this is the longest span of time that has ever passed between a World of Warcraft expansion and its .1 update.
Blizzard Entertainment unleashed Shadowlands in late November 2020, taking fans on an adventure after the events of Battle for Azeroth. As World of Warcraft's eight expansion, Shadowlands introduced the first level squish, six previously unexplored zones, the Covenant system, and the Torghast, Tower of the Damned endgame mode. Simply put, WoW fans had plenty to look forward to while awaiting the November release, which explains why Shadowlands went on to move 3.7 million units on PC after just one day. For a short while, this feat secured WoW: Shadowlands a place as the fastest-selling PC title ever, until Cyberpunk 2077 took the crown with 4.7 million copies sold. Unbeknownst to WoW players at the time, they had yet another long wait ahead of them.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands' Chains of Domination launched yesterday, June 29, in the form of patch 9.1. As noted by PC Gamer, a 218-day stretch of time passed between the rollout of Shadowlands and its first major update. The incredibly lengthy wait seems to have been worth it in the end, however, given the sheer amount of changes that Chains of Domination introduced. For example, the Torghast dungeon received an extensive overhaul. Blizzard added extra levels and rewards to the Covenant system, as well. The Sanctum of Domination raid serves as one of the more significant additions, thanks to its impressive 10-boss challenge. Players will also want to explore The Maw's new subzone - Korthia, City of Secrets. Meanwhile, the Tazavesh mega-dungeon is expected to deploy at a later date.
Though a staggering amount of time passed between Shadowland's initial launch and Chains of Domination, Blizzard seems to have made the wait worthwhile. And, as noted above, the studio has plenty more in store for the expansion in the months ahead. Whether or not the next update will require fans to similarly exercise patience remains to be seen, however.
Of course, Blizzard has a busy year ahead outside of World of Warcraft. Other teams within the studio also remain hard at work on the eagerly-anticipated Overwatch sequel and Diablo II: Resurrected, the latter of which hits stores later this year on September 23.
Fans can jump into World of Warcraft: Shadowlands now on PC.
Source: World of Warcraft/YouTube via PC Gamer