Dragonflight prequel novel may indicate release date for next WoW expansion

An official prequel novel to the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight, has received a pre-order page on Amazon. If the pattern seen in prequel novel releases from past expansions holds, the date of that novel could be a hint at the release window of the next expansion.

Blizzard Entertainment announced the World of Warcraft expansion called Dragonflight on April 19, and since then, many players have been wondering when the expansion will be released. While Blizzard has yet to officially announce a release date for the expansion, the release date for the prequel novel available on Amazon’s website is Nov. 22. This could indicate a possible window for the expansion.

The prequel novel does not yet have an official name and is registered on the Amazon page only as Untitled Dragonflight Prequel (World of Warcraft). The release dates of prequel novels from other recent expansions show a pattern. The Shadowlands expansion received a prequel novel called Shadows Rising, written by Madeleine Roux and released on July 14, 2020, three months before the planned release date for Shadowlands, which was pushed back a month to November. Prior to that, Before the Storm was the prequel novel for Battle for Azeroth, written by Christie Golden and released on June 12, 2018, two months before its expansion launched in August. And Illidan, the prequel novel for Legion, was written by William King and released on April 12, 2016, four months before Legion was released in August.

If this pattern of Blizzard releases holds up for the Dragonflight expansion, players can expect a release window between January and March 2023, two to four months after the release of its prequel novel.

The Dragonflight prequel does not yet have a synopsis, but it is possible to imagine that it will introduce players to the events that led to the appearance of the Dragon Isles. Players also can expect an immersion in the new areas that will be introduced to the game, which NPCs they will be able to find there, and what types of enemies will be lurking, as well as possibly revealing a major villain for the expansion’s story.

The next World of Warcraft expansion promises to bring a new playable race and class, the Evoker Dractyr, a revamped talent system, and a new crafting and professions system. All players who want to try out these new additions as soon as possible can sign up for the expansion’s beta, which also doesn’t have an official start date but should arrive later this year.