The tabletop titans Wizards of the Coast have been the latest to be affected by the long-running COVID-19 pandemic. Today, they announced that they would be delaying the release of Commander Legends to mid-November.
Specifically, the Commander Legends release has been pushed back to November 20th. The heads over at Wizards have directly stated COVID-19 to be the cause behind the delay.
“Due to production challenges related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the decision to push back the full global launch of Commander Legends to November 20th, 2020,” they begin their announcement.
“Previews for the highly anticipated set will now begin October 26th, 2020.”
While it’s certainly a disappointment to see the release pushed back, it’s far from a surprise at this point in the year. It seems like virtually every gaming company – perhaps every company regardless of industry – has faced some level of complication due to the pandemic.
The Commander Legends release has been pushed back to November 20. Previews will now begin on October 26. #MTG https://t.co/QCrq6fHwtC pic.twitter.com/HjSWYL3ZLB
— Hipsters of the Coast (@HipstersMTG) October 2, 2020
Prereleases will now occur a week before the release on November 13th. Prerelease promos, however, have already been printed and will have the wrong date on them. This cannot be changed, so players will simply have to accept the original release date printed there.
Products and events will become available for Magic Online a bit earlier than the release – on the eve, to be exact. Players can expect to see the new goodies available with Magic Online on November 19th, just before the release day.
“We know players are excited for this release, and for that reason we’ve decided to move the launch back to provide all players a complete Magic experience at the same time,” Wizards of the Coast said in their announcement today. “We continue to adapt to a world transformed, and we appreciate your continued patience as we manage these new challenges.”
The team at Wizards speak to their plan of delivering the products with safety as the first measure and everything else second. Considering that we are, of course, continuing to fight through a global pandemic, it seems more than a bit pertinent for the team to focus on the health and safety of all those involved instead of on getting the release out as soon as possible.
While Magic: The Gathering is the most recent title to be affected by the pandemic, they’re extremely far from the first. The entire year has been absolutely packed with delays, production issues, and the like as the world continues to try to adjust to a pandemic that refuses to end.