WordPress 5.9 is set to release in December 2021 but has now been postponed until January 2022.

WordPress officially announced that WordPress 5.9 Beta will be released on January 25, 2022

The newest version of WordPress has fallen behind its expected release date and core contributors are rushed to meet it. In reality, they admitted that speeding up their work might compromise its quality.

WordPress postponed the Beta release because their contributors “follow the process that deadlines are not arbitrary”. They know first-hand that schedules can be tight and should be adjusted if and when necessary.

They admitted a “red flag” was raised on Nov. 16, hence, the postponement.

WordPress version 5.9 is a major milestone for WordPress as it includes important upgrades to its Full Site Editing capabilities.

Currently, version 5.9’s key components are not yet ready for release. They are now working on it to stabilize.

“5.9 is still in feature freeze. Work from here on is strictly to address the changes that get the release to a stable state.”

So, WordPress decided that it's best to halt the release until after the holidays.

Our team is dedicated to the highest quality possible. If this delay is meant for a stable update for our WordPress-based customer websites, we support it.