MMO Business Roundup: Steam Game Festival, My.Games, Taipei Gameshow, Niantic, and RazerCon
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and gaming industry news relevant to the MMO-playing audience. Steam Game Festival: Yes, another online event! The "autumn edition" of Steam's Game Festival kicked off this week, with streams and free games and sales. Most notably for MMO players, Wild Terra 2 is offering a free-play event ahead […]
Frostpunk's board game Kickstarter nears $1M with nearly three weeks left
One of the big PC gaming success stories from 2018 was the launch of Frostpunk, a city-builder with a post-apocalyptic survival theme. It's sold 1.4 million copies in its first year and churned out an expansion, but the snowplow isn't content to stop there. An official board game adaptation of the four-player co-op game is […]
Genshin Impact plans on more characters, more areas, and a PS5 release in the future
The popular single-player/multiplayer RPG Genshin Impact will be expanding outside of what's currently available according to a miHoYo spokesperson who talked with IGN Japan. The developers plan on adding more characters, character-specific missions, side quests, and a third city, all of which are currently in development. The mechanics of the game, however, don't appear due […]
Legends of Aria casts a spotlight on a player-run PvE server and its new Warlock class
I was today years-old when I learned that a Legends of Aria player has created a custom PvE server that has its own unique classes. Of course, the fact that this game has PvE servers is certainly nothing new, and the game has several PvE-minded shards. In any event, I suspect that this TIL moment […]
World of Warcraft drops Shadowlands pre-patch notes, merges Battle for Azeroth into sub
We've got a bundle of World of Warcraft news here to cap off your Thursday. First, if all the jeering for Battle for Azeroth kept you from buying the expansion, congrats: Now you're getting it for free, kinda, as Blizzard announced today that the expansion will be bundled into the base subscription fee when the […]
Valorant bumps Icebox map up to next week, delays and reveals new toon Skye
Riot Games' Valorant is smooshing around its fall lineup. The good news it's that it's pushed the new arctic wilderness map, Icebox, up in the schedule, meaning it'll launch on October 13th alongside the act III battlepass (27th for competitive mode). "An abandoned Kingdom research facility in the arctic wilderness is the next location to […]
Sea of Thieves posts a musical tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen
I realize the news cycle has been wild this week, so you may have missed the sad news that Van Halen co-founder Eddie Van Halen passed away after a battle with throat cancer. The death of a popular musician would normally not be something we cover on a gaming blog, but as it happens, Sea […]
Epic Games versus Apple case will go to judge-led bench trial in May 2021
A trial date has been confirmed by the northern California district court hearing the case between Epic Games and Apple. The litigation will move to a bench trial on Monday, May 3rd, 2021, officially confirming that both parties' desire for the case to be heard by a judge and not a jury has been granted. […]
Wurm Online's Steam success means a bigger team, tutorial improvements, and new content
With Wurm Online safely enshrined on Steam and pulling in "unprecedented" numbers of players thanks to the platform, Code Club is moving on to prepping its next move – and it involves more devs, more marketing, and more content. "The surge in popularity has definitely exceeded our expectations and it seems like it can give […]
'Boob streamers' and 'boys clubs': Twitch staffers blast sexist, racist corporate culture
GI.biz has a detailed expose of Twitch's corporate culture out today, painting a picture of ongoing and systemic racism, sexism, and abuse, both in the office and in the community. The article includes input and allegations from 16 employees, only a few of whom said they had never seen misconduct at the company. One of […]
Squadron 42 outlines continuing work on fleshing out the Vanduul in the latest update newsletter
The latest update newsletter from Squadron 42 is very much about its alien lifeforms. A number of team segments are working on the Vanduul, whether it's the AI team working out the race's melee and ranged combat tactics, the animation team working on melee attack animations and locomotion, or the art teams working on Vanduul's […]
Elder Scrolls Online teases the setting and atmosphere of its upcoming Markarth DLC
Elder Scrolls Online's Markarth DLC is less than a month away now for PC players, so you know what that means: time to crank up the ol' hype machine! Yes, ZeniMax has pushed out a fluffy preview of the DLC today, this one focusing on its setting and the zones it'll affect. The studio says […]
First Impressions: Genshin Impact is half decent ARPG and half gacha
I forget when I first heard about Genshin Impact, but it was a while back, and it was something that I earmarked for the future as worth keeping an eye on. It turns out that I didn't keep a very good eye on it, though; my awareness of the game's actual launch was when it was mentioned […]
Final Fantasy XIV previews the Bozjan Southern Front and further Dragonsung Tool upgrades
Players in Final Fantasy XIV will get an upgrade next week for whatever they're wielding in their main hands. No, really; when patch 5.35 arrives, both the next step of upgrades for the Blades of Gunnhildr and the next upgrade to Dragonsung Tools will be added in. The official site has just added a preview of […]
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands disables covenant abilities outside of the Shadowlands in the latest build
One element of recent World of Warcraft expansions that has come under popular discussion is the concept of "borrowed power," referring to mechanical systems and character upgrades that are used for the expansion but then removed unceremoniously after it ends. Shadowlands is no different in this regard, with Covenant abilities and Soulbinds. However, the most recent […]
Star Wars Squadrons creative director: 'We're not trying to treat the game as a live service'
If EA wanted a fast way to chill all the fervor for Star Wars Squadrons, then what it told UploadVR this week in regard to future content is basically the ice bucket challenge. "Never say never, so to speak, but as far as our philosophy goes we're not trying to treat the game as a […]
'One of the largest PvP battles ever to occur in video game history' just happened in EVE Online
The biggest clash this week might not have been on the debate stage but rather in a video game. Over 8,806 EVE Online pilots swarmed together for "one of the largest PvP battles ever" this week, with one side seeking to take down a Death Star — er, Keepstar in FWST-8. In this one battle […]
The Daily Grind: What older MMO feels like it holds up remarkably well graphically?
I recognize that I may be biased here, but it always surprises me how good Final Fantasy XI actually looks. Sure, there are a lot of games out that look a lot better than it does, but the game came out in 2002 and it's still visually pleasing. There are parts of it that look significantly better […]
City of Heroes' SEGS rebuild project releases a pre-alpha version of its engine
The Super Entity Game Server (SEGS) project, which readers will recall is an attempt to rewrite the code for City of Heroes to connect with game assets players already own (and thus skirt any legal trouble with NCSoft's EULA), has made a fresh step closer to its projected late winter alpha release with the launch […]
SMITE reworks Loki and adds Gummy Worm Medusa for Halloween
Halloween is a season of tricks and/or treats, so perhaps it's that connection to trickery that prompts SMITE to kick out a rework of Loki in the latest update. He's a god of trickery, you see. It fits. "We focused on preserving the stealth Assassin feel his kit evoked, but removed many of the frustrations […]
Nexon will take MapleStory Fest all-digital on November 11
Nexon is getting ready to kick off its third MapleStory Fest, and like so many other gaming events this year, this version will indeed be a digital one. It's been dubbed MapleStory Fest 2020 at Home. "Celebrate MapleStory and MapleStory M together with other Maplers from the comfort of your own home," the announcement reads. […]
Star Wars: The Old Republic outlines its triumvirate of special events running in October
Welcome to another month of events in Star Wars: The Old Republic wherein you're exploring the relics of the Gree! It's always Gree, isn't it? We hope that's not a huge spoiler for anyone, although if you've logged in to the game this week you have no doubt already noticed the Gree-related antics. On the off […]
OrbusVR's most recent patch adds a new island, treasure maps, bracers, and long-term missions
It was certainly an inevitable conclusion, but the playerbase of OrbusVR has successfully completed the required tasks for the Explore the Realm community event, successfully unlocking a new island that was added in last week's update among other features. This new Forsaken Isle is meant to be an endgame location for groups of three to […]
Dual Universe asks its playerbase for thoughts on where to focus development via upvotes
Like what you see online? Then click that upvote button! Anyone who's watched a YouTube video since what feels like forever ago is familiar with the positive reinforcement that clicking a like or an upvote can bring. Dual Universe is going to leverage that learned behavior to determine what features to focus development on through […]
The Stream Team: Conjurer class questing in FFXIV
After poking back into FFXIV for its 10th anniversary, Massively OP's MJ yearned for more adventures on her Miqo'te, so she's nabbed Chris to join her for some. They'll be working on her conjurer class quest to move her along her White Mage path. Join us live at 2:00 p.m. for a return to… What: […]
PUBG brings back actor Jonathan Frakes for another lore video about the city of Paramo
Yep, we're doing this again, talking about lore tidbits associated with the decidedly plotless battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. But once again, we've got Star Trek actor and Beyond Belief host Jonathan Frakes to entice us along with that Unsolved Mysteries-style theme song in the background for that extra nostalgic hit. The video once more […]
Crowfall's October ACE Q&A livestream discusses expanded build options coming in update 6.2
The month of October is all about update 6.2 for Crowfall, which will be all about deepening the build variety for players of the throne war PvP MMO. The game's ACE Q&A video for this month took a closer look at the changes that are due to arrive with the update on that front. The […]
Riot Games is shuttering its Sydney, Australia, office as it sunsets its Oceanic Pro League
Activision-Blizzard isn't the only company shuttering overseas holdings this week, it seems: Riot Games is closing one down too, this time the company's Sydney, Australia, office. Riot's Malte Wagener and Tom Martell explain that League of Legends' esports Oceanic Pro League "has not met [the company's] goals for the league" and that they "do not […]
Perfect Ten: What gamers need to understand about MMO mages
So the first two times I tackled this type of topic for the Perfect Ten column here on Massively OP, I had the advantage of every game having a Warrior or most games having a Rogue, usually using those exact names. Mages, though? There are lots of different names for these guys. Mages, wizard, sorcerers, […]
World of Warcraft will still offer 100% drop rates for raid-dropped mounts in the Shadowlands pre-patch
One of the big things that World of Warcraft players have been advised to get done before the launch of the Shadowlands pre-patch is to hunt down the mount drops from Jaina Proudmoore and N'Zoth at Mythic difficulty. Currently, the mounts drop two at a time and have a 100% drop rate, while the expansion launch will […]
O'dyllita is live for Black Desert PC as console launches its first Succession classes
The O'dyllita region is finally open for PC players of Black Desert today! Readers will recall that the high-level area was postponed back in 2019 and then resurfaced in March before MOP's Desert Oasis columnist Carlo deep-dived it in June, calling it the best zone Pearl Abyss has ever built. And now it's live and […]
Yes, Genshin Impact is blocking Hong Kong and Taiwan-related chat
There are some words you can't say in Genshin Impact even when chatting with friends. These words are probably not of an enormous surprise to anyone familiar with the Chinese government, as the banned terms include Hong Kong, Tibet, and Taiwan. Others are a bit weirder, as some players are reporting "enemies" as an auto-blocked word […]
Cryptic's Stephen D'Angelo on City of Heroes' lessons, Star Trek Online's booming revenues
It's been a wild year for PWE's Cryptic Studios, as it's been busy maintaining its core MMORPGs but also working on Magic Legends, which began life as an MMO and has since shifted gears – and delayed significantly. That's the takeaway from a new interview on VentureBeat with Cryptic boss Stephen D'Angelo, who covers a […]
Lord of the Rings Online tests missions, pushes back Halloween
It's shaping up to be a busy month over in Lord of the Rings Online, as yet another preview build of Update 28 went out on the test server. Among other new features, players can try out the new mission system, which offers "short, solo, or duo scaleable instances" that will be available to players […]
Baldur's Gate 3 has officially entered early access – with multiplayer (kinda)
With Cyberpunk 2077, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and Baldur's Gate 3 coming out this fall, it's certainly shaping up to be the season of the RPG. And speaking of Baldur's Gate 3, the long-awaited follow-up to BioWare's 2000 masterpiece has just gone into early access. Why does this matter to our crowd? It's because players […]
The Daily Grind: Does gacha have a place in MMO business models?
Just so, so many of my friends are playing Genshin Impact these days — and not just playing, but gushing over the fun, the beauty, and the gacha business model. Wait, what? Yes, I've actually seen many people both defending and approving of the game's use of the controversial gacha model of character acquisition and […]
The Stream Team: Frolicking in EverQuest II's moon forest
As beautiful as the crystalline structures are, Massively OP's MJ can't help but love the lushness of the Aurelian Coast in EverQuest II's Blood of Luclin. Who said the moon can't be forested? Tonight she continues her signature quest for the expansion… assuming she isn't distracted by all the side quests again or the pretty […]
Neverwinter allows for cooldown-free power swaps on console with its latest patch
Don't you hate when you're playing Neverwinter on your PlayStation 4 and you realize you need to change your power setup but don't want to deal with the inevitable cooldown? Now you won't have to. The newest patch for the game's console versions today changes the system so that you will no longer incur a cooldown […]
Shroud of the Avatar will introduce expanded teleporter functionality in Release 83
Release 83 for Shroud of the Avatar is going to make fast travel significantly more convenient for those players who own certain teleporters in their player-owned towns. In the latest Avatar update post, fans get a look at expanded features for the teleporters to Ardoris, Central Brittany, and Owl's Head. All three of these location-specific […]
RuneScape begins mental health charity drive, plans Orthen digsite launch for October 19
October's destined to be a solid month for RuneScape fans, thanks to the release of a new archaeology digsite rolling out on October 19th. It's called Orthen, and players are encouraged to complete the Desperate Measures questline and secure level 90 archaeology before attempting the new content. "Orthen, our mysterious sixth dig site, was once […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 291: Day of Delays
Justin and Bree discuss WoW Shadowlands' and Magic Legends' delays, Torchlight 3's planned launch, PlanetSide 2's big patch, Skyforge's Switch announcement, and HEX's sunset, with a Daily Grind lightning round and mailbag topics on feelung untethered from MMOs, live podcasts, and MMO dailies.
Path of Exile begins the process of improving heists with its latest update
The devs of Path of Exile know that the titular heists of its recent League could use a bit of improvement, and with the most recent patch update, they seek to do just that. This latest patch introduces tweaks that should make heists shorter like reducing the maximum length of a Heist in higher level […]
Ghost of Tsushima's multiplayer Legends mode will arrive to PS4 players on October 16
The spectacular single-player adventure of Ghost of Tsushima would be a lot better with other people around, but I suppose we're all going to have to settle for a lack of co-op in lieu of a completely unique and separate four-person multiplayer mode where players get to fight against oni together. Oh woe. The mode […]
Star Trek Online's House Shattered is live on PC as the game heads to the Epic Games Store
Star Trek Online's new season is called House Shattered, but it is not in fact about shattering actual houses, as satisfying as that might be. Instead, it's a continuation of the Year of the Klingon storyline, and it's live today for PC players just in time for the game's official launch on the Epic Games […]
World of Warcraft shares its survival guide for the Shadowlands pre-patch next week
You still have another week before World of Warcraft releases its Shadowlands pre-patch, which marks the end of the game's Battle for Azeroth phase and moves into the pre-expansion period more completely. But if you're curious about what's going away, what's changing, and what you'll be able to do to get ready for the full expansion launch, there's […]
Guild Wars 2's Halloween festival, Shadow of the Mad King, returns October 13
On today's podcast, Justin asked me which MMO NPC needed more screentime, and I don't remember whom I picked but it was wrong. Obviously, the only correct answer is Mad King Thorn, who rules over Halloween in the Guild Wars universe every year. His jokes always slay the audience! And he's back again for Shadow […]
Activision-Blizzard is reportedly shuttering its Versailles, France, office
Activision-Blizzard is apparently closing down one of its offices, specifically the one in Versailles, France. The news comes from Bloomberg, which this morning reported that staff have been told that the studio, which at one point employed around 400 people, will be closed. According to the report, the office covered customer support, localization, and marketing […]
Choose My Adventure: How Spellbreak kicked my butt
So, you're first of all likely all wondering what happened to the voted-for Fallout 76 that was supposed to be part of this column. I ran into some technical issues, I'm afraid: I was able to get the game as part of my Game Pass subscription and assumed that I could just play the thing […]
World of Warcraft addresses LGBTQ storytelling: 'Whatever your background is, there's a place for you in this world'
TechRadar has an interview up this week with Blizzard's Steve Danuser, currently the lead narrative designer on World of Warcraft, and Johnny Cash, senior game designer and LGBTQ+ Advisory Council member, and no, it's not just another preview of Shadowlands' story. Instead, it homes in on Blizzard's new push into being more LGBTQ-inclusive with its […]
City of Heroes Homecoming rogue servers kick off Halloween with today's patch
If you miss the spooky times in City of Heroes, whether you were there for some of the first ToT teams or experienced Dr. Kane's trial, you'll get your chance to re-live it all over again with the Homecoming rogue servers' Halloween event, which has kicked off as of this morning. The entire collection of […]
