Econia is a 'new MMO business simulator' out now on mobile and arriving to PC in 2021
So what if you had a business tycoon game where you focused on running a major business and had to compete against other players in real time? That's the overall thrust of Econia, a newly released mobile game that challenges 14 players to play against one another in one map to run a successful business […]
Whatever happened to pre-alpha indie MMORPG Arcfall?
Earlier this year when we last checked in with Arcfall, an Ultima Online-inspired indie MMO, we learned that the team had hopes to officially launch the game by the end of the year. So how's that shaping up? Well, it doesn't look like that release is going to happen in 2020, considering that the MMO […]
Osiris: New Dawn's Survival update doubles down on survival mechanics and improves performance
If you prefer more "survival" in your survival sandbox gaming, then last week's appropriately named Survival update to Osiris: New Dawn is likely going to be right up your alley, as the update has put a greater emphasis on survival mechanics: Environmental hazards are more brutal, tools will have to be repaired as they deteriorate, […]
Mankind Reborn offers updates on territory control, Cliea 5A48, and several system overhauls
It's been rather quiet on the news front for Mankind Reborn, the spiritual successor for the sunsetted sandbox MMO Face of Mankind; the last update we got was in May. However, the devs at Far Frontier Studios have resurfaced once again with new updates as well as an explanation for the radio silence. In short, […]
Trove, ArcheAge, Defiance, and RIFT start handing out digital advent calendars for the holidays
I'd never been really familiar with advent calendars until I met my husband, who is from Wales, and we bought ourselves an advent calendar for the holidays one year. I've never really understood why I've not seen them around me a lot, especially since they clearly come in some interesting varieties. The point of all […]
City of Heroes: Homecoming starts its holiday event and improves long-range transport
Oh, there's no place like City of Heroes: Homecoming for the holidays, for no matter how far you should roam… you can always get back to where you need to be with the help of long-range teleportation. Yes, this rogue server has turned on its winter event this year, and if you've celebrated in the pat you'll […]
Red Dead Online is now just $5 as a standalone product, plus the bounty hunter expansion is live
If you haven't played Red Dead Online yet because you didn't want to shell out for Red Dead Redemption 2, now is the time to act: Rockstar has now made good on its plan to offer Red Dead Online as a standalone product, and it's cheap as heck too right now at just $4.99 through […]
The Elder Scrolls Online promises a crash fix patch for PC and console next week
Update 28 of The Elder Scrolls Online has apparently not exactly landed on all fours for many people, according to a series of tweets from the game's official account, with several players on both PC and consoles experiencing "active game crashes" among a host of other problems. That said, the same tweet thread promises that […]
Fortnite closes Chapter 2 Season 4 with a Galactus fight and launches Season 5 with the Mandalorian
The world of Fortnite has gone off-the-rails wild as its moved through the seasons of Chapter 2. Season 4 closed out yesterday with a massive in-game event involving flying the Battle Bus in an arcade shooter to fight Galactus, which reportedly saw some big numbers: 15.3 million concurrent players and 3.4 million watching on YouTube […]
Lord of the Rings Online composer revives his music company after ponzi scheme fiasco
Two years after fraud ruined his company, Chance Thomas is back. The Academy Award-winning composer (and composer of great portions of Lord of the Rings Online's soundtrack) announced this week that he's bringing his company back from financial ruin. "Two years after fraud destroyed HUGEsound, I've finally extracted the record company," Chance said. "This includes […]
Desert Oasis: Black Desert Online should be 2020's MMO of the year
Well here we are again, heading to the end of another year. And while many are eager for this year to end, us gamers have a tradition that can't be ignored: declaring the games that defined our year. And today, I take my little mole hill and build it into a mountain: Black Desert Online should […]
Camelot Unchained talks up development of new Verdant Forest biome and RvR map
The month of November saw the devs of Camelot Unchained improving the game's landmass quite a bit. In the latest newsletter, we get a look at the creation of the new and improved Verdant Forest biome as well as word of a new RvR map. The new Verdant Forest not only brings some dark fantasy […]
Console LOTRO and DCUO's huge playerbase: Everything we just learned about Daybreak thanks to EG7
MMO twitter has been ablaze since yesterday's announcement that Daybreak is being bought up in its entirety by Swedish games company Enad Global 7, largely thanks to the huge swath of information EG7 is offering to investors on Daybreak, a company that has been notoriously tight-lipped about its plans to the point that it actually […]
End-of-Year Eleven: The biggest MMO surprises of 2020
Whew. We're finally getting close to the end of 2020, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that it cannot get here fast enough. This year has been awful, and I'm not even the first person to point that out. And as we start in on our end-of-year roundups, it's […]
Guild Wars 2 rolls out a PvP class balance patch
It's that old adage of MMOs that nobody wants developers to mess with their classes — unless the devs totally buff those classes up even more. So there is always some fear and trepidation when you read through an MMO's balance pass to see if you're in for some love, some hate, or some major […]
LOTRO, DDO, EverQuest, DCUO, and PlanetSide 2 studio heads reassure players about Daybreak sale
Following yesterday's revelation that Daybreak has been sold to Swedish company Enad Global 7 for $300M, the bosses at Daybreak's substudio have all now posted messages to their communities. Landon Falls, Senior Producer on Dimensional Ink's DC Universe Online, assured his fanbase that "this change will have next to no impact on DCUO's development" or […]
Preview: Dauntless' Reforged update brings new gameplay, new potential, and unanswered questions
As we've been covering over the past few weeks, Dauntless is going to be shaking up the basic way to play and progress with the Reforged update, all of which is due to arrive tomorrow. I had the opportunity to take a moment to dive into some of the major features of this update, including […]
The Daily Grind: What features from single-player games would you like to see in MMOs?
Let's be honest: Sometimes we might play games other than MMOs. Treason, I know, but that's also what's called being "well-rounded" and "a gamer geek." I actually think it's very healthy to have a wider gaming portfolio because it helps you gain a greater perspective on our hobby and our art. And I'm sure that […]
The Stream Team: EverQuest II's Ruins of Ssraeshza
Shadow veins of dark power appear to converge in the ruins of an EQII shissar temple on Luclin, and Massively OP's MJ needs to investigate. Besides the Blood of Luclin convergence point, she might also find Emperor Ssraeshza and his hordes of shissar there beyond the portal to the Ruins of Ssraeshza. Tune in live […]
A3: Still Alive introduces a new area, level cap raise, and new PvP content in latest update
A3: Still Alive has recently kicked out its first major post-launch update, which is bringing players of the mobile PvPvE title some new things to look forward to related to pretty much all of the letters of that acronym. At the top of the list is the arrival of a new region known as Metium, […]
Albion Online explains the big changes coming to PvP with the newest season
Don't you love when developers give you a choice? Albion Online has done that with its latest official dispatch, providing a video you can view below or a full text summary of the changes coming to the game's eleventh PvP season. But the choice also commes in with the new 20v20 battles in the Crystal League, […]
Path of Exile provides an advance look at starter gear for the Endless Delve event
Remember when Path of Exile announced a number of in-game events running through December? Just in case you forgot (or didn't click through that link), one of them will be the Endless Delve, which as its name suggests will be a never-ending delve into the Azerite Mine. Regular players should know that this particular location […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 299: Out of the Shadowlands and into the light
Eliot joins Justin and Bree to discuss World of Warcraft: Shadowlands' launch, Fallout 76's surprise patch, FFXIV's next patch, and TERA's console crossplay, with a Daily Grind Blitz to lead us in, plus mailbag topics on remaking older MMOs and storylines that wreck your roleplay.
RuneScape talks up a new boss fight, the Advent Calendar's return, and wide-reaching patch updates
The current week in RuneScape is pretty busy judging from the game's regular missive, with an event, a boss, and a patch that by its own admission is "all over the place." On the game news side, there's the start of this year's Advent Calendar, granting players free goodies every day up until Christmas. Those […]
What the heck is Krafton up to this week
Krafton Krafton Krafton. This massive Korean games company has been a whirlwind of confusion over the last couple of years as it's smooshed around its holdings and substudios and companies. Let's try to sort it out, shall we? Here's what we think we know: The company actually began life as Bluehole back in 2008 and […]
Skyforge details the improvements to the new player experience coming with the next patch
If you haven't played Skyforge yet, the developers would like you to do so. Obviously they would also like you to continue playing if you're already a fan of the game, but the new player experience that's being rolled out along with the next patch on December 2nd for PC players is focused on, well, new […]
Daybreak has been sold – again – this time to EG7 Global for $300M
Who had this on the end-of-the-year bingo card? Apparently, Daybreak has been bought out – again. The company holding the hot potato this round is EG7 Global, which you'll recall just recently made news for buying up Piranha Games, which runs Mechwarrior Online. According to the press release, the sale price for Daybreak was $300,000,000. […]
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go's Go Beyond update is surprisingly solid for vets and newcomers alike
Yes, in case you missed it, Pokemon Go's Go Beyond update is live. My preview piece was updated right up to the release, so if you're not sure what all the hubbub is about, feel free to give it a once over. The big points are the new level cap (50), XP retuning, Seasons (both […]
Black Desert pushes back its digital Calpheon Ball as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 is such a threat, it's even causing digital events to be delayed. According to an announcement post from Black Desert, preventative measures that are required to fight back a resurgent pandemic will cause this year's Calpheon Ball — which was already going digital because of COVID-19 — to be pushed back a week. The […]
Fight or Kite: Albion Online's mobile beta hits the sweet spot
I'm still in quite a lull when it comes to MMOs as of late. I don't know whether it's related to the time of year or I'm just heading towards a burnout, but nothing seems to really be catching my attention for some nightly gaming. So instead I've been trying to find something to play […]
Pokemon Go's Go Beyond, seasonal events, and PvP season 6 are all live
Good news for Pokemon fans: Pokemon Go's Go Beyond update is now live. The promised raised level cap, XP booster, and surprising hidden bonuses hit us all at once, but there's even more to the update as Niantic's Seasons are rolling out. Changes include the northern hemisphere having former (mostly) egg-exclusive pokemon Alola Sandshrew and Alola […]
First Impressions of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, part three: Influences and summation
One of the things that I generally like to avoid doing is comparing World of Warcraft to other MMOs on the market. Even as we've moved on from the era when, by volume, the market was "WoW vs. everybody else" into a stage when it's the big five, the fact of the matter is that the […]
CDPR frames Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer as a 'standalone product'
Cyberpunk 2077 is a game we've kept half an eyeball on over the last few years, basically entirely because of the lingering promise that it'll eventually offer a multiplayer option – albeit one that's at least two years away and probably more. But more details revealed during CD Projekt Red's recent quarterly investor call sheds […]
Ashes of Creation talks about a new island, new lighting, and testing for December and February
The end of November was host to yet another livestream from the devs of Ashes of Creation, which touched on an assortment of topics including the design of cosmetics, work on combat, a look at a big scary dragon, and of course preparing for the pre-alpha testing phases coming in December and February. To that […]
Guild Wars 2 delays WvW world linking until Friday
One of the newer systems that Guild Wars 2 uses to maintain World vs. World population and rank balance is temporarily offline this week. ArenaNet reported that there's been an issue with the next batch of WvW linking — but that the problem should be resolved later this week. "This is an update regarding world […]
Tiny MMO Book of Travels releases a 30-minute gameplay video
Ready to see the pulse-pounding action of a "serene" online world? We hope you're awake, buckled into a safety harness, and biting down on a mouth guard, because Book of Travels published its very first gameplay video this week. Woo! OK, maybe it's a more sedate experience than we were letting on in that misleading […]
The Daily Grind: Which IP should never, ever be turned into an MMO?
Oh please please please don't ruin Farscape with a badly done MMO. I don't think there's any danger of this, I hasten to point out. The old IPs currently being mined for online games – like DUNE and Lord of the Rings and Star Wars – are far more popular, far more lucrative, and far […]
The Stream Team: Going on a post-holiday Heist 'shopping' spree in Path of Exile
Not only does Massively OP's MJ dislike shopping, but it can sometimes feel like highway robbery thanks to exorbitant pricing. So, what better way to spend Cyber Monday than by spending it "shopping" in Path of Exile's Heist with some five-finger discounts? That she can afford! Join us live at 8:00 p.m. for this post-holiday […]
Craftopia's latest update introduces new weapons and skills, crafting automation, and a washing machine
Yes, a washing machine is now in Craftopia. We're sure you've all been eager to hear that. This new item allows players to wash enchantments off of items to allow them to be stacked, and its addition is just one part of the crafting sandbox's latest update. Of particular note is the addition of a […]
Frozen Flame adjusts some in-game locations, strengthens the Curse, and adds a vendor stall
The multiplayer survival RPG Frozen Flame, which readers will recall was crowdfunded earlier this summer and entered closed beta in September, has once again updated with a few changes of note. The Dragon Cemetery and the Quarry have both gotten some visual upgrades, with continued work on the Titan Heights area also coming down the […]
PSA: Remnant From the Ashes releases its complete edition with both DLCs packed in
If you were curious about Remnant: From the Ashes after reading our brief jaunt through the game in Choose My Adventure (and were able to see through your white-hot indignant rage at the use of "MMO" in that article's title), then now seems about as good a time as any to hop in as the […]
Soul's Remnant is a 2-D platforming MMORPG 'passion project' that has entered a limited-time open alpha
For those who are fans of more colorful and visually flat (as in two-dimensional) MMORPGs, then you might be interested in a little something called Soul's Remnant. This charming-looking title is the "passion project" of solo developer Chaomoon, who has been working on the title since April of 2016, with 99% of the dev work […]
Ship of Heroes' latest video talks mission creation and likely 2021 launch
How do they make the sausage when the sausage is an MMORPG? Generally, gamers are quickly made to regret that question, but Heroic Games is giving a peek into the factory anyway with the finale for its Ship of Heroes mission-creation video series. "We previously covered how the mission design is created when the mission's […]
Wolcen team teases first Chronicle, Bloodtrail, with Diablo III-esque seasons
In the months following its release, the developers of Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem pursued an aggressive schedule of fixes and balance changes, an initiative dubbed the "Second Dawn," but since Second Dawn's completion, they've been quiet. That silence has at last been broken by the announcement that the game's first Chronicle, Bloodtrail, is coming Soon™. […]
Mortal Online 2's beta stress test falls short of world record levels but still yields useful results
Just in case you were curious, the beta launch of Mortal Online 2, which sought to break a world record, didn't: Star Vault's CEO Henrik Nyström confirmed in an update post that concurrency numbers only hit about 2,000 players at peak despite over 40K keys being sent out. It's not all sad trombone noises, however. […]
Fallout 76 drops Fractured Steel trailer for already launched Steel Dawn update
Last week, Bethsoft surprise-launched Fallout 76's Steel Dawn update after accidentally dropping it on Xbox. So you can already play it on basically every platform known to man except your phone and the Switch, and you're probably already immersed in the lore. But the rest of the marketing campaign pushes onward as planned, apparently, as […]
WildStar's devs and fans love on the game two years after its demise
This past weekend saw a special and sad date for WildStar fans, as November 28th marked the two-year anniversary of the game's closure. Some of WildStar's former developers and community emerged to hold up a torch of remembrance for the scifi MMORPG, including lead developer Chad Moore and composer Jeff Kurtenacker. In fact, Kurtenacker had […]
Elite: Dangerous' latest game balance update ramps up pay for bounties and solo combat missions
Earlier in the month, Elite: Dangerous announced plans to make a number of balance changes starting with mining. The next step forward in balance is being taken later today, with a focus on bounties and solo combat missions. Specifically, bounties will see payout increases that are four times as much for the highest paying ones […]
Wisdom of Nym: Analyzing the last pre-patch Final Fantasy XIV producer's letter
Well, it looks like we've got no actual new information on the next expansion. I'm not sure how to feel about that. I mean, sure, I didn't really expect to hear about it when this live letter had other things on its mind, but at the same time it felt plausible. Are we really going […]
SWTOR and Star Wars Galaxies players memorialize the life of Darth Vader actor David Prowse
The Star Wars universe has lost another of its icons: David Prowse, the British actor who filled the very large shoes (though not the voice) of Darth Vader in the original film trilogy. He was 85. The news brought forth players in multiple Star Wars MMOs to pay tribute to the actor. On SWG Legends, […]
