Betawatch: Book of Travels begins teasing early access, again
In the long saga of Book of Travels doing almost everything other than actually entering its promised early access state, this week marked an odd departure as the freeform roleplaying sandbox insisted that its early access isn't so far away. It also doesn't like gamers describing the delay as "indefinite," in spite of the fact that […]
MMO Business Roundup: Discord's funding, Bungie's lawsuit, and harassment in online gaming
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent business news. Discord: Investors love dumping money into Discord, and they're continuing the trend, as the chat company gamers know best raised another $500M in its latest funding round. That apparently puts the company at a value of $15B, significantly more than the reported $10B Microsoft […]
Sea of Thieves teases underwater adventuring arriving with Season 4 on September 23
Looking forward to more underwater excursions in Sea of Thieves? No? Well too bad because underwater stuff is going to be happening with the game's fourth season if this teaser trailer is anything to be believed. Underwater exploring. Underwater combat. What fun. Details on what exactly is happening with Season 4 are a bit sparse […]
Champions Online's anniversary continues with a Dr. Destroyer invasion, DC Universe Online celebrates Batman Day with free gifts
It's all about some superheroic celebration going on in both Champions Online and DC Universe Online, with both games marking some noteworthy dates on their respective calendars. Which, of course, means free goodies for players of either MMO. In Champs, the game's anniversary festivities roll on into their third week, which will feature an invasion […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts its fourth anniversary story ahead of the live letter this evening
Another Friday means that it's time for another installment of the Final Fantasy XIV anniversary fiction, and this one is taking aim at a largely unnoticed character. Kan-E-Senna is definitely an important figure, but very little storytelling focuses around her or her particular struggles. So it's a refreshing change to get a portrait of who she […]
Pantheon discusses world building, new hires, gathering nodes, and the path to alpha
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's latest producer letter adds to last month's good news with the announcement of yet another hire: environment artist Tim Schuhler. He'll join the devs already hard at work on building out Wild's End. "In addition to our focus on developing Wild's End, world building efforts are ramping up this month […]
Star Citizen highlights alpha 3.15's location-based inventory management system
Are you ready for some hot and spicy inventory management action? Then put on your three-point harness and prepare for the ride of your life, as Star Citizen's latest video digest is all about alpha 3.15's physicalized inventory — the five dollar term CIG is using to mean inventory that's specific to planets, ships, and […]
Kingdom Under Fire 2 is shutting down in October
It's almost time to wave farewell to Kingdom Under Fire 2; publisher Gameforge has announced that the title will sunset for good on October 26th, with the game already unavailable for new players to download and premium currency purchases being disabled. Players can still use any currency they already have, which seems like a tacit statement […]
Elder Scrolls Online's Update 32 aims to tackle combat and power creep
ZeniMax Online Studios is already looking ahead to Elder Scrolls Online's Update 32, which is set to bring major combat changes to the game – specifically in the form of proc set balance and hybridization improvements. "In Update 30 we introduced item proc set scaling, which aimed to lower the ease of access of 'free' […]
Fallout 76 has a couple more patches coming for 2021
The reception of Fallout Worlds in Fallout 76 has been a bit of a mixed bag this month, with some players loving the anything-goes experimental rulesets and others feeling like it was a total waste of resources (especially considering that the main servers still lack basic functions such as text chat and guilds). No matter […]
Kickstarted MMO sandbox Fractured enters fall alpha on September 22
Dynamight Studios is gearing up for Fractured's next testing phase, as it's announced this week that the fall alpha will begin on September 22nd. Notably, players will be testing new abilities, world events, PvP sieges, new points of interest, new monsters, treasure hunting, lockpicking, an expansion for gear and crafting, and an "overhaul of [the] […]
Ashes of Creation snags former Elder Scrolls Online lead writer as new senior narrative designer
It would be easy to assume that Ashes of Creation will be thin on lore owing to its PvP sandbox nature and its main throughline of player actions having an impact on the world. That might not be exactly the case, however, as the game has recently picked up a new hire that will very […]
Design Mockument: Fresh ideas for City of Heroes 2 in 2021
Back in 2019, I had the idea to make Design Mockument semi-regular column because I like doing this sort of thing. I put out one installment of it out talking about a hypothetical sequel to The Matrix Online, and then, uh… 2020 happened, and then most of 2021 happened, and I actually totally forgot this […]
Raph Koster's plan is to build the metaverse tech, build a sandbox MMORPG on it, then open it all up
If Raph Koster's metaverse talk has you more confused than before, then don't worry; his new more technical blog is going to scramble your brains even more. Essential, he argues that Playable Worlds' metaverse tech will help solve some of the difficulty and cost of building MMOs in the modern world, making sharding, custom rulesets, […]
Guild Wars 2: 'Upgrading to DirectX11 is the first step toward being able to do more shiny things'
If the Revenant, Warrior, and Elementalist aren't your Cup of Light-Roasted Coffee, then next week's Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons beta round might not spark your attention. But not so fast: There's more to the beta than just the new elite specs. As promised, ArenaNet is also going to run the DirectX 11 beta […]
Palia wraps up the pre-alpha test you didn't get to play
What happens when the announcement of your game draws far, far more interest than you have actual room for in your testing program? A whole lot of interested parties on the outside of a building, cupping their faces and looking through the frosted glass to the wonders within, that's what. This has been the situation […]
Mortal Online 2 has shifted its launch to 2022, scraps early access plans
It's the story of 2021 so far, that so many MMOs have seen delays, but hey, here's one more: Mortal Online 2 has bumped its release date to next year, now January 25th, 2022, and it won't be running an early access now. "We have come so close to adding all the features and content […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMORPGs have you played most excessively?
I saw a fun thread on Reddit a while back I thought would be fun to pitch to our community too. The question asked which MMORPGs you've put more than 400 hours into. That's only around 16 or 17 days, so it's not really that much time, and yet it still seems like a lot […]
Massively Overthinking: How much would you pay for an MMO sub in 2021?
A few weeks back, MMO YouTuber Napyet tweeted that he liked Fallout 76's private servers but that compared to MMORPGs, the subscription for the game was on the high side. The optional Fallout First sub is around 13 bucks a month, with the base game – which launched almost three years ago – still clocking […]
Browser MMO Genfanad plans an alpha event for September, pushes off Kickstarter
Back in July, we covered a new-to-us browser-based MMORPG called Genfanad, and if you remember anything about it, it's probably the concept art of a buff Abe Lincoln shaking hands with a medieval knight. As we noted at the time, that bit of weirdo humor is intentional, as the Rose-Tinted Games seeks to turn "traditional […]
Trove asks players to side with fae or undead in latest event, releases the Bard class to Xbox and PlayStation
If you had to choose between undead horrors or trickster faefolk, which would you go for? That's the question being asked of Trove players in the game's latest event, which is tasking players with joining a side in a conflict between the fae and the undead. Or players could just choose both sides; the stakes […]
Aion NA's producer hypes up the arrival of new updates coming to retail and classic in a latter
While it's still only September, the producer for Aion in North America has plenty to write about. The letter in question is mostly about recent developments for the MMORPG, including the consolidation of servers, the game's 12th anniversary, and the release of Aion Classic to the west in June. Naturally, there are tidbits in the […]
Star Citizen fixes a currency bug, confirms that alpha 3.15 will feature a full progression wipe
Star Citizen's official forums have a couple of important announcements to share with players. First, a bug that was seeing aUEC disappear has been found and squashed with a recent hotfix. Players should see more accurate space bucks in their space wallets, though the announcement did stress that some aUEC may be lost forever due […]
Valheim's Hearth and Home update has officially arrived for the early access sandbox
First announced back in June, Valheim's Hearth and Home update is finally upon us, and before you ask, the multiplayer survival sandbox game has still not exited early access, although it's pretty cheap right now – $15.99 – on Steam if you're so inclined. Hearth and Home is a pretty hefty update, particularly for crafters […]
Swords of Legends Online offers a moon-filled festival for players to enjoy
We're going to go ahead and make a bold statement: The moon is the prettiest lifeless space rock locked in perpetual orbit around our planet. And Swords of Legends Online apparently agrees because the game is kicking off a whole moon festival dedicated to the big shiny moon from now until October 7th. You can […]
Bless Unleashed PC introduces a new high-level boss fight and new dungeon in latest update
If you've got a character that's between level 35 and 42 in Bless Unleashed's PC version, you've got some new content to face with the most recent update. This patch introduces a level 35 dungeon known as the Nightspire and a level 42 boss fight in the form of the Twisted Spider Queen. Both promise […]
Combat style testing for Star Wars The Old Republic now moves to the Assassin and Sorcerer classes
Public testing for the new combat styles of Star Wars: The Old Republic's classes rolls on. As of yesterday, the game's PTR has started testing for the Sith Assassin and Sith Sorcerer, granting both classes their opportunity to be put through their paces. As with other class adjustments, the idea is to make the Assassin […]
Time-travel MMO Into the Echo releases new video and alpha signups
Back in August, we covered a newly unveiled time-travel MMORPG called Into the Echo. Canada-based ETLOK Studios pitched the game as one with "traditional mechanics of resource collection, crafting, puzzle-solving and combat to build next generation social experiences" as well as "a launching pad for next generation social interactions where each player has a unique […]
BitCraft is a new upcoming MMORPG promising a procedural sandbox environment for players
So, want a new sandbox to look forward to? BitCraft has shown up as a new procedurally generated wide-open sandbox for players to explore, with the focus apparently leaning far on exploration and social interaction rather than combat. Players will be able to craft their own towns, explore the aforementioned large world, level up a […]
Stick and Rudder: Gaining traction as a newbie in EVE Online
EVE Online has a reputation for being difficult for new players. The varied, complex systems, some of which are a product of the era when EVE launched and some of which have been accumulated over time, do indeed present a steep learning curve for a pilot attempting to jump right into New Eden. While I […]
Crowfall lays out roadmap, addresses newbie zones and requests for auction halls
If you were worried about the state of Crowfall following the layoffs early this month, you can at least be comforted by the fact that ArtCraft is still putting out ACE Q&A videos. The latest features ArtCraft Executive Producer Gordon Walton and Design Director Thomas Blair. The duo begin by discussing the milestone update and […]
Vague Patch Notes: Returning MMO players need tutorials too
One of the nice things about Final Fantasy XIV is that it is explicitly designed by someone who thinks that it's not just reasonable but expected that you'll take some time off from the game. While there's certainly nothing stopping you from playing the game on a daily basis, producer and director Naoki Yoshida has said explicitly […]
Lord of the Rings Online does some more work on the Brawler and LI 3.0
If you haven't yet gotten an advance look at the new Brawler class and the revamped legendary item system for Lord of the Rings Online, you have a short window to check out the latest build for these on the test server before it goes down tomorrow. Beta 2 for Update 30.3 tweaks a number […]
Mad World is in open alpha and can be played in a browser until tomorrow
It has been almost a full year since we had any major reports arrive about Mad World, the grimdark isometric multiplayer ARPG from developer Jandisoft. Readers will recall that the game was supposed to launch on Steam in 2018, but then the delays began to pile up, starting with a planned 2019 alpha test, a […]
Guild Wars 2's sixth End of Dragons elite spec is the Elementalist's Catalyst
ArenaNet has just unveiled its sixth End of Dragons elite spec for Guild Wars 2, the third this week: It's the hammer-wielding Elementalist known as the Catalyst. "Catalysts were casters from a bygone era, working to protect Cantha and the throne from enemy threats. They wielded intricate apparatuses called spheres that were used as conduits […]
WoW Classic releases Overlords of Outland, WoW Patch 9.1.5 undergoes additional testing
The watchword of World of Warcraft this week is "patches." Patches of patches of patches. Miles of patches. Patches of all shapes, sizes, and attitudes. WoW Classic got a big one thanks to the release of Overlords of Outland, which brings in the Serpentshrine Cavern and Eye in Tempest Keep raids (and their related attunement […]
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs that would be better off without crafting?
Crafting is important. I like crafting. In games that do it well, I flat out love it; in games that do it decently but not quite as well, I still enjoy the fact that it's there. While no one would ever confuse crafting with my main focus in an MMO, that doesn't mean I don't […]
Warhammer Online rogue server Return of Reckoning preps anniversary celebration and huge reveal this weekend
If you've been keeping an eye on Warhammer Online rogue server Return of Reckoning, you probably already know that the game is knee-deep in its take on the Stronghold Saga, which currently pits Dwarves against Greenskins in the Marshes of Madness. But this month, the player dev team has been hinting that there's more than […]
Prosperous Universe talks about its recent patch and mobile launch as it gets a spotlight on Reddit
Prosperous Universe has been busy recently according to the game's most recent development log. Discussion among the devs focuses primarily on two topics: work on the game's recent patch, which has brought features like base exploration, market filters, and base demolition; and a whole lot of UI work for the game's mobile version, which apparently […]
LittleBigPlanet's PS3 and Vita servers will remain offline permanently thanks to a toxic hacker
This past May we reported on the woes of the original LittleBigPlanet, a cutesy 2.5-D platformer that is a primarily single-player experience but also let players craft their own levels and share them online — that is until one particularly toxic hacker managed to find a way to take control of the game's error messages […]
Conan Exiles is cracking down on toxicity and sploits on official servers
Funcom appears to be cleaning up the Conan Exiles official servers, as this week it announced a change to its terms of conduct. It specifically forbids hogging servers and land, abuse of the claim and construction system, hacks, exploits, and the usual run of extremely offensive (racist, sexual, hateful, threatening) chat, along with "terrorist and criminal […]
Bless Unleashed answers a whole slew of player questions
The most recent community livestream for Bless Unleashed answered a lot of player questions. No, really, a lot of player questions. You would be kind of blown away by the sheer number of questions answered. But you don't have to take our word for it, nor do you have to wade through the entire video to catch […]
Path of Exile asks for community votes on what the game will sell you next
Market research is a tricky thing. It can be hard to figure out what exactly will get people to spend money on a product and what will convince people to drop money. Of course, you could always go with Path of Exile's approach and just ask people what to sell them next and then make a […]
Aion's European version kicks off its anniversary celebration
It's been 12 years for Aion running on European servers, and unfortunately it looks like the game's carnival barker does not particularly care. Seriously, look at the face on that guy. That is the face of not giving a damn. That is someone who is not excited by the game's 12-year anniversary celebration, and frankly, it's kind […]
The Stream Team: Facing more xenomorphs with a friend in Aliens Fireteam Elite
If you're about to go into an alien-infested hell with only a bunch of weapons and your wits, it's probably wise to bring a friend. That's just what MOP's Chris is doing as he and a good buddy of his team up for a bit of duo action in the co-op shooter Aliens: Fireteam Elite. […]
Amazon Games hired a former Ubisoft Toronto boss to lead its new Montreal studio
Amazon Games announced today that it's picked a new leader for its new Montreal-based studio: Alexandre Parizeau. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he was a co-founder of Ubisoft Toronto alongside Maxime Béland. Béland, of course, was ousted following a slew of allegations of abuse and violence lodged against him last year. Parizeau himself, […]
Swords of Legends Online brings extreme dungeons, a hard mode raid, and a Moon Festival tomorrow
The next update arriving to Swords of Legends Online tomorrow, September 16th, could easily be described as having two halves. On the one side, you've got harder content to tackle, while on the other side, there's a serene and beautiful-looking autumn festival. So a little bit of something for everyone, then. Assuming there are plenty […]
Vampire multiplayer survival title V Rising shows off gameplay and plans a 2021 beta
V Rising, the multiplayer vampiric survival title from Stunlock Studios (of Battlerite fame) has been doing a lot of talking to this point. Readers will recall this game first hit our notice in June, talking up PvE and PvP challenges as players raise their own vampire lord to eventually rule over the game world, and […]
Perfect Ten: Shapeshifting classes in MMOs
After my wife and I saw an X-Men movie a while back, we got into a discussion about what mutant power we'd pick for ourselves if we had the choice. I was torn between teleportation and quick healing, while my wife wanted to be able to turn into cash to pay off our mortgage. I […]
Black Desert launches PC season+ server, offers next-gen console support and roadmap
It's Wednesday, which means another weekly deluge of Black Desert news. First, over on the PC servers, where the game is celebrating 2000 days online in the west, Pearl Abyss is launching the Season+ server as planned. As we've previously covered, this server replaces the truncated summer season with a special server meant for onboarding […]
