Diablo II Resurrected has officially launched with yet another live-action trailer
Diablo II: Resurrected is officially live as of now as the remastered version of the original 2000 roguelike from Blizzard North. Resurrected, of course, was helmed largely by Activision's Vicarious Visions, which was brought under the Blizzard Entertainment banner earlier this year. Blizzard is now helmed in part by Jen Oneal, who formerly ran Vicarious […]
The Cycle plans closed beta on September 30 and previews rewards for veteran players
The development track for PvPvE shooter The Cycle has been a nebulous thing for a while now. Originally set to launch on Steam last year but missing the mark and promising a Q3 release for this year that's possibly uncertain, the game has been otherwise running public alpha tests over the course of the last […]
Fortnite might not be back on Apple's app store for five years – or longer
You know how kids' soccer teams line up after a match to give each other high-fives and "good games" in a show of sportsmanship? Apple is the one kid who's hanging back, has his arms crossed, and is scowling with barely contained anger following the recent Epic vs. Apple ruling on an anti-monopoly case. In […]
Amazon on New World: 'We really wanted to make sure that this time we get it right'
The multi-million-dollar question of the hour is whether or not Amazon finally can pull off a successful launch of a major game. The studio has great cause to hope with New World, however, especially considering that over 900,000 players poured into the recent beta to experience it. Amazon Games Vice President Christoph Hartmann told Games […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO content are you looking forward to in the last months of 2021?
This is going to be a busy end of the year, isn't it? We've got expansions coming out for Final Fantasy XIV and Lord of the Rings Online, and we've got New World and Elyon both aiming at launch at long last. And that's just the stuff that springs to mind off the top of my head; I'm sure […]
Vampire survivalbox V Rising discusses crafting, castles, and your insatiable thirst for blood
V Rising has been on our radar for a few months now; it's a multiplayer survival sandbox that's trying to make vampires cool again – and might actually pull it off. With its beta still on the horizon later this year, Stunlock Studios has put out another dev update, this one about the feel of […]
Life Beyond shares a video tutorial all about its new weapon upgrade system
A couple of weeks ago, the survival sandbox Life Beyond added the ability to upgrade gear. If you're curious just how exactly that works or wanted to get a look at the feature without actually playing the game, developer Darewise has you covered with a new tutorial video. The tutorial and the system itself is […]
Profane takes a jog over all sorts of different terrain to show off footfall VFX in latest Twitter thread
When you're dashing through an MMO's world, how carefully are you staring at your feet? Probably not very closely, if we had to guess. That said, little details like footfalls making some sort of effect or impact on the ground are a nice little flavor touch, and Profane is making sure that little detail isn't […]
Dual Universe brings updates to shields, construct cores, and docking with the launch of the Ares update
A lot of the talk coming out of Dual Universe has been focused around its Ares update — how it's changing shields and construct core stress as well as warping and docking. All of the talk is over now and the time for experiencing these updates is now, as the Ares update has gone live. […]
World of Warcraft brings Brewfest around once more in both retail and The Burning Crusade
Do you feel like celebrating right now in World of Warcraft? No, not so much? Can't imagine why. Let's try a different question: Do you feel like drinking until you can convince yourself to celebrate right now in World of Warcraft? Because that coincides nicely with the fact that Brewfest is back for players to while away […]
Neverwinter brings back the Harvester of Nightmares to consoles and offers a balance patch to Wizards
You might think that someone called the Harvester of Nightmares might actually be a halfway decent guy in Neverwinter. Ominous name, sure, but maybe he harvest nightmares from people who are just having a bad dream. But no, it turns out that he's more like the causer of nightmares which he will subsequently harvest, and that means […]
Starbase previews moon base building and moon mining features in a video
Care to build your own Moon Zero Two? Eventually you'll be able to in Starbase, though it will most likely be more utilitarian and less a location for go-go dancers and soft heist caper intrigue, as outlined in a recent preview video from the devs. The video focuses on the moons that orbit Eos, each […]
Revelation Online's Demonic War update shifts to an October release window
Wait, didn't we hear about the Demonic War update for Revelation Online before? Yes, yes we did; back in May 2021, when the update was eyeballing a summer release date. Now that we're past the summer months, it's pretty obvious that the update didn't arrive, but that's because it's now looking at an October 2021 […]
The Stream Team: A return to raiding in Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers
It's been a long time — a number of years to be precise — since MOP's Chris has done any of the raid level content in Final Fantasy XIV, but now he feels it's high time to hop back into the raiding that this particular MMORPG can offer. Join him at 2:00 p.m. EDT for […]
The Elder Scrolls Online previews the Deadlands DLC exploring the realm of Oblivion
Johnny Cash told us all that love is a burning thing that makes a fiery ring. Also a burning thing is the realm of the Deadlands, which is burning away in the next eponymous DLC in The Elder Scrolls Online. It's a hot time as the overarching Gates of Oblivion storyline concludes, but even if you're […]
Elyon begins preregistration ahead of its October 20 free-to-play launch
So Krafton-Bluehole's upcoming MMORPG Elyon's been a bit of a tangle these last few months. After changing its name and its theme, it rolled into beta this past summer, earning praise for its gameplay and customization but criticism for humdrum setting and world. It was then supposed to launch at the end of September, rocking […]
Amazon is publishing Glowmade's new 'creative online co-op experience'
What else does Amazon Games have cooking besides New World, Lost Ark, and that unnamed game from Smed? Apparently, it's also publishing a game from English games studio Glowmade, whose developers have worked on everything from Fable and Little Big Planet to Battlefield and Horizon Zero Dawn. "Amazon Games today announced that it is expanding its third-party publishing […]
Massively on the Go: How to actually have fun in Pokemon Unite as a new player
The mobile version of Pokemon Unite has landed as of today, and those of you who do not have a Nintendo Switch but wish to play will finally be able to do so. Thanks to crossplay, you Switch-less folks can play with the rest of us, but you may be a tad underpowered at first. No, […]
Elite Dangerous brings AA turrets and bug fixes to Odyssey, quality of life to Horizons, and Powerplay changes to all
Today is the day when Elite: Dangerous sees some rather sizeable updates, whether players are in Horizons or in Odyssey. On the Odyssey front, Update 7 is going live, introducing some new anti-air turrets as well as rocket wielding Enforcers to combat zones, the ability for players to redirect Apex taxis, and new social hub […]
Flameseeker Chronicles: Test driving Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons' Vindicator, Bladesworn, and Catalyst elite specs
It's time again for another End of Dragons elite specialization beta! It's an exciting time for Guild Wars 2 players, who are learning what elite specs they will be playing as and alongside in this highly anticipated expansion. This time around we have the Revenant's damage-support hybrid Vindicator spec, the Warrior's totally-not-a-Final-Fantasy-XIV-Gunbreaker Bladesworn spec, and the Elementalist's […]
Final Fantasy XIV players memorialize Stephen Critchlow, the voice behind Count Edmont de Fortemps
The Final Fantasy XIV community is in mourning this week as English actor Stephen Critchlow has passed away at the age of 54. Critchlow was well known for his theater and TV work, but MMO gamers will know him best as the performer for FFXIV's Count Edmont de Fortemps and the narrator for Heavensward; MOP's […]
Dungeons and Dragons Online to revamp epic destinies 'from the ground up'
You know that when an MMO developer tells you to "buckle up" before explaining changes coming in a patch, we're in for a wild ride. And so it is for Dungeons and Dragons Online, which is preparing to overhaul its higher-level character progression "from the ground up." The game's epic destinies, which function as a […]
Rumor: Leaked file list suggests Star Citizen's Theaters of War is being made into a standalone game
Allow us to provide a bit of context before we get to the news: This is all about Theaters of War, a 20v20 mixed arms PvP mode that was first revealed at CitizenCon 2019. The vast majority of the talk about Theaters of War was its inclusion as a new mode into Star Citizen itself, […]
New World posts the names of its 176 launch day servers
With less than a week to go before New World's September 28th launch, there isn't much time left for interested players to make plans for the first day of release. And since it's always quite helpful to have a list of servers beforehand for the purpose of player and guild coordination, we're pleased to see […]
The Daily Grind: Do you enjoy fully 'mapping' MMO zones?
Apart from going through particularly good quest stories, filling out a map is my favorite MMORPG activity. This means slightly different goals depending on the game, but generally, "mapping" is when you fully explore and complete all of the goals, objectives, and vistas in a zone. Guild Wars 2 put this verb in our lexicon […]
Funcom gave a player group its blessing to build a Secret World TTRPG
It hasn't been the best couple of years for fans of The Secret World, thanks to the fact that both games are all but in maintenance mode and the community is still mourning one of its own. But we have a bit of good news for you here: Apparently, Funcom has granted a player group […]
Pokemon Unite mobile update adds squads, addresses pay-to-win items
The mobile version of Pokemon Unite is almost upon us, and TiMi Studio Group is giving us more than just crossplay: The new Galactic Ghost 094 battle pass season has some nice skins from the looks of it, but we're also seeing a feature called "Squads." While there's almost no information about them pre-launch, the press asset […]
Riders of Icarus has apparently sunsetted its only Russian server
Pour one out for Riders of Icarus aka Icarus Online, which apparently sunsetted its Russian server this week. As MMO Fallout first reported, the game had run under Russian publisher 101xp for the last four years; its Steam showing wasn't cause for much celebration, as it clocking with barely a hundred concurrent players the last […]
Diablo II Resurrected has begun preloading – here's when it launches in your timezone
We're fast approaching the launch of Diablo II Resurrected, and Blizzard would really like everyone to focus on that instead of on its ballooning culture and legal problems. This afternoon, the studio posted a complete run-down of what gamers will need to prepare for the launch, including the game itself, which of course is not […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 339: Kitchen sinks and the Tao of MMOs
Justin and Bree discuss Guild Wars 2, Funcom, Mortal Online 2, WoW Classic, EverQuest II, Star Trek Online, and Final Fantasy XIV, with adventures in Elder Scrolls Online and SWG Legends, plus mailbag topics on the direction of Guild Wars 2 and WoW and what's going on with LOTRO's dead servers.
New World composers Ramin Djawadi and Brandon Campbell discuss scoring the MMORPG
Somebody go find our resident Battle Bard and Jukebox Hero, Justin: Amazon's just dropped a bunch of music-related goodies ahead of next week's New World launch. "After players ventured through the land of Aeternum in our Alpha and Beta tests, we received an overwhelming positive response to the immersive sound effects and beautiful music those […]
Albion Online's Call to Arms 10 arrives ahead of this weekend's season start
PvP players, you've been called to arms, quite literally, with Albion Online's latest update. Call to Arms Patch 10 has arrived as of today, and it's a bit of a prepatory patch, as it sets the stage for both the next season and the next major expansion. "The Energy Surge Season starts September 25, featuring […]
EverQuest II brings back its (renamed) summer event and kicks off the prelude to Visions of Vetrovia
Panda, Panda, Panda! No, that's not a remake of the film Tora! Tora! Tora! but with adorable fluffy bears; it's the new name for the Days of Summer event in EverQuest II to more accurately reflect the fact that the event primarily features the Hua Mein and Yun Zi. In this year's event, players are […]
Fractured invites MMO players to test its fall alpha starting tomorrow
As we've been covering, indie MMO sandbox Fractured is preparing its big fall alpha phase, which kicks off tomorrow, September 22nd, and runs through October 13th. "The update introduces a number of new abilities, world events, an overhaul of its equipment progression system, and much more," Dynamight Studios says. "The three-week Fall Alpha phase gives […]
Elder Scrolls Online tests Deadlands DLC and new armory system
The big fall release for Elder Scrolls Online is on the way — and is in fact being tested as we speak. ZeniMax announced that Update 23 is on the test server right now for players who want to get an advance look or put the patch through its paces. Update 23 will bring a […]
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons testers can play with the Vindicator, Bladesworn, Catalyst, and DX11 update now
Hear that hum? It's the distant rumbling of the hype train to Cantha, and it's getting a little bit closer with this week's Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons beta event. As of this afternoon and running through September 25th, Guild Wars 2 players – yes, even freemium players – can log in and roll […]
Choose My Adventure: The further adventures of a twin pistols gadgeteer in DC Universe Online
So, the powers that be said that keeping to my twin pistols in DC Universe Online was the way to go, and I have to say that I wholly agree with the move, especially since I'm now starting to feel like I'm getting a hang of things in combat. As one of the commenters in […]
Star Citizen kicks off a week-long free fly event featuring the four finalists of its community ship showdown
Those who follow Star Citizen closely are likely familiar with the Ship Showdown, an annual community event where fans pick the best ship in the game's roster through a series of polls. That in and of itself isn't really much to write about, but it's the event that's being used as a reason for another […]
Jagex attributes lag spikes during Old School RuneScape's Deadman finals to 'direct network attacks'
Over the past three weeks, Old School RuneScape has been running its Deadman Reborn PvP competition, which hit its zenith this past Friday with a finals event to determine the ultimate winner. However, the whole affair didn't go quite so smoothly as the event started suffering from lag spikes. Initially, Jagex announced that it believed […]
Hearthstone promises a mix of RPG and roguelike when Mercenaries arrives October 12
There's a new game mode coming to Hearthstone on Tuesday, October 12th, which seeks to blend the CCG's characters with RPG and roguelike elements. It's called Mercenaries, and at the very basic level, it's a PvE mode that lets players form a party of mercs to take on bounties for rewards and to build up […]
Final Fantasy XIV details the process of deprecating belts ahead of its next expansion
Final Fantasy XIV is going to remove your belt. Not like that; get your mind out of the gutter. The game is removing belts altogether with the launch of Endwalker, and the newest posting on the official site details exactly how this is going to work. The short version is that when the update's early access […]
Activision-Blizzard is now being investigated by four state and federal regulators as its top legal VP departs
Yesterday, we covered the news that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating Activision-Blizzard in the wake of its ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit and associated scandal. As we noted, the feds have subpoenaed Activision along with executives including Bobby Kotick, seeking everything from personnel files and board meeting minutes to termination […]
Corepunk adds Diablo-style loot piñatas to its gameplay world
If you've been craving the sweet-and-salty combination of Orcs and high-tech gadgets, the wait for Corepunk must be agonizing. And while it was a bummer to hear that the studio delayed the closed beta until this December, at least we're starting to get more communication on this game as we head down that stretch. Artificial […]
The Daily Grind: Is Blizzard right to 'desexualize' art in World of Warcraft?
Last week, there was a big social media hubbub over World of Warcraft, as Blizzard quietly changed out a pair of obscure paintings in the game. Once changed a blurry portrait of a woman into a sharper version with less visible cleavage, while the other changed an obvious tongue-in-cheek homage to a reclining female nude […]
Niantic is shutting down Catan: World Explorers after a lackluster early access run
Not everything Niantic touches turns to gold — or becomes an instant hit. Case in point, Catan: World Explorers has been kind of a dud ever since coming to early access in 2020. While the board game is a legitimate hit, the thought of running all over the real world to pick up sheep and […]
PSA: Closers is handing out free level 85 boosts until November 3
Want to play Closers but can't be bothered to do all of that leveling up or playing the game? Then you're going to jump for joy for the game's returning Jumping Character event, which is dishing out a ticket to boost characters up to level 85 and a whole bunch of related goodies for doing […]
Wild Terra 2 adds over 25 new peaceful skills, plans to open Plague Island seasonal content October 14
Wild Terra 2 would like players to both enjoy new peaceful skills and prepare for Plague Island. Both of these things sound diametrically opposed to one another, but that's basically the thrust of the game's content updates, starting with the game's most recent update, which has introduced over 25 new passive and active abilities for […]
Starbase introduces new modules, replenishes asteroids, and makes various fixes in latest update
Starbase's latest patch is being flagged as a "major" patch, but reading the notes you might be let down by the fact it doesn't bring anything game-changing to the table. That said, there are still a lot of things being added with the update regardless. At the top of the list are the addition of […]
The feds are now investigating Activision-Blizzard as the SEC subpoenas execs including Bobby Kotick
Early on in our coverage of the Activision-Blizzard sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit scandal, we noted that the company's response took some ineffective swipes at the state of California bureau heading the investigation and all but threatened to leave the state over the suit. Activision-Blizzard may want to set aside that posturing now, as it'll […]
Uncharted Waters Online hopes to boost visibility with its 'first' official trailer
It's safe to say that Uncharted Waters Online isn't the name that's on every MMO player's lips. The quirky seafaring title has labored in obscurity for many years now under several different owners, most recently Papaya with a 2017 relaunch. Getting eyes on the game's been a challenge for the current owners, so any excuse […]
