It was a gigantic week for MMO news, not all of it good.
The weird: Daybreak announced that it is splitting its zombie MMO sandbox H1Z1 into two separate (and separately bought, going forward) halves: a survival sandbox half and a last-man-standing shooter half. This comes the same week the company added new RNG bundles to H1Z1’s cash shop.
The bad: Unfortunately, CCP announced that it is finally giving up on the beleaguered console version of EVE-universe shooter DUST 514, which will sunset in May. The studio says it’s working on a new PC shooter to replace it.
The good: Black Desert’s western launch is confirmed for March 3rd.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Black Desert launches in the west on March 3rd - Daum has just announced that Korean sandbox Black Desert is arriving in the west sooner than you might've thought.
H1Z1 is splitting into two games, landing on consoles this summer - Daybreak has just announced that H1Z1 is splitting -- "evolving" is the precise word -- into two games. H1Z1: Just Survive is a persistent, open-world zombie survival game. H1Z1: King of the Kill is a high-intensity…
DUST 514 will sunset on PS3 in May, replaced by new PC FPS - CCP Games has just announced that it will be sunsetting its EVE-universe shooter DUST 514 on the PlayStation 3 platform on May 30th. The company is planning a brand-new shooter for the PC; it's currently "in…
The Game Archaeologist: Ten strange pre-release facts about World of Warcraft - An endless ocean of words, a tsunami of thoughts, and a riptide of fan devotion has flooded the gaming world about World of Warcraft ever since the title launched to critical and popular acclaim in November…
GameSpot lists EverQuest Next as a missing game in 2016 - Even GameSpot appears to have lost faith in EverQuest Next. "We're not really sure what's going on with MMORPG EverQuest Next," the site said in its "Games Gone Missing 2016 - Where Are They Now?" video…
DC Universe Online unlocks cross-play between all its platforms - Heists, prison breaks, and new friends are the topic du jour of DC Universe Online. Episode 21 is out today for members (and available to buy on February 10th for you sidekicks), bringing with it a duo…
The Division’s skills trailer might make your beta wait easier - Are you in Division withdrawal, as one YouTuber put it, while you wait for the rumored open beta later this month? Maybe this new trailer will tide you over. It details the types of combat and…
Bless Online confirms western release… some day - If you've been hoping that Bless Online would be making its ways to western shores, then this should perk you right up: It's going to happen. We just don't know when. Fansite Bless Source confirmed today that…
Ingress event moves from Brazil to Seattle over Zika virus fears - A large gathering of Ingress players in Rio, Brazil for an anomaly -- a multi-hour in-person gaming event -- has been mostly moved to Seattle due to a WHO travel advisory and fears of players contracting…
Elite: Dangerous changes how Horizons is sold, discusses patch 2.1’s focus - Are you confused about the process of upgrading from Elite: Dangerous to the Horizons expansion? Do you find it frustrating and unclear? Have you screamed "there's got to be a better way" at the computer, informercial-style?…
Anarchy Online is getting ‘Recked’ with new zone, sub rewards - On Sunday, Anarchy Online Lead Designer Henry "Michizure" Senger opened up on the forums with a look at what's going on in the world's most classic sci-fi MMORPG. The big news is that the game is…
Star Trek Online is discontinuing its Mac client - [AL:STO]Star Trek Online is officially discontinuing support of its Mac client. Perfect World says that following the Mac client's recent struggles and the support required to solve them, it has decided to terminate the client. "[W]e…
Square-Enix’s 2015 sales and profits were up, thanks in part to Final Fantasy XIV - [AL:FFXIV]Square-Enix's fiscal results for the last three-quarters of 2015 are in, and it's good news all around. Net sales were up almost 30% year-over-year, resulting in profits boosted by a nearly quarter compared to 2014. The…
How Neverwinter’s Maze Engine will ‘put the dungeons back in D&D’ - Yesterday, Perfect World Entertainment announced Neverwinter's ninth expansion, The Maze Engine. Today, we're finding out the philosophy behind the update, or at least the dungeon-related portions. Senior Game Designer Randy "Arkayne" Mosiondz explains in a new dev…
CS:GO grey hat hacker tricks thousands of cheaters into bans - Tired of cheaters in your online games? One Counter Strike: Global Offensive player took justice into his own hands. Redditor AndroidL says he released fake hacks into the wild, hoping to entrap cheaters in the shooter.…
Elder Scrolls Online’s Thieves Guild lands on the PTS today with new ‘assistants’ - The Elder Scrolls Online is in the middle of patch day, at least if you're a PTS die-hard, as the game patches the Thieves Guild DLC to the test server. Formal English patch notes haven't been…
Hyperspace Beacon: How to approach SWTOR as a total newbie - [AL:TOR]My experience with World of Warcraft is minimal. I played the game for about a month just after The Burning Crusade launched. I have hopped in and out for a day or two here and there since,…
Divergence Online has fully returned to Steam - Day six of the Divergence Online saga: The game has officially and fully returned to Steam. Stained Glass Llama's Ethan Casner told us last night that the DMCA complaint in question had been lifted, and as…
Funcom’s Q4 2015 revenues are up from Q3, creditors restructure loans - Funcom has released its fourth quarter 2015 financials, and the news is both good and bad. The studio's latest quarterly revenues were up $342,000 US over its third quarter numbers, which we might have guessed were due…
WildStar’s next major update promises to be very, very cool (in an ice region) - Ready to enjoy some more chill time in WildStar? The game's next update has been announced, and it should be really cool. Literally cool. Destination: Arcterra is sending players to the eponymous Arcterra, a frozen wasteland…
Star Citizen’s Around the Verse on feedback, griefing, and the Starfarer - This week's Star Citizen Around the Verse video is up! Cloud Imperium's Sandi Gardiner and Ben Lesnick discuss PAX South and the ongoing free-fly campaign before checking in with the LA, Austin, UK, and Frankfurt studios.…
Blizzard shakes up Hearthstone with a new game mode - [AL:Hearth]In a competitive card game like Hearthstone, the developer has to keep releasing new cards each year to keep things interesting. This comes with a variety of problems, such as increasing the learning curve for new…
RIFT’s subscription package improves as F2P gets a little worse - In all of the hubbub surrounding Trion World's changes to the business model of RIFT, it might've been easy to overlook the fact that the studio wants to encourage players to subscribe by increasing the value…
ArcheAge’s costumes will soon come with stats and levels - [AL:Arche]Fashion or power: Who says you can't have both? Not ArcheAge, that's for sure, because the game is getting ready to introduce costumes with stats that level up over time. According to a post by CM…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 49: Marvel Heroes 2016 interview
The Stream Team: Blade & Soul’s buddy system
The Stream Team: Three’s company on ARK’s Gallimimus
The Stream Team: Date night with HEX PvE
The Stream Team: Entering Eternal Crusade’s early access (+ giveaway)
The Stream Team: Doubling down on The Secret World’s Issue #13
The Stream Team: Paladins patch means game modes galore!
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
WoW’s Lunar Festival is upon us
The Legion is invading WoW, but it’s not all serious
Warcraft: The Beginning to debut on May 30th in UK
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the little bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
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