This week, Funcom announced that The Secret World will morph into Secret World Legends just shy of its spring plan, landing on June 26th. Funcom even sat down with us for a lengthy video interview as we poked and prodded for answers about the state of the game and the path that led the studio to give the cult favorite such a drastic makeover.
And here’s a bit of meta for you: If you’ve donated to MOP, either through Kickstarter or Patreon, and your tier includes a badge, then make sure you’ve sent in your details as badges for the new comment system are almost ready!
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Secret World Legends launches June 26; check out the new trailer - [AL:SWL]When Funcom told everyone a few weeks ago that Secret World Legends was still on track for spring, MMO gamers were skeptical. Technically, they were right to be: Funcom has…
Massively OP Exclusive: Hard questions about Secret World Legends - We sat down with Funcom to ask tough questions on The Secret World / Secret World Legends transition. (Video interview.)
Elder Scrolls Online offers two-week early access head start for Morrowind - [AL:ESO]ZeniMax has just announced that PC and Mac Elder Scrolls Online players who pick up the digital upgrade version of Morrowind will start in the province as early as May…
Wild West Online announced for later this year, Kickstarter coming soon - If you've been wishing for horses and western MMORPGs, then saddle up par'dner -- we're about to ride off into a glorious sunrise. PC Gamer got the exclusive scoop on…
Perfect Ten: My MMO hate list - One thing that I strive for in my professional career is basing things on sources more robust than my own biases. That's not to say I believe I can remain…
RIFT’s Starfall Prophecy name change was provoked by a trademark lawsuit - If you were a little bit puzzled by Trion's announcement this week that it was changing the name of RIFT's latest expansion from Starfall Prophecy to Prophecy of Ahnket because it…
NCsoft Q1 2017: Tumbles for Lineage, Guild Wars 2, plus new leadership for Lineage Eternal - NCsoft's first quarter financials for 2017 have released, and... well, let's get the bad news out of the way. While sales dropped only slightly since the preceding quarter and in…
Russian Pokemon Go player sentenced over blasphemy law - The 22-year-old Russian vlogger convicted of playing Pokemon Go inside a church has been hit with a 3.5-year suspended sentence. Ruslan Sokolovsky was found "guilty of inciting hatred, violating religious feelings and…
Microsoft is working on a secret VR MMO - Microsoft and MMORPGs haven't had the best of relationship in history, with the company approving and then canceling several promising games over the past couple of decades. But the software…
Star Citizen Around the Verse deep-dives its player interaction system - On Star Citizen's Around the Verse episode this week, Erin Roberts checks in from the UK studios in Wilmslow, where the team is working on 3.0 as well as Squadron…
Overwatch League allegedly has a $20 million price tag to enter - Remember how Blizzard started to focus MLG in on Overwatch as an e-sports venue at the same time well-known teams started fleeing the scene? What was all that about? It…
Virtual world creator Improbable receives $502M investment from SoftBank - Here's another reminder that we really shouldn't take our eyes off of Improbable Worlds, even for a second. The five-year-old software company, which is specializing in creating massive virtual worlds…
Massively Overthinking: Is the MMO genre facing an identity crisis? - MMORPG blogger and MOP commenter Isarii (@ethanmacfie) recently published an excellent video positing that the MMO industry is facing a "massive identity crisis." "The MMO genre has sort of walked…
RIFT changes Starfall Prophecy to Prophecy of Ahnket; get it free this weekend - RIFT's latest expansion is getting a name change from Starfall Prophecy to Prophecy of Ahnket. No, it's not some veiled NGE; it's just an attempt to reduce confusion with the…
Chaos Theory: Guide to Secret World’s Illuminati faction - [AL:SWL]Kirsten Geary. That is almost all you have to say when talking about the Illuminati faction in The Secret World. That's because the infamous KG (as she signs her memos)…
Ashes of Creation targets underwater mount stretch goal, shows off Predator class - Over 9,600 fans have donated to Ashes of Creation's Kickstarter so far this May, which is more than enough to put the campaign over another stretch goal. All backers, regardless…
Choose My Adventure: Getting started in Neverwinter - [AL:NW]Oh boy, Neverwinter! I am legitimately excited about this cycle's Choose My Adventure pick, in no small part because the only reason I have not yet played Neverwinter in any…
Absolver demonstrates its flexible combat system, plans August 29 debut - "Combat is your art. And mastering the medium is essential to becoming an Absolver." Multiplayer action RPG Absolver is putting great stock in its flexbile combat system, making it the…
Elder Scrolls Online’s latest trailer reveals the true balance of power in Morrowind - [AL:ESO]Over the past couple of weeks, ZeniMax has been releasing travelogues and trailers for The Elder Scrolls Online's Morrowind expansion, many of them voiced in-character by the snarky Morag Tong…
See the differences between classic Morrowind and Elder Scrolls Online’s version - [AL:ESO]Due to the reverential status given to 2002's Morrowind by many Elder Scrolls fans, interest in seeing what ZeniMax is doing with this June's expansion is certainly strong. YouTuber Candyland…
Steam Hammer brings survival steampunk to early access this Friday - For those craving more Telsa coils and calculation engines than swords and spells, there's the brand-new Steam Hammer that's coming to Steam early access on Friday, May 12th. Players begin…
EverQuest II’s The Menagerie launches, free level 100 boosts bestowed - If you've wanted to get back into EverQuest II but felt overwhelmed by how far behind the curve you'd be, it's your lucky fortnight! Now you can be totally overwhelmed by…
Ashes of Creation raises over $1.5M, eyes thieves guild and Underrealm race - Don't look now, but Ashes of Creation's Kickstarter campaign is officially on fire. In a good way. The crowdfunding effort crossed over the $1.5 million line in the past 24 hours,…
Shroud of the Avatar is free-to-play for most of May - Shroud of the Avatar is running another free trial -- quite a long one! It'll run from May 10th to the end of the month. "This will be the longest…
Turbine renews Asheron’s Call domain through 2022 - It's weird to think that it's already been a few months since Asheron's Call and its sequel were shut down by Turbine. Yet there's a hint of a glimmer that the…
FUNCOM INTERVIEW
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 116: Bree’s virtual garage sale
The Stream Team: A first look at Steam Hammer
The Stream Team: ARK’s bees, glorious bees
The Stream Team: Carving out a life in Conan Exiles
The Stream Team: Live Ashes of Creation interview
The Stream Team: Sabotaging The Secret World’s Egypt
The Stream Team: Sashaying through Shroud of the Avatar while it’s free
The Stream Team: Charging into KOTFE’s Chapter IX in SWTOR
The Stream Team: Continuing the Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series CMA
The Stream Team: There be more dragons in AQ3D’s Ashfall
The Stream Team: A first look at survival in Planet Nomads
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Know Your Lore: Draenor’s universal influence
Latest WoW hotfixes address Cathedral of Eternal Night and more
Who’s your favorite WoW follower?
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.
