We’re taking a time-machine back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we head into 2019!
MMO company Daybreak stunned the entire gaming industry in April, absurdly telling little old Massively OP that Columbus Nova, the company Daybreak claimed had purchased it in 2015, had in fact never been owned by said company. Compounding it all were a round of mass layoffs, high-level departures, an overt wave of evidence deletion, and of course the Russian connection that worried MMO players the company was in big trouble. This story wasn’t just the biggest bombshell in April but the biggest in several years.
In happier news, TERA made it to console, Secret World Legends journeyed to South Africa, Ultima Online went free-to-play, and we deep-dived Summerset, Pantheon, and Ashes of Creation. Sadly, EVE Online couldn’t hang on to Andie Nordgren, Guild Wars 2 faced down spyware allegation, Boss Key imploded, and Belgium threatened multiple major studios with legal action over gambleboxes.
Read on for the whole list from April of this past year!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2018
Black Desert players overload servers in mass protest over ongoing connection problems
Pokemon Go developer Niantic to pay out $1.5 million for its disastrous festival
Ashes of Creation adds monthly time-limited pre-order packages to the tune of $500
TERA launches on consoles
Occupy White Walls is the most bizarre new MMORPG we’ve seen in years
City of Heroes emulator pumps out its first public release
Journey to South Africa in Secret World Legends’ Dawn of the Morninglight today
World of Warcraft’s Battle for Azeroth expansion launches August 14
Here’s something nobody saw coming, and by nobody we mean everybody: Sea of Thieves griefers are abusing the brig
ArcheAge 4.5 Legends Return launches tonight with new fresh start servers
Ultima Online’s F2P conversion, Endless Journey, is officially live with new ‘deluxe starter pack’
Boss Key mostly gives up on Lawbreakers, moves on to ‘passion project’
PAX East 2018: Guild Wars 2 game director Mike Zadorojny on Path of Fire, monetization, and more
PAX East 2018: Talking superhero MMOs with Ship of Heroes’ Casey McGeever
PAX East 2018: Final Fantasy XIV’s main scenario writing and localization
Having given up on LawBreakers, Boss Key is launching battle royale game Radical Heights tomorrow
Trion declares RIFT Prime a ‘massive success’ with ‘thousands’ of subbing players
Guild Wars 2 has completely overhauled gathering tools with glyph upgrades and wardrobe implementation
Taking your first steps into Ultima Online’s free-to-play conversion
Skyforge launches Overgrowth expansion and kicks off anniversary event
EVE Fanfest 2018: EVE Online FPS Project Nova is coming ‘in months, not years’
EVE Fanfest 2018: Two EVE players were married by the space pope. Yep.
Romain ‘Tilty’ Amiel departs Funcom and Secret World Legends
Guild Wars 2 used client-side spyware to aid its latest purge of potential cheaters
Champions Online is now officially the longest-running superhero MMO, and the world makes no sense
Boss Key owner Cliff Bleszinski claims that Epic Games is poaching his staff
Police who killed innocent man during Call of Duty swatting incident won’t be charged
Bot-maker Bossland’s legit game flops, Germany rejects Blizzard’s US court victory and won’t enforce damages
Russia’s Telegram crackdown blocks access to WoW, EVE, and Guild Wars 2
Dutch Gaming Authority calls out four games as violating its lootbox policies
EVE Fanfest 2018: CCP Falcon on EVE’s community team layoffs and having Hilmar as a CEO
Daybreak says it has ‘no affiliation’ with Columbus Nova, the company it said bought it in 2015
Daybreak update: Chief Publishing Officer Laura Naviaux has left the company
Belgium orders Overwatch, CSGO, and FIFA 18 to remove lockboxes or face criminal penalties
EVE Online Executive Producer Andie ‘CCP Seagull’ Nordgren is leaving CCP Games [Updated]
Daybreak has now been hit with layoffs [Confirmed]
Daybreak: Here’s where the EverQuest franchise, DCUO, PlanetSide 2, H1Z1, and Just Survive stand
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2018
GDC 2018: How to get exploiters to happily surrender in EVE Online
Wisdom of Nym: The jobs of Final Fantasy XI compared to Final Fantasy XIV
GDC 2018: Depictions of violence and war in video games and Destiny’s Sword
GDC 2018: Hands-on with Elder Scrolls Online’s Summerset and a chat with ZeniMax’s Rich Lambert
GDC 2018: Games can help humanity, be profitable, and get support from gamers
Perfect Ten: Why I (grudgingly) put up with Secret World Legends’ reboot
Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR prank that revealed so much about the hungry fanbase
Choose My Adventure: Warframe in review
Hands-on with Conan Exiles’ launch build: Farming, frolicking in the swamp, and other feature fun
Making my way through RIFT Prime’s progression server
Chaos Theory: Rushing Secret World Legends’ main story mission is a bad idea
The Daily Grind: What do you consider ‘meaningful’ MMO content?
Jukebox Heroes: Five great YouTube channels for MMO music
PAX East 2018: Hands-on with The Elder Scrolls Online’s Summerset
PAX East 2018: Hands-on with the surprisingly solid combat of Ashes of Creation
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV and the horror of the Live Letter
PAX East 2018: Hands-on with Pantheon Rise of the Fallen
Guild Chat: Rebuilding a real-life home and an MMORPG guild all at once
Leaderboard: Are you still playing Secret World Legends?
The Daily Grind: How could death be more meaningful in MMOs without being annoying?
Perfect Ten: Why trend-chasing doesn’t work at all for online games
Tamriel Infinium: Understanding Elder Scrolls Online’s Mephala and speculating on Summerset
Choose My Adventure: Getting started in Ultima Online
EVE Fanfest 2018: EVE Online’s upcoming ‘Into the Abyss’ expansion sounds incredible
WoW Factor: Updating data in the wake of Battle for Azeroth’s release announcement
The Game Archaeologist: Lineage
The Daily Grind: What’s the biggest scandal the MMORPG genre has ever seen?
The Soapbox: Three augmented reality game problems (most) MMOs don’t have – and one thing they do so much better
The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the dumbest armor?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Deep-diving Guild Wars 2’s A Bug in the System (Part 1)
EVE Fanfest 2018: CCP Games has big plans for data collection and machine learning
Perfect Ten: MMOs that claimed to be the first
Hyperspace Beacon: Five things Star Wars The Old Republic still does well
WoW Factor: Speculative classes for the future of WoW
Massively Overthinking: What we really mean when we talk about ‘difficulty’ in MMORPGs
Choose My Adventure: And now, Ultima Online, sooner or later
The Daily Grind: What was the most disappointing MMO expansion of all time?
Jukebox Heroes: Vanguard Saga of Heroes’ soundtrack
The Game Archaeologist: Harry Potter Online
The Survivalist: Four hopes for the future of ARK Survival Evolved
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s next patch reveals our future story
Impressions of Project Gorgon from an Asheron’s Call player
Massively OP Podcast Episode 166: Russia breaks the internet
Perfect Ten: What your MMO quantity says about you
Tamriel Infinium: First impressions of Elder Scrolls Online’s Summerset (mostly without spoilers!)
Leaderboard: Does the Daybreak fiasco affect whether you play its MMOs?
WoW Factor: Things that actually worry me about Battle for Azeroth
EverQuesting: Columbus Nova or not, Daybreak is tying its own noose
Impressions of Sea of Thieves, one month in: Deep-diving retro world PvP
Massively Overthinking: How accountable should MMOs hold players for out-of-game toxicity?
The Game Archaeologist: Red Planet’s Lost Colony vaporware
The Daily Grind: Do you buy the Daybreak-owns-Standing Stone Games rumor?
EVE Evolved: Getting ready for EVE Online’s Abyssal revolution
ALL 2018 YEAR-IN-REVIEW POSTS SO FAR
MMO Year in Review: The SWTOR sunset scare (January 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Dragon Bones, Funcom’s revival, and the politics of lockboxes (February 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Thieves, Avatars, and Gorgons (March 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Columbus Nova who? (April 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Mixed Bless-ings (May 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Fallout 76, Elder Scrolls Online, and Bethsoft’s bonanza (June 2018)
MMO Year in Review: So, uh, how ’bout that underwater combat balance (July 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Watching the world tree burn (August 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Literally the biggest news day in MMO history (September 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Gamigo’s gory Trion Worlds acquisition (October 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Blizzard and Bethsoft’s dumpster fire showdown (November 2018)
MMO Year in Review: Daybreak gonna Daybreak (December 2018)
