Activision-Blizzard had a rough week of its own making, as it announced record-high revenue for the year and in the same moment began laying off around 800 employees. Outrage across the gaming industry was fierce enough to provoke the anger of not just the video game unionization group but the AFL-CIO too, the former of which demanded Bobby Kotick’s resignation and the latter of which urged game developers to unionize.
Piggybacking on the bad news, or maybe hiding in its shadow, was Daybreak, which delayed the launch of PlanetSide Arena again, this time into summer 2019, and it topped that off by refunding everyone who’d preordered the game.
At least somebody’s having a good week. That somebody is EA, thanks almost entirely to Apex Legends, though Anthem’s been no slouch either.
In more meta news, we introduced another new column in time for our birthday. Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Activision-Blizzard Q4 2018: Activision-Blizzard posted record profits, layoffs begin anyway - Activision-Blizzard's financial reports have been rather dull affairs for MMO gamers over the last few years, ever since the company stopped reporting World of Warcraft subscriptions and switched over to…
Daybreak is delaying PlanetSide Arena again, this time to summer 2019, and it’s refunding preorders too - It's late Friday afternoon, Daybreak's favorite time for dropping bad news, and here it is: PlanetSide Arena's PC launch is being delayed until summer 2019. "After much consideration, we’ve decided to…
Anthem’s early access launch is already suffering from connection issues - Raise your hand if you're surprised by this: BioWare's much-anticipated online shooter Anthem went live for Origin Access subscribers earlier today, but the servers have been suffering under the load…
Blizzard devs characterize layoffs as a ‘bloodbath’ as pro-unionization effort calls for Bobby Kotick’s resignation - A day after Activision-Blizzard announced record earnings and began laying off a reported 800 people, we're finally getting a clearer picture of the full impact on the company and its…
Video game unionization effort starts petition to remove Bobby Kotick from Activision-Blizzard - After calling for Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick to resign on Wednesday, video game industry unionization group Game Workers Unite has now put together a campaign and petition to agitate for…
EVE Evolved: EVE Online has a gambling problem - The gambling debate has kicked off again in EVE Online, this time in response to the annual Guardian's Gala event that's currently running throughout the game. Last year's event just…
Blade & Soul loses Producer Jonathan Lien - Rabbit Man is sad today because Rabbit Man heard the news that Jonathan Lien is leaving his post as producer for Blade and Soul. "I wanted to let you know…
The Elder Scrolls Online’s Wrathstone DLC goes live on PC on February 25, console March 12 - Have you been waiting anxiously to find out when you'll be able to delve into the mysteries and adventurers of The Elder Scrolls Online's Wrathstone DLC? Well, the wait is…
Tencent and Netmarble might team up to buy South Korean MMO giant Nexon - It's time for another round of our favorite gameshow, WHO'S BUYING NEXON THIS WEEK? I'm your host, Bree Royce, and with me today playing for the big win are Netmarble,…
City of Titans demos the current state of its elaborate character creation - Yesterday's City of Titans update was... pretty horrifying. Fortunately, today's update is probably more like what backers had in mind, as Missing Worlds Media has posted several minutes of footage…
For Science: Yet another study finds no link between violent video games and aggression - Yet another academic study appears to indicate no correlation between aggressive behavior and violent video games, this one specifically in kids. In the newly published Violent video game engagement is…
Star Citizen Around the Verse is selling a new ship: The Argo SRV - This week's episode of Star Citizen Around the Verse is a little longer than usual, but don't get too excited: It's only because it's frontloaded with a commercial for Star…
Ashes of Creation is preparing a game director’s letter, fans infer that delays are incoming - It appears that all is not well behind the scenes of Ashes of Creation. Intrepid's Steven Sharif has made a few remarks on the game's Discord server to indicate that a…
Villagers & Heroes has been hacked – time to change your passwords - Bad news coming out of the adorable indie crossplatform MMORPG Villagers & Heroes as of last night: The game's been well and truly hacked. "At approximately 2:45 pm PST on…
Torchlight Frontiers’ third closed alpha begins in March – with no more NDA - Torchlight Frontiers, the MMO that took our "most anticipated" award at the tail end of last year, is still plugging along in alpha - in fact, Perfect World has just…
Tamriel Infinium: The many breeds of Elder Scrolls Online’s cat people, the iconic Khajiit - In the real world, I am not a cat person. Actually, I'm not a pet person. But in video games, I collect minipets, tame as many creature mounts as I…
Anthem’s live-action video Conviction is serious business - BioWare's been teasing a new live-action short for Anthem all week, and it's finally dropped. It's called Conviction, and it's credited to Neill Blomkamp, Oats Studios, and BioWare. It feels…
Roblox appears to have banned PewDiePie’s name - You probably already know of Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie. If you don't... well, PewDiePie exists, he shrieks a lot while playing video games on YouTube and has a…
Nintendo unveils Tetris 99, wraps up the battle royale genre - Apex Who? Fortwhat? PUBWhere? Forget those amateurs; there's only one real battle royale game that you should be concerned with, and that's Tetris 99. No, you're not hallucinating, though we…
The Division 2 announces its open beta starting on March 1 - Everything old is new again, and The Division 2 is following in the footsteps of its predecessor with the addition of an open beta running from March 1st to March…
Mortal Online devs say they’re building Mortal Online 2 and bringing existing lifers and wealth along - Sandbox MMO Mortal Online developer Star Vault made headlines last year for Mortal Royale, a battle royale that boasts a giant map and a thousand people battling for supremacy in…
Perfect Ten: 10 MMOs I’m optimistic about in 2019 - It's still early enough in 2019 to do articles about the upcoming year, right? Well, I'm doing this one anyway, so if it's too late then we'll just have to…
Introducing AxE: Alliance vs Empire, Nexon’s next mobile MMO coming west - It used to be that the idea of playing an MMO on a phone was a pretty farfetched idea. Not so much anymore: Mobile games have certainly come a long…
EverQuest’s new progression servers are coming next month amid heavy player criticism - When March 16th rolls around this year, it will be important for two reasons. The first is that this date will mark the 20th anniversary of the classic MMORPG EverQuest,…
Gamigo isn’t penalizing ArcheAge cheaters who exploited Erenor infusions - [AL:Arche]Fans of drama are surely breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Gamigo isn't going to drop the ball that Trion handed off - there's always going to be plenty…
Reverse Engineering: The science of Elder Scrolls Online’s dragons - I don't think I can express how excited I am to bring this column to life on Massively Overpowered. Reverse Engineering covers the one thing I do most in every…
Choose My Adventure: Further bear adventures in The Elder Scrolls Online - First things first: I got my bear. This, as many players will attest, is the most important part of being a Warden. I had my doubts about this class choice…
SWTOR’s Wretched Hive update sends players into the lair of the Geonosian Queen today - The latest update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, GU 5.10.1: The Wretched Hive, is live today, bringing with it a brand-new lair boss, new masterwork weapons, and of course…
NCsoft 4Q 2018: Mobile made almost twice as much as all NCsoft’s other MMOs combined - NCsoft's financials for the final quarter of 2018 are in, and it wasn't the greatest report the South Korean gaming giant has ever submitted. While sales held mostly steady, the…
Apex Legends grows to 25 million players, announces exclusive Valentine’s Day loot - It wouldn't have been unreasonable to think that Apex Legends had hit its stride a few days ago when it announced that it had reached 10 million players (and one…
EVE Evolved: How working with NPCs could improve EVE Online - While EVE Online is primarily based around the conflicts that arise between groups of players competing in the same virtual universe, the New Eden star cluster also contains dozens of…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s pre-Shadowbringers roadmap - We're almost done with the fan festival hype cycle, and to be honest, that's kind of a relief. Not that I don't enjoy looking forward to new things, of course,…
EA stock recovers from loss on the back of Apex Legends’ launch - After the release of the third-quarter results for Electronic Arts on Tuesday, the company experienced a nasty dip in its stock value, dropping 18% in a day. This was its…
Star Trek Online players say they aren’t going for Cryptic’s lackluster $120 ship bundle - Star Trek Online may be set in some sort of idealistic utopia, but the game practices have left its fanbase feeling as though it was living in anything but paradise.…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 208: Blizzard’s chilly forecast
Battle Bards Episode 138: Wild wild westerns
The Stream Team: Exploring the dungeons of The Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: The Love ARK
The Stream Team: Surging toward a Syndicate safehouse in Path of Exile
The Stream Team: More adventuring in Astroneer
The Stream Team: Looking for love in all the wrong places in Secret World Legends
The Stream Team: A first look at Apex Legends
The Stream Team: A first look at Astroneer
The Stream Team: Birthday bash for MOP at LOTRO’s party tree!
The Stream Team: Securing a Star Trek Online Vulcan ship
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
• Enjoy your classic WoW with a side of classic Thottbot
• Alliance finally gets a mount that’s not a horse in WoW 8.1.5
• The Activision Blizzard layoffs show us why game workers should unionize
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 bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
