We’re taking a tour back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we launch into 2020 and a whole new decade of MMOs!
Should Final Fantasy XIV and Elder Scrolls Online consider it a compliment that World of Warcraft tried to one-up Shadowbringers and Elsweyr with Rise of Azshara? Either way, coverage of all three dominated the month of June, accompanied by Black Desert’s brand-new Shai class. Plus, we said farewell to Atlas Reactor, Amazon suffered layoffs and ended New World’s open alpha, we learned Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming westward, and we poked around in Astellia’s beta. And don’t forget the time EA tried to argue lockboxes constituted super-fun surprise mechanics!
Read on for the whole list from June of this past year!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JUNE 2019
Todd Howard says he expected Fallout 76 to generate ‘very well-deserved criticism’
City of Heroes: Homecoming hit 100K players as another donation round funds
New World’s always-on test phase comes to a close as Amazon posts alpha infographic
LOTRO’s Update 24 arrives with 64-bit client, Vales of Anduin, and virtue revamp
Elder Scrolls Online’s Elsweyr campaign is officially launched with its new trailer
APB Reloaded launches battle royale mode APB RIOT into open beta today [Updated]
Fallout 76 project lead argues that the repair kits aren’t pay-to-win… as long as you’re not competing with anyone
Black Desert has launched Star’s End, a brand-new quest zone, for PC players
Destiny 2 is going free-to-play as Destiny 2: New Light as Bungie confirms Steam launch and cross-save
Google reveals Stadia pricing, release window, and games – including Elder Scrolls Online and Baldur’s Gate 3
Star Citizen’s alpha 3.5.1 is live as CIG seeks feedback on ship customization pricing
Path of Exile’s Legion league is now live and launched – and hitting record concurrency
Bless Online’s western version will sunset on September 9
E3 2019: Black Desert announces Great Expedition expansion and adorable Shai class
Elder Scrolls Online soars to 13.5M lifetime players
One of City of Heroes’ rogue servers, Reborn/Pleiades, was just shut down by its operator
Whoa: Cyberpunk 2077 snagged Keanu Reeves, launches April 16 2020
E3 2019: Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming to the US in 2020
E3 2019: Elder Scrolls Online reveals Dragonhold and Scalebreaker, Fallout 76 confirms Wastelanders and Nuclear Winter
E3 2019: Fallout 76 details Wasterlanders, Nuclear winter, and combat revamp as the canvas-bag saga finally ends
E3 2019: Everything we know so far about Elder Scrolls Online’s new DLC, Scalebreaker and Dragonhold
E3 2019: Funcom’s April Fools’ Day game, Conan Chop Chop, was not a joke, and it launches September 3
E3 2019: Woodpunk survival MMO Last Oasis is set to launch in September
Path of Exile’s Korean launch and Legion rollout topped 224K concurrency as GGG addresses the minimap
E3 2019: Final Fantasy XIV shows off the Shadowbringers launch trailer
Indie sandbox MMORPG Dual Universe just raised another $11.2M from investors
Guild Wars 2’s Key of Ahdashim raid is now live in the game’s latest update
E3 2019: Black Desert will launch on PlayStation 4 this year as the mobile version finally comes westward
California says Riot Games is refusing to fully cooperate with its gender discrimination investigation
A recent World of Warcraft player survey apparently confirms an incoming level squish
Ship of Heroes says it plans ‘to top the City of Heroes character creator’
EA held a summit about toxicity and healthy video game communities at E3
Amazon Game Studios is apparently suffering layoffs and game cancelations
Anthem’s Reddit cracks down on ‘aimless’ criticism
Elite: Dangerous’ galaxy-spanning, six-month player voyage concludes with 4000 explorers
World of Warcraft’s Rise of Azshara is finally launching on June 25
US Senator Bernie Sanders publicly offers support for game worker unionization
EA absurdly argues video game lootboxes are ‘surprise mechanics’
Star Wars: The Old Republic is easing restrictions for free-to-play and preferred players
MMOARG Harry Potter Wizards Unite has officially launched – a day early
Interview: Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs on the state of the beta and the NDA
Blizzard on World of Warcraft class pruning: ‘We’ve gone too far’
EVE North 2019: A huge battle once broke out in EVE Online, but not a single player was involved
Champions Online announces new ‘serialized story’ content
World of Warcraft’s Rise of Azshara is live today – check out the cinematic
Star Trek Online rescinds plan to use controversial audio emote in summer festival
Black Desert’s new Shai class (and her donkey!) has officially launched today
EVE Online controversy breaks out over new starter pack, CCP addresses the community
Final Fantasy XIV is apparently getting a live-action television series
Farewell, Atlas Reactor: Gamigo has officially sunsetted the first of its Trion MMOs
EVE Evolved: NPC invasions wreak havoc across EVE Online
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JUNE 2019
Perfect Ten: 10 things I’d love to see added to City of Heroes in the rogue server era
The Game Archaeologist: 1998’s Mankind
Make My MMO: Boobs don’t work that way, League of Maidens
Jukebox Heroes: The best of Guild Wars 2’s Season 4 soundtrack
Fight or Kite: First impressions of Nexon’s new multiplayer shooter Rocket Arena
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood in review – odds and ends
Choose My Adventure: A debriefing for Star Wars The Old Republic
The Daily Grind: If you could eliminate one MMO trope, what would it be?
Perfect Ten: SNES games that would have made for amazing MMORPGs
Desert Oasis: Comparing Black Desert and Blade & Soul’s design philosophies
Massively on the Go: Exploring Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge augmented reality game
Hyperspace Beacon: Thoughts on SWTOR’s Dantooine Incursion update
Wandering Wraeclast: Bring on more Path of Exile super league of leagues
Massively Overthinking: Does the MMO genre have too many games for its own good?
Into the Super-verse: Why didn’t Champions Online do better?
Vague Patch Notes: The curious case of the esports bubble
Leaderboard: Are you all-in for Google Stadia?
The Daily Grind: What’s been the biggest change to the MMORPG genre in the last 20 years?
Storyboard: Exploring religion in MMOs
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood in review – the final assessment
Not So Massively: Cataclysm looks cool, but it’s not what Anthem needs right now
The Daily Grind: Are you going to play Phantasy Star Online 2 next year?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Speculation on Guild Wars 2’s gods and dragons
Wandering Wraeclast: First impressions of Path of Exile’s Legion
Choose My Adventure: Did the Gunner class make TERA too easy?
Perfect Ten: How WoW Classic could advance beyond its phased content rollout
The Daily Grind: Which optional subscription MMO justifies its subscription the best?
Wisdom of Nym: Examining the shocker last line from Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers’ trailer
Massively Overthinking: The one about MMO superfans, zealots, and insidious tribalism
WoW Factor: Does World of Warcraft have a plan?
Wisdom of Nym: Why you should be cautious speculating on Final Fantasy XIV’s expansion balance
The Survivalist: The perils of breeding pets in PixARK, chapter one
LOTRO Legendarium: The bounty of adventuring options in Lord of the Rings Online
Jukebox Heroes: The best of vanilla World of Warcraft’s soundtrack
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s E3 hangover
Fight or Kite: Fallout 76’s Nuclear Winter is a blast
Choose My Adventure: TERA’s Valkyrie and the free-to-play grind
The Daily Grind: What are you going to roll in WoW Classic?
Desert Oasis: First impressions of Black Desert’s new Shai class and her skills
Perfect Ten: The most poorly managed MMO sunsets of all time
The Daily Grind: Would you play an older MMO with completely new graphics?
Into the Super-verse: A quick-and-dirty guide to picking the right City of Heroes archetype – Blueside edition
Warframe of Mind: The story of Space Mom and The Second Dream
Massively Overthinking: The worst MMO cash shop trickery
WoW Factor: Blizzard’s schizophrenic view of levels
The Game Archaeologist: Sierra’s Fates of Twinion and Ruins of Cawdor
The Daily Grind: What’s the biggest thing pushing you away from MMO progression content?
The Daily Grind: Which problems is the MMO industry never gonna solve?
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers early access survival guide
Massively on the Go: First Impressions of Harry Potter Wizards Unite
Not So Massively: Blizzard cancelled a(nother) game, and I couldn’t be happier
Flameseeker Chronicles: A guide to Guild Wars 2’s revivified Dragon Bash
Choose My Adventure: Getting to the group stuff in TERA
Tamriel Infinium: Getting the most out of your Elder Scrolls Online box and sub in 2019
Perfect Ten: The MMORPGs boasting the most expansions
Wandering Wraeclast: The wonderful world of Path of Exile’s Hideout housing
First impressions: Astellia is acceptable – not astonishing, but certainly not atrocious
The Survivalist: Conan Exile’s underwater dungeon rises above expectations
The Daily Grind: Do you want to see WoW’s factions dissolved?
Massively Overthinking: Always be achievin’ (in MMOs)
WoW Factor: Three thoughts on the latest WoW Classic stress test
Lawful Neutral: TUG’s Nerd Kingdom is the Real Slim Shady
The Daily Grind: Are MMOs inherently ageist?
Chaos Theory: Secret World Legends celebrates its second birthday
MMO Cartographer: Visiting Runes of Magic for its 10th anniversary
ALL 2019 YEAR-IN-REVIEW POSTS SO FAR
MMO Year in Review: Anthem’s approach (January 2019)
MMO Year in Review: The mass Blizzard and ArenaNet layoffs (February 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Black Desert’s console rollout (March 2019)
MMO Year in Review: City of Heroes’ resurrection (April 2019)
MMO Year in Review: EVE’s Invasion, WoW Classic’s beta (May 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Shadowbringers, Elsweyr, and Azshara (June 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO (July 2019)
MMO Year in Review: You think you do, but… yeah, you do (August 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Guild Wars 2’s saga and Astellia Online (September 2019)
MMO Year in Review: The month of gaming industry self-owns (October 2019)
MMO Year in Review: A ‘tough Hearthstone esports moment’ (November 2019)
MMO Year in Review: New World, Magic Legends, and ESO Skyrim (December 2019)
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