In October, Blizzard did something few people expected: It delayed World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands expansion, offered refunds, and rolled out the pre-patch and new starter experience in the meantime, to the cheers of players. But by the end of the month – and just in time for a middling investor report during which Blizzard was forced to admit it had lost 2M players across its titles – Shadowlands had a new launch date to put it ahead of Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, Guild Wars 2 indefinitely delayed its Steam launch, Torchlight III officially launched, The Wagadu Chronicles funded on Kickstarter, New World returned to alpha testing, Genshin Impact had a moment in the sun, Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts gave us some good quotes, and Amazon canceled another game: Crucible. And Lord of the Rings Online returned to the spotlight with War of the Three Peaks, a paid patch that earned jeers from hardcore fans and signaled a business model shift.
Read on for the whole list from October of this past year!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF OCTOBER 2020
World of Warcraft delays Shadowlands, pre-patch coming October 13th
Kickstarted MMO card game HEX is closing at the end of the year
Soulbound Studios insists work on Chronicles of Elyria continues in pre-litigation paperwork response
World of Warcraft’s Chromie Time auto-disables at level 50; refunds are being offered for Shadowlands
Genshin Impact’s international launch is making a big splash outside China
EVE Online tests feature to deprioritize 3-D visuals for ‘extreme situations’
VR MMORPG Ilysia ends its Kickstarter drive successfully with over $150K in funding and 13 stretch goals met
ZeniMax Online Studios appears to be ramping up development of its long-speculated new MMO
World of Warcraft addresses LGBTQ storytelling: ‘Whatever your background is, there’s a place for you in this world’
Activision-Blizzard is reportedly shuttering its Versailles, France, office
Cryptic’s Stephen D’Angelo on City of Heroes’ lessons, Star Trek Online’s booming revenues
O’dyllita is live for Black Desert PC as console launches its first Succession classes
‘One of the largest PvP battles ever to occur in video game history’ just happened in EVE Online
‘Boob streamers’ and ‘boys clubs’: Twitch staffers blast sexist, racist corporate culture
World of Warcraft’s free-to-level-20 edition is about to get a ton more content
Star Citizen marks its eighth birthday with alpha 3.11’s release, free goodies, and Halloween events
Amazon just killed off another online game – this time it’s Crucible
Star Citizen’s AMA confirms Squadron 42 has ‘a ways to go’ before beta, will be ‘done when it is done’
Chris Roberts talks up Star Citizen and Squadron 42’s future, likening development to the Apollo project
ArcheAge plans Chronicle patch as players boggle over Unchained’s proposed new ArchePass
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Fables of the Feywild’s bundles includes a $130 edition
World of Warcraft launches the Shadowlands pre-patch today
PWE and Echtra Games’ Torchlight III has officially launched
Judge ensures Epic’s Unreal Engine remains on Apple’s iOS while warning of ‘serious ramifications’ for consoles
EVE Online launches Quadrant 4: Phoenix to cap off the Triglavian invasion arc
We finally know who’s taking over TERA’s NA PC version: It’s Gameforge
Pantheon restructures to allow ‘more rapid development,’ will start next alpha phase this month
StarCraft II officially ends development as Blizzard ‘thinks about what’s next’
The End is a Viking-themed multiplayer survival action RPG from Legends of Aria’s Citadel Studios
Atlas Reactor’s revival is actually a story-driven co-op game that was part of original prototyping
Star Citizen has 720K total backers and 34K subscribers according to gathered public data
Lord of the Rings Online’s $20 quest pack, War of Three Peaks, launches today
Whatever happened to Saga of Lucimia?
New World has kicked off its fall alpha test today as patch notes point to reduced leveling speed
Star Wars The Old Republic’s GU 6.1.4 update is live with the Feast of Prosperity
WildStar composer Jeff Kurtenacker signs on with Blizzard
World of Warcraft’s new wings have the community in an uproar
Gamigo officially announces the Atlas Reactor rogue-lite co-op PvE title Atlas Rogues
Canadian class action lawsuit argues EA’s lootboxes constitute illegal gambling
Bless Unleashed has officially launched on PlayStation 4
PSA: Oculus users who delete their linked Facebook account will lose their entire app library
Elite Dangerous has merged Horizons into the base game as of today
Guild Wars 2 outlines content plans through May 2021, with next chapter, Truce, coming November 17
Don’t look now but Cyberpunk 2077 just got delayed for at least the third time, now to December
EverQuest II’s newly announced Reign of Shadows expansion offers playable Vah Shir, huge AA revamp
No Man’s Sky: Next Generation brings the game to next-gen consoles, graphical upgrades for all
Lord of the Rings Online tweaks War of the Three Peaks, talks more about classic server difficulties
Elyon aka Ascent Infinite Realm just dropped a new trailer and Korean launch date
Path of Exile pushed its 3.13 patch to January to dodge Cyberpunk 2077’s launch
EVE Online’s World War Bee 2 refreshed its hold over two Guinness World Records
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will launch November 23
Activision-Blizzard Q3 2020: Blizzard MAUs fell to 30M as overall ActiBlizz revenues hold steady
Judge enforces a Dutch government order for EA to remove FIFA lockboxes or face over $11M in fines
Guild Wars 2 postpones November Steam launch indefinitely to focus on End of Dragons expansion and living world
Afrofantasy MMORPG The Wagadu Chronicles just funded on Kickstarter for almost $200K
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF OCTOBER 2020
Vague Patch Notes: What we mean when we talk about MMO success – and failure
Desert Oasis: The worst week I’ve ever had in Black Desert Online
WoW Factor: Shadowlands’ delay is a genuinely good thing – for everyone
LOTRO Legendarium: Speculating on the Brawler class
Jukebox Heroes: The best of SWTOR’s launch soundtrack
Fight or Kite: Small changes (and one big one) to improve Spellbreak’s balance
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV leaves the Deep Dungeon for now
Massively Uplifting: Shattering mental health and disability stereotypes while increasing gaming inclusivity
Choose My Adventure: How Spellbreak kicked my butt
The Daily Grind: Does gacha have a place in MMO business models?
Perfect Ten: What gamers need to understand about MMO mages
First Impressions: Genshin Impact is half decent ARPG and half gacha
WoW Factor: The problem with World of Warcraft’s storytelling
The Game Archaeologist: Deadlands Legends, the western MMO that never saw the light of day
Wisdom of Nym: The first preview of Final Fantasy XIV patch 5.4
Not So Massively: Reflections on Blizzard, one year after the Hong Kong fiasco
Flameseeker Chronicles: Tips and tricks for Guild Wars 2’s roller beetle racing
Choose My Adventure: Remnant From the Ashes is the action shooter MMO I didn’t know I wanted
Perfect Ten: 10 notable MMO developers that shut their doors
Explaining Genshin Impact’s impact: The reinvention of gachapon
Some Assembly Required: How clever gamers solved Dual Universe’s massive puzzle event in record time
Taking a look at World of Warcraft’s new starter experience, Exile’s Reach
Vague Patch Notes: Managing the MMO message – and when to piss off your fans
Massively Overthinking: What one MMO mechanic or system would you like to banish to the ends of the earth?
WoW Factor: The World of Warcraft leveling experiences ranked, part one
Explaining Genshin Impact’s impact: Is it actually worth your time?
Some Assembly Required: The future of Dual Universe’s puzzle events and development
Fight or Kite: Checking out veteran sci-fi sandbox MMO Vendetta Online – on mobile
Wisdom of Nym: Going to war in Bozja in Final Fantasy XIV
Choose My Adventure: Good friends and bad player behavior in Star Wars Squadrons
The Daily Grind: Are you playing MMOs more or less than you were five years ago?
First Impressions: OARPG Torchlight III just hasn’t click-clicked with me yet
Perfect Ten: A small sampling of literary offerings from MMOs
The Daily Grind: Which doomed MMO would you love to play again from launch?
LOTRO Legendarium: Is LOTRO at war with Orcs – or with its playerbase?
Vague Patch Notes: Kickstarter shouldn’t be your investor demo funding
The Daily Grind: Are we ever going to see the ‘VR revolution’ – and do you care?
No, friendos, streamers should not be paying games studios for licenses
WoW Factor: The World of Warcraft leveling experiences ranked, part two
MMO Burnout: Red Dead Redemption 2 succeeds in spite of itself
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Dynamax Adventure dungeons for the fan and MMO player
MMO Week in Review: No, LOTRO’s War of Three Peaks is not an ‘expansion’
Not So Massively: StarCraft II’s maintenance mode doesn’t mean game over
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s borrowed power is generously loaned
Massively-on-the-Go: Niantic’s ‘Mega’ missteps in Pokemon Go
Choose My Adventure: Counting the ways I love Dauntless
Lawful Neutral: The Epic vs. Apple lawsuit – when titans are tweens
Vague Patch Notes: The wax and wane of MMOs and genres
Perfect Ten: 10 MMOs that you can play on the Nintendo Switch
Desert Oasis: Is Black Desert’s lore actually a time-travel narrative?
Massively Overthinking: Doing crimes and getting punished in MMORPGs
WoW Factor: Shadowlands has a release date… again
Massively-on-the-Go: Gotta cash’em all in Pokemon Go
The MMO Cartographer: In the Echo of Echo of Soul
The Game Archaeologist: Fallen Earth
ALL 2020 YEAR-IN-REVIEW POSTS SO FAR
MMO Year in Review: A new New World (January 2020)
MMO Year in Review: A ‘colossal’ announcement (February 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Gaming’s pandemic disruption (March 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Elyon’s pivot, Elyria’s fizzling storm (April 2020)
MMO Year in Review: ‘Technical clownshows’ for PSO2 and ESO Greymoor (May 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Solidarity (June 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Lord of the Rings Offline (July 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Business business business (August 2020)
MMO Year in Review: FFXVI, ArcheAge 2, and the Bethsoft buyout (September 2020)
MMO Year in Review: The Shadowlands delay (October 2020)
MMO Year in Review: Shadowlands’ arrival (November 2020)
MMO Year in Review: When Daybreak and Albion got bought out (December 2020)
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