The Game Awards 2021: Lost Ark launches February 11, Nightingale is a new multiplayer survivalbox

Plus: DokeV, Funcom, Destiny 2, Babylon's Fall, and more

    
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(We’re updating at the end with all the big news!)

Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards are getting bigger and more star-studded by the year, and that only increases the likelihood of there being something you care about on display in between the musical performances and goofy awards and knowledge that the show is essentially a massive advertisement platform “guided by an advisory board that includes the executive leadership teams” from the likes of Activision-Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Rockstar, Sony, Ubisoft, Valve, Tencent, Microsoft, yes I’m still going, Google, Riot, AMD, and Warner Bros.

This year’s event kicks off at 8 p.m. EST this evening, just a few minutes after this post goes live, and since it’s streaming from approximately eight million platforms, you don’t need to be in LA to see it. As always, we’ll be updating this post with the MMO-genre-relevant reveals; we’re expecting news from a bunch of studios and games that our readers will care about, including Lost Ark, Among Us, Destiny 2, and Funcom. Feel free to join us in the comments!

Here we go
Geoff Keighley opened the show by denouncing abuse and harassment and promoting inclusivity in games, calling on “everyone” to speak up to support creators and gamers. He doesn’t get more specific than that or name any of the companies currently failing to do any of that; it actually kind of sounds like he’s chastising gamer trolls rather than calling out top-down industry abuse, so the intro here is kind of weird.
Star Wars Eclipse
Lucasfilm Games and Quantic Dream just announced Star Wars Eclipse, confirming the rumored game. Lucasfilm tweeted earlier that it’s a High Republic-era action adventure game. It didn’t confirm the rumor that it would have multiplayer elements, however. But it’s amazing either way.

Lost Ark
Amazon’s just announced that Lost Ark is officially launching on February 11th, 2022, with a headstart for founder pack purchasers beginning on February 8th. There’s a new trailer too!

Destiny 2
Bungie dropped in-game footage from Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen, coming in February.

Nightingale
Inflexion Games announced Nightingale, a “shared world survival crafting game” – basically an MMO, but with solo experiences too.

“Improbable and Inflexion Games (formerly Improbable Canada) today revealed Nightingale, the studio’s first title, during The Game Awards. Nightingale is a shared-world survival crafting game set within a rich Victorian gaslamp fantasy setting. Thrown into a labyrinth of fantastical and perilous worlds in the wake of a magical cataclysm, players must venture through mystical portals to explore increasingly dangerous realms, in search of the last haven of humanity, Nightingale.

Developed by a team of industry veterans from many leading game studios, including BioWare, Nightingale is currently in development for Early Access PC release in 2022, with closed testing to begin in the coming months. Players can register for future updates and playtests at www.playnightingale.com.

“Our team at Inflexion Games has been working diligently to create this enthralling universe of magic, mystery, and wonder, and we are thrilled to finally be revealing it to the world,” said Aaryn Flynn, Inflexion Games CEO. “We are also privileged to have such extraordinary partners backing the studio, with the proud support of Tencent, as well as collaborating with Improbable’s worldwide teams as we leverage its IMS tools.

“From the beginning, we knew we wanted to build an intricate fantasy setting as rich and full of history and life as anything we’ve worked on in the past. The realms of Nightingale are vast and have many secrets to uncover, and we cannot wait for players to start discovering them.”

Nightingale sets players on the journey of the Realmwalker where they must survive across the myriad of increasingly-dangerous realms. Explore alone or band together with other survivors, obtaining valuable materials to construct settlements, and craft vital tools and weaponry as you fight against deadly monstrosities and the Fae, humanity’s magical rivals.

Nightingale will feature:

EXPLORE THE REALMS: Traverse foreboding forests, harrowing swamps, and shimmering deserts, as you restore the portals leading deeper into the lands of the Fae.
BUILD & CRAFT: Construct estates, farms, and communities to live off the land. Craft the tools, gear, and weapons you need to survive.
SHARED WORLD: Adventure alone, or unite with other players. Combine your strengths and skills, and face the challenges of the realms together.
GASLAMP FANTASY: Open-world realms immerse you in a mystical Victorian setting, where the remnants of humanity are threatened by the dark magic and nightmarish creatures of the Fae.”

Early access on PC arrives next year.

PUBG
PUBG is going free-to-play.

Babylon’s Fall
This one’s co-op, not an MMO, but we’ve given it a look already. PlatinumGames announced a March 3rd, 2022, release date and dropped a new trailer.

Dune Spice Wars
Funcom is apparently putting the Dune IP to work on a 4X strategy title called Dune Spice Wars. I mean, it’s got it sitting around, so why not, right? This is not the MMO/survivalbox, mind you.

DokeV
Pearl Abyss dropped a new music video for DokeV.

FFXIV
Final Fantasy XIV took the award for Best Ongoing Game.
Rumbleverse
Because you needed another battle royale…

ARC Raiders
Patrick Söderlund’s Embark studio revealed F2P co-op shooter ARC Raiders.

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