May brought on a rush of tests and launches for MMO players. Elite Dangerous finally launched Odyssey, Elyon kicked off its first western beta, and we dipped our toes into Swords of Legend Online, Bless Unleashed, and PSO2 New Genesis.
Meanwhile, both World of Warcraft and New World ran into monetization self-owns.
Read on for the whole recap from May of this past year!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF MAY 2021
Ashes of Creation opens $500 alpha one package on May 5, shows off raid boss in new video
Corepunk is finally considering PvE servers, plans multiple closed betas
Massively Uplifting: Gaming charity endeavors support vets, autism, and AbleGamers
Happy Star Wars Day! SWG Legends has launched the Bespin expansion, SWG Restoration 3 will launch May 28
Blizzard and Fox are headed for a trademark fight over the Diablo name
Activision-Blizzard Q1 2021: Blizzard lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years
Kakao Q1 2021 financials: ArcheAge 2 won’t be ready until at least 2024
Humble Bundle apologizes for infuriating charity changes, reverts everything
VR MMO Zenith kicks off its early bird alpha, shifts dates for later alpha testing
Chinese Overwatch teams are boycotting a South Korean player who called out Chinese policies
Elder Scrolls Online drops a new companions trailer ahead of next month’s Blackwood launch
Broken Ranks is an isometric MMORPG with 2-D turn-based combat seeking closed beta testers
Elyon’s western closed beta is off to a bumpy beginning, but here’s the trailer while you wait
World of Warcraft: Classic launches The Burning Crusade on June 1
Ubisoft announces Division movie, novel, mobile title, Division Heartland F2P game, and Division 2 update
World of Warcraft players croon over glasses, riot over Burning Crusade Classic prices
Ashes of Creation delays alpha because of ESO Blackwood and WoW Classic Burning Crusade
Lord of the Rings Online ends Windows XP support
EverQuest II has launched its new PvP time-locked progression server
Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has been delayed for at least the fourth time
WoW Classic backs down on cloning prices, connects soon-to-be-desolated servers
New World confirms cash shop items will be cosmetic-only at launch after alpha test storefront worries arise
City of Heroes Homecoming is finally allowing videos and streaming again
Stadia’s developer marketing lead insists that the platform is doing fine
Everything we learned from the Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival 2021
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis has kicked off its closed beta test on PC
Book of Travels delays early access again, this time to late summer
ZOS director says The Elder Scrolls Online will keep releasing content for as long as players stick around
Final Fantasy XIV’s composer reveals he was battling cancer last year while working on the game
Ashes of Creation boss criticizes New World’s business model, argues for subs and cosmetic shops
Daybreak grants all of its employees a paid ‘unplug day’
Netmarble announces release plans for several mobile titles, including new MMOs
Ashes of Creation drops verbal NDA, triggering deluge of public tester feedback
World of Warcraft: Classic launches The Burning Crusade pre-patch today
NCsoft Q1 2021: Overall revenues are down 30%, but Guild Wars 2 is perking up
Survival management game Siege Survival: Gloria Victis officially launches
Which Star Wars Galaxies rogue server is for you? Here’s the best list we’ve seen
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launches today on PC after an 11 hour-long maintenance
LOTRO shutting down Ithil progression server, offers free transfers
Bethesda is shuttering its official forums and moving to Discord, Elder Scrolls Online’s forums will remain
Magic Legends’ May patch is live with the Pyromancer, and you can get it for free
Blizzard is about to stream some Overwatch 2 PvP gameplay and a Q&A
Here’s how Blizzard is changing Overwatch 2’s tanks, group size, and meta
New Blizzard analysis chronicles the studio’s five-year decline and developer exodus
Project Gorgon is adding an optional subscription and perks with today’s update
Kakao’s Moonlight Sculptor has officially launched on mobile devices
EG7 Q1 2021: The Daybreak MMOs are headed to the 4Game platform
New World ‘won’t consider selling anything other than cosmetic items until 2022 at the earliest’
Star Trek Online concludes its year-long Klingon arc with today’s House United launch on PC
Echtra washes its hands of Torchlight III as the Cursed Captain arrives
Classic EverQuest launches a pair of unique progression servers today
Blizzard has canceled BlizzCon again, will replace it with another online event early in 2022
Trove is set to launch on Nintendo Switch this summer, having counted 28M lifetime players
Dreamworld actually released an alpha, and it’s exactly as bad as you thought it’d be
Ashes of Creation Lead Game Designer Jeffrey Bard leaves to pursue VR development
Blizzard is already cracking down on Diablo II Resurrected modders and hackers
Camelot Unchained details caravan mechanics and biomes, ‘expects’ a full game experience by summer’s end
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF MAY 2021
LOTRO Legendarium: Six essential LOTRO store purchases for new characters
MMO Week in Review: Casting judgment on Guild Wars 2’s Judgment
Wisdom of Nym: What we actually know (vs. what we assume) about Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
Fight or Kite: Foxhole is the ideal sandbox military war simulator for MMO gamers
The Daily Grind: Can we please nuke the term ‘filthy casual’ into the sun
Flameseeker Chronicles: Recapping the entire Guild Wars 2 The Icebrood Saga
Choose My Adventure: MapleStory insists on getting in the way of fun
Vague Patch Notes: Checking your bias when it comes to MMOs
Desert Oasis: The best Black Desert quality-of-life changes
Storyboard: The back-and-forth of roleplaying
Massively Overthinking: Is there an MMO you’d never be caught dead playing?
First impressions of Elyon’s western closed beta: Day one and a dungeon run
The Game Archaeologist: Jumpgate and Jumpgate Evolution
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars 2’s Icebrood Saga soundtrack
The Soapbox: If you want innovation in MMOs, stop worshiping polish
Stick and Rudder: Phase 4 impressions and overall thoughts on Elite Dangerous’ Odyssey expansion
Wisdom of Nym: What to expect from Final Fantasy XIV’s digital fan festival
Hands-on with Amazon’s New World first expedition, Amrine Excavation
Casually Classic: Yeah, those Burning Crusade Classic prices are stupid high
The Daily Grind: Why won’t World of Warcraft add player housing?
Perfect Ten: 10 places you visit in every MMORPG
Four Winds: Final thoughts on Elyon’s first closed beta test
WoW Factor: What would it take for big changes in World of Warcraft?
Massively on the Go: Why Pokemon Go’s COVID changes should stay, not roll back
The Game Archaeologist: Dragon Empires, Codemasters’ abandoned MMO
Wisdom of Nym: Recapping the Endwalker reveals from Final Fantasy XIV’s Fan Festival
First impressions: Bless Unleashed’s PC beta is just enough of an improvement over the original Bless
First impressions: Even in beta, New Genesis is the quantum leap forward the aging Phantasy Star Online 2 needed
Flameseeker Chronicles: The disappointing second half of Guild Wars 2’s Icebrood Saga
Casually Classic: Fondly looking back at World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade beginner zones
Perfect Ten: Everything in MMOs that is pay-to-win
So Mythic Quest is a TV show about a fictional MMO studio – how well does it represent actual MMO issues?
Vague Patch Notes: The self-made shadowboxing of MMO feuds
Hands-on with Dauntless’ creative and punishing Behemoth and Hunting Grounds location
Desert Oasis: So Black Desert wants to be an esport now
WoW Factor: Are Heroic dungeons the original sin of World of Warcraft’s current issues?
Working As Intended: Touring my new SWG Legends houses (and looking at Bespin deco!)
Not So Massively: Magic Legends has already made big changes, but there’s more to do
Wisdom of Nym: Almost losing Soken changed how we’ll see Final Fantasy XIV forever
Casually Classic: Ranking WoW Classic’s racial and class mounts
Choose My Adventure: Getting straight through the Riena Strait in MapleStory
Perfect Ten: MMO quests where you literally kill 10 rats
Vague Patch Notes: Money makes the MMO world go round
Four Winds: Exploring Swords of Legends Online’s mindblowing world
Massively Overthinking: How important is gear in your core MMO?
WoW Factor: What does the lack of BlizzCon mean for World of Warcraft?
LOTRO Legendarium: How the landscape difficulty slider is changing the rules of the game
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s last stretch of Bozja is pretty good, but a little annoying
Fight or Kite: Chivalry 2 is a blood-soaked, action-packed experience of absolute mayhem
The Soapbox: Reconsidering social media as an MMORPG
ALL 2021 YEAR-IN-REVIEW POSTS SO FAR
MMO Year in Review: At least it wasn’t 2020? (January 2021)
MMO Year in Review: The first and only BlizzConline (February 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Magic Legends begins (March 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO is over (April 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Odyssey and a billion betas (May 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Blackwood, New Genesis, and Burning Crusade (June 2021)
MMO Year in Review: The Blizzard lawsuit (July 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Bless redux (August 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Old genre, New World (September 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Elyon, Book of Travels, and Queue World (October 2021)
MMO Year in Review: The Marvel MMO, $400M, and Blizzard’s decline (November 2021)
MMO Year in Review: Endwalker, Cryptic, and Crowfall (December 2021)
