June was a packed month for MMOs as the summer deluge of releases was just getting started. We were treated to the launch of Elder Scrolls Online’s Blackwood chapter, mobile releases for Albion Online and RuneScape, and Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis. Plus we got our hands on Elite Dangerous’ Odyssey and witnessed the shaky launch of World of Warcraft’s Chains of Domination, which didn’t quite recreate the mood of WoW Classic’s earlier Burning Crusade launch.
Meanwhile, we got a nasty round of news at the end of the month, as PWE and Cryptic revealed they were giving up on Magic Legends before it even made it out of beta, laying off a large chunk of the team.
Read on for the whole recap from June of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JUNE 2021
Elite Dangerous Distant Worlds 3 postponed indefinitely as malaise over Odyssey sets in
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online’s Rich Lambert on Blackwood, companions, lore, and more
The Burning Crusade is live today for WoW Classic
Elder Scrolls Online’s Blackwood is officially live on PC, Mac, and Stadia – here’s the launch trailer
Jagex Interview: Everything you need to know about RuneScape’s mobile edition
WoW Classic Burning Crusade’s launch successfully navigated queues and DDOS attacks
No Man’s Sky launches the Prisms update to make the whole game look prettier
Eight major unannounced MMO projects that are in the works
Skyforge’s Hunters of Terra update is live now for PC players with imminent console rollouts
Blankos Block Party moves out of open beta and into ‘early access soft launch’
Neverwinter’s new Bard is accompanied by a massive level squish from 80 to 20
Bloomberg takes a look at the growing presence of ‘Blizzard 2.0’
ARK Survival Evolved’s Genesis Part 2, the ‘bridge’ to the ARK sequel, is finally live
Naoki Yoshida of Final Fantasy XIV considers World of Warcraft a ‘mentor’ for the game’s relaunch
World War II Online turns 20, tweaks sub, plans Steam launch and UE4 conversion
LOTRO’s Update 30 releases with a new raid, zone, and storyline
Neverwinter’s Odious Court, the last chunk of the Sharandar plotline, is live today
Albion Online is officially live on mobile today – check out the goofy live-action trailer!
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is officially live today
Kickstarted VR MMORPG Ilysia has launched its closed alpha 1
Lost Ark launches this fall as an Amazon-published free-to-play title; founder packs are now live
EA suffers major data breach while CDPR says its own breach targeted more than just source code
Crowfall lowers its buy-to-play price and details its optional VIP sub
Warhammer Eternal Crusade is sunsetting on September 10
Lost Ark’s technical alpha dissolved into a technical mess, but it’s sorted out now
PSO2 New Genesis wrestles with server lag and unhappy players post-launch
E3 2021: Elder Scrolls Online announces Waking Flame and Deadlands, Fallout 76 plans Steel Reign and The Pitt
E3 2021: Diablo II Resurrected launches September 23 following open beta; preorders are live now
E3 2021: Sea of Thieves kicks off season three with Pirates of the Caribbean collab A Pirate’s Life
E3 2021: Transformers Heavy Metal, Icarus, Halo Infinite, The Crew 2, Babylon’s Fall, Ascent, Rawmen, Naraka Bladepoint, Chivalry 2
Albion Online’s mobile launch drove its concurrency numbers to a new high of 270K
Elder Scrolls Online launches Console Enhanced today, addresses ‘ESO 2’
Activision-Blizzard extends contentious shareholder vote on executive pay
Trove’s new Bard class is live on the PC servers with tons of new costumes
Lord of the Rings Online closes the doors to its Ithil progression server
Anarchy Online celebrates its 20th birthday with daily logins, events, and sub deals
Interview: Neverwinter’s lead designer on the level squish and why the new cap will (probably) be 20 forever
Elite Dangerous halts VR development, releases fourth Odyssey update, and wrestles with connection errors
RuneScape Mobile has finally launched for iOS and Android – here’s the new trailer!
Rumor: IO Interactive’s Microsoft-backed Project Dragon might be an MMO
Whatever happened to Atlas Rogues?
Ship of Heroes calls one and all to its July beta event, postpones launch to 2022
Heidel Ball 2021: Black Desert announces summer season server, shows off new Corsair class
Blizzard surveys World of Warcraft players about their Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker intentions
Six months later, Sony is finally putting Cyberpunk 2077 back on the PlayStation store
Legends of Aria dev Citadel Studios will publish CODEX, a ‘seasonal shared world adventure’ MMO
Amazon Games responds to complaints that Lost Ark character redesigns are ‘censorship’
$100K Star Citizen whale discusses why he supports the game – and what he’s worried about
Aion Classic is officially live in the west- are you playing? Or at least in the queue?
Starborne dev announces new sci-fi MMORPG called Starborne Frontiers
A new slew of World of Warcraft interviews touches on the future of Sylvanas and lack of story planning
Black Desert’s Corsair is finally here to take all your booty
World of Warcraft’s 9.1 Chains of Domination will finally launch today
Saga of Lucimia rebrands as Embers Adrift, abandons Lucimia IP
Magic Legends taps out: PWE and Cryptic are shutting it down before it even fully launched
The Magic Legends layoffs at Cryptic hit a lot more people than we thought
Here’s what to expect from LOTRO’s new progression servers launching today at noon
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JUNE 2021
Stick and Rudder: Elite Dangerous Odyssey is not bad, but it is broken
Choose My Adventure: The slow setup for adventure in Star Wars Galaxies Legends
Palia is a new ‘community simulation MMO’ from former Blizzard and Riot devs
Desert Oasis: Why Black Desert Online is my favorite MMO
Vague Patch Notes: The specter of MMO burnout and what it means
Massively Overthinking: Do you associate music with memory in MMOs?
The Soapbox: MMO monetization that complements poor game design makes us all losers
The Daily Grind: Do you judge MMOs by the quality of their Discords?
Not So Massively: Iron Harvest’s Operation Eagle expansion soars high
Wisdom of Nym: Speculating about the mechanics of Final Fantasy XIV’s Sage way too early
Flameseeker Chronicles: Three better ways Guild Wars 2 could have wrapped up The Icebrood Saga
Casually Classic: The WoW Classic vanilla era is over, and I won’t miss it
Choose My Adventure: Star Wars Galaxies’ legacy questline is so boring
Perfect Ten: 10 MMO prisons where you can do the time of your life
The Daily Grind: What makes you irrationally angry in an MMO?
Stick and Rudder: Launch impressions of Elite Dangerous Odyssey
Four Winds: Everything you need to know about Amazon’s Lost Ark
Massively Overthinking: Abysmal MMO launch experiences
MOP’s quick and dirty guide to finding the perfect MMORPG for your tastes
Wisdom of Nym: Speculating about the mechanics of Final Fantasy XIV’s Reaper way too early
Fight or Kite: Leafling Online is a retro-inspired action MMO for PvPers – and grinders
Casually Classic: What if you don’t want to raid in WoW Classic Burning Crusade?
Choose My Adventure: Dipping a toe in the vast ocean of Star Wars Galaxies crafting and gathering
The Daily Grind: Should more MMOs offer class swapping?
Desert Oasis: Black Desert’s Atoraxxian dungeon is a good idea, but will it last?
Vague Patch Notes: Bugs are hard in MMOs
Massively Overthinking: Is ‘layering’ tech actually MMO community poison?
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from development to beta
Massively on the Go: Revisiting Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge’s ARG
Wisdom of Nym: Things to do in Final Fantasy XIV while you’re waiting for Endwalker
Not So Massively: First impressions of Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance
First Impressions: Diving into Oblivion portals with companions in Elder Scrolls Online’s Blackwood
Choose My Adventure: Awestruck by Star Wars Galaxies’ crafting and housing potential
Massively on the Go: Niantic is partially rolling back Pokemon Go’s COVID bonuses
Casually Classic: What retail WoW could (re)learn from Burning Crusade Classic’s class progression
Perfect Ten: 10 reasons you’d never want to live in an MMORPG
Massively Overthinking: What class is missing from your favorite MMO?
WoW Factor: Would you like to take a survey?
The Soapbox: Abusing MMO community reps over design decisions is not only toxic but futile
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from launch to now
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV settles in for the long summer progression nap
MMO Burnout: Retro-inspired games offer a sense of accomplishment with a side of nostalgia
Casually Classic: Why WoW Classic progression should end after Wrath of the Lich King
Choose My Adventure: The long road to starting a Star Wars Galaxies crafting empire
Perfect Ten: The types of players in every MMO
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)
