July started out so well, you guys. We had two major MMORPG releases right off the bat: Crowfall and Swords of Legends Online, which were received with varying degrees of warmth. We also saw Guild Wars 2 and SWTOR takes the wraps off their upcoming expansions, though End of Dragons was delayed, as was Crimson Desert.
But the month was most notable for the massive sexual discrimination and harassment filed by the state of California against Activision-Blizzard, and the fallout has continued for the last five months through more lawsuits, boycotts, walkouts, firings, and stock plummets – though you’d be forgiven for having gotten your fill just in those few early weeks.
Read on for the whole recap from July of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JULY 2021
Palia’s latest investment round nets $30M as pre-alpha invites – all 200 of them – begin
PlanetSide 2 revamps NSO faction in what Daybreak calls its biggest update ever
SWTOR announces Legacy of the Sith expansion with new planet, PvE content, and combat styles
Guild Wars 2 delays End of Dragons to 2022, brings Colin Johanson and Josh Davis back
Kickstarted MMORPG Crowfall officially launches today
LOTRO’s Classic server ‘wouldn’t work’ with current tech, SSG says
Crowfall’s launch is marred by DDOS attacks and login problems
World of Warcraft’s finale for the Sanctum of Domination raid reveals a major character’s fate
Fallout 76’s Steel Reign arc and fifth season are live today
Chinese gamers beware: Tencent’s games now tattle on minors using facial recognition
Black Desert talks up a rather vague 300% increase in daily players
Elite Dangerous threatens to ban players over toxic behavior toward devs
Swords of Legends has officially launched today – and it’s already spun up a new server
Crowfall’s community frets over low population, but ArtCraft isn’t panicking
Shroud of the Avatar’s Richard Garriott is joining an expedition to locate a sunken ship
Elite Dangerous’ David Braben delays Odyssey on console to ‘reprioritise the core PC experience’
Guild Wars 2 adds legendary armory and Twisted Marionette boss today, picks up Homeland actress for End of Dragons
No, Cryptic isn’t giving Magic Legends refugees 7K Zen – but here’s what you *are* getting
Black Desert sets Atoraxxion launch for July 21 as console counts 3M players
Chronicles of Elyria tweaks NDA, locks down Reddit over death threats, and proposes NFT land trades
Ashes of Creation kicks off its long-awaited Alpha One playtest
Valve announces portable PC gaming device called Steam Deck
Elyon opens preorders and CBT2 signups on July 26, confirms ‘early fall’ western launch
Path of Exile’s Expedition league sets off next week
Camelot Unchained boss rebuts theory that its studio finances are in disarray
Swords of Legends Online touts 200K units sold as Gameforge insists NA server can handle player load
Conan Chop Chop studio finally acknowledges and apologizes for latest delay
Crowfall quietly adjusts its API to prevent bots from reporting player numbers
PvP sandbox Fractured is blindsided by ‘rampant’ player killing in alpha tests
TennoCon 2021: Waframe introduces cross-platform play, shows off mobile
War Thunder fan accidentally shares classified military documents to make digital tank more realistic
Amazon’s New World closed beta finally begins today – check out the trailer!
Portal Knights studio gets $10M investment to make open-world sandbox
Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida addresses the ‘staggering and unexpected’ player population explosion and asks for patience
Fallout 76 announces Fallout Worlds with (paid) customizable servers
Black Desert’s Atoraxxion dungeon is live for PC and console today
Blade and Soul 2 will be getting a South Korean launch this August
California sues Activision-Blizzard over discrimination and sexist, toxic work culture
GGG’s Chris Wilson says Path of Exile reached a ‘breaking point with power creep’ that Expedition will help fix
Warcraft III: Reforged was sabotaged internally by low budget and shifting priorities
Ubisoft’s sexual harassment and racism scandal extended to Skull & Bones studio in Singapore
‘We do not serve Activision Blizzard’: Furious WoW players stage protest against Blizzard
MassivelyOP interview: Talking ship design with Star Trek Online’s Donny Versiga
J Allen Brack addresses Blizzard staff over sexism scandal, Activision doubles down on deflection
GDC 2021: Star Wars Galaxies was a complex game of corporate greed and fan love
Mike Morhaime to female Blizzard workers: ‘I am extremely sorry that I failed you’
Camelot Unchained says it has no plans to license its engine, is still paying refunds
Valiance Online enters into beta phase for investors of the game
Chris Metzen offers apology for Blizzard’s culture of ‘harassment, inequality, and indifference’
New World cleared 200,000 concurrent beta players over the weekend
Blizzard’s sexism scandal continues, 2500 devs sign letter condemning Acti-Blizz response
Elyon locks in on a September 29 launch date
Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons expansion launches February 2022, with preorders live now
Neverwinter’s Jewel of the North is live on PC with the new Bard class and level squish
Blizzard workers plan walkout over sexism scandal, WoW team addresses playerbase
Pathfinder Online, Kickstarted for $1M in 2012, will sunset in November
Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick: ‘The leadership team has heard you loud and clear’
EVE Online’s Grand Heist update goes live as players raise concerns about ISK login rewards for subscribers
Activision-Blizzard walkout organizers respond to Kotick, Kotaku exposes ‘Cosby suite’ attendees
Lost Ark reveals all of its ‘normalized’ founder packs and perks
Blizzard Day 9: Ubisoft stands in solidarity, Ashes of Creation buys Blizzard workers lunch
Pearl Abyss has delayed Crimson Desert indefinitely
Facebook is building a multi-billion dollar virtual universe
An Activision-Blizzard worker was arrested for bathroom peeping in 2018
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JULY 2021
Vague Patch Notes: MMO players are a bad substitute for professional testers
Massively Overthinking: What’s your favorite MMO house of all time?
WoW Factor: Why Blizzard’s line about story beats is so frustrating
Desert Oasis: The key takeaways from Black Desert’s Heidel Ball 2021
LOTRO Legendarium: A tale of two progression servers
Not So Massively: Magic Legends had all the right ideas and all the wrong choices
Wisdom of Nym: What will Final Fantasy XIV add to its tanks?
Launch impressions: Crowfall won me over, but it’s not for everyone
Choose My Adventure: Space combat is yet another vast and interesting layer to Star Wars Galaxies
Tamriel Infinium: Companions are the star of Elder Scrolls Online’s Blackwood
Perfect Ten: Worst MMO expansion names of all time
Vague Patch Notes: Playerbase size doesn’t have to be everything in MMOs
First impressions: Monster Hunter Stories 2’s demo raises new multiplayer questions
Massively Overthinking: Which of the summer MMO launches captured your time and attention?
The Game Archaeologist: Why 2008 was one of the wildest years for MMORPGs
Lawful Neutral: Defining toxicity in the MMO industry
Four Winds: MassivelyOP’s guide to getting started in Swords of Legends Online
Make My MMO: Crowfall is one of the biggest crowdfunded MMOs to ever fully launch
Fight or Kite: Crowfall’s launch is a struggle, but I’m ready to play
Hands-on with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Teasing out the multiplayer content
Wisdom of Nym: Looking at lost actions as a key to more job customization in Final Fantasy XIV
Casually Classic: WoW Classic’s Burning Crusade entry ditch
Perfect Ten: The 10 most huggable boss monsters in multiplayer online hunting RPGs
The Daily Grind: What expectations do you have for Amazon’s New World?
WoW Factor: The Blizzard ‘leak’ is probably fake, but it’s still valuable
Perfect Ten: MMOs with the noisiest fanbases
Massively Overthinking: The curious cycle of MMO refunds, tutorials, and reviews
Vague Patch Notes: Hating an MMO isn’t the same as having a personality
Massively on the Go: How Jackbox Games helped gamers stay social through COVID
PAX East 2021: Gaming streamers are frontline workers, not mental health experts
LOTRO Legendarium: What returning to LOTRO feels like
PAX East 2021: MMO community building – on a budget
Hands-on with New World’s 20v20 PvPvE battleground and its newest dungeon
Wisdom of Nym: What will Final Fantasy XIV add to its ranged damage dealers?
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO Fest 2021 might be the last great GO Fest
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2’s outage analysis, simplified
Not So Massively: Wolcen’s roadmap is missing some important things
Choose My Adventure: Wakfu may not be my cup of tea
GDC 2021: Research on online video game voice chat has come a long way
The Daily Grind: So what do we all think of New World so far?
Casually Classic: Why it’s so good to Zangarmarsh and chill in WoW Classic
GDC 2021: Navigating player behaviors and cheating in online video games
Massively Overthinking: Load-bearing playerbases in MMORPGs
WoW Factor: No king rules forever
LOTRO Legendarium: Six suggestions to improve LOTRO’s business model
Wisdom of Nym: Guessing at the next jobs of Final Fantasy XIV beyond Endwalker
GDC 2021: Accessibility in gaming means innovation for everyone
Casually Classic: Making the call to quit WoW or not
Choose My Adventure: Wakfu definitely isn’t my cup of tea (and that’s OK)
Stick and Rudder: Trying EVE Online as a new player in 2021
WoW Factor: Why does this latest Blizzard scandal feel so different?
Massively on the Go: The Witcher Monster Slayer shows why Pokemon Go is still the best
The Daily Grind: Rename your favorite MMO, only worse
Massively Overthinking: Has Blizzard’s sexism lawsuit changed your gaming plans?
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Unite is genuinely fun – for new and casual MOBA players
LOTRO Legendarium: 10 features that would make LOTRO even more fun
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)
