New World stole the fall season: It’s the biggest launch the MMORPG has seen in several years, so it only made sense that people lost their minds over it and stuffed themselves into overloaded queues, though of course the real drama didn’t get underway until October.
Meanwhile, Lost Ark and Elyon saw delays, Crowfall was hit with layoffs and confirmed a second game in the works, Raph Koster announced he’s building an MMORPG and a metaverse, Diablo II Resurrected made it live, and the Epic v. Apple trial finally ended in a muddled decision.
And as for Blizzard? Well, things went from bad to worse as multiple other agencies lined up with lawsuits and Activision-Blizzard scurried to settle them.
Read on for the whole recap from September of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF SEPTEMBER 2021
The Wagadu Chronicles lands some new funding, shifts its release window to summer 2023
Blizzard’s Mike Ybarra clarifies that Ion Hazzikostas is still running World of Warcraft
No Man’s Sky’s Frontiers sets you up as overseer of your very own space town
Lost Ark has been delayed to ‘early 2022’ with closed beta in November
World of Warcraft removes references to former employees and removes the AoE cap in patch 9.1.5
Embers Adrift, formerly Saga of Lucimia, says it’s raised enough money to launch
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster has all but said he’s building a metaverse
Crowfall studio ArtCraft has apparently suffered a round of layoffs
Star Citizen backer reports CIG to the UK Advertising Standards Agency over ship concept sales
Sony puts an end to free first-party PlayStation 5 game upgrades
China’s new kid gaming time regulations are already causing industry trainwrecks
Crowfall confirms layoffs, attributing them to switching to a ‘live service’ op
Jagex stamps out an Old School RuneScape mod prior to release, players organize a protest [Updated]
Fallout 76 releases Fallout Worlds but postpones Season 6
Blade & Soul’s Unreal Engine 4 update goes live today — here are the patch notes
Lord of the Rings Online tests Brawler and Legendary Items 2.0, reveals fall expansion name: Fate of Gundabad
New World’s open beta officially begins this morning – are you playing?
Blade & Soul’s UE4 graphics update and Dual Blade class have officially arrived
Neverwinter’s next campaign, Echoes of Prophecy, totes along free and paid battlepasses
Vague Patch Notes: The taxonomy of liars in the MMO development space
Elyon delays launch to October 20th to swap to a free-to-play model
So it turns out Raph Koster is building the metaverse and a sandbox MMO on top of it
Tencent, Netease hit with stock losses amid China’s gaming industry clampdown
EG7’s acting CEO Ji Ham discusses investment in existing Daybreak games and support of a ‘AAA project’
The Epic v. Apple ruling permanently stops Apple from blockading third-party purchasing
Guild Wars 2 details End of Dragons’ fishing and boat mechanics and masteries
Twitch unleashes a lawsuit against two alleged hate raid organizers
Eternal Crusade is now officially shut down for good
EVE Online’s Quadrant 3: Gateway launches today, opening the doors for newbie onboarding
Funcom picks up the Conan IP and ‘dozens’ more with latest acquisition
World of Warcraft promotes Overlords of Outland and Shadowlands 9.1.5 as labor organizers take the fight to Activision-Blizzard
EverQuest II announces Visions of Vetrovia expansion, while EverQuest kicks off Fun Fall event
Vampire multiplayer survival title V Rising shows off gameplay and plans a 2021 beta
WoW Classic releases Overlords of Outland, WoW Patch 9.1.5 undergoes additional testing
Mortal Online 2 has shifted its launch to 2022, scraps early access plans
Raph Koster’s plan is to build the metaverse tech, build a sandbox MMORPG on it, then open it all up
DokeV dev talks about world size, finding Dokebi, multiplayer features, and the pivot away from an MMORPG
Guild Wars 2 stream previews End of Dragons’ Vindicator, Bladesworn, and Catalyst
TitanReach plans its comeback after suddenly receiving full funding from a mysterious benefactor
Warhammer Online: Return of Reckoning finally adds capital cities that Mythic axed
The feds are now investigating Activision-Blizzard as the SEC subpoenas execs including Bobby Kotick
Funcom gave a player group its blessing to build a Secret World TTRPG
Rumor: Leaked file list suggests Star Citizen’s Theaters of War is being made into a standalone game
Amazon on New World: ‘We really wanted to make sure that this time we get it right’
Diablo II Resurrected has officially launched with yet another live-action trailer
Book of Travels will now hit early access on October 11: ‘Quality was our deadline’
Ultima Online is 24 years old today, celebrating with its 111th update as New Legacy dev continues
Lord of the Rings Online’s Fate of Gundabad launches November 10 – preorders have begun
Activision-Blizzard says it’s settling with the EEOC, committing $18M to victims and charities
VR MMO Zenith raises $10 million from investors, says ‘not much’ will change about development
New World is live around the globe as some queues cap at 25K and concurrency passes 700K
New World, Day 2: Where Amazon’s new MMO stands on queues, concurrency, servers, and transfers
World of Warcraft continues to cut abusive emotes in upcoming update
Union organizers call Activision-Blizzard’s $18M EEOC settlement a ‘slap in the face’
Blizzard is launching new WoW Classic fresh-start servers for its ‘Season of Mastery’
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF SEPTEMBER 2021
Perfect Ten: MMO character customization options that don’t get enough love
The Daily Grind: Are there IPs you still want to see in MMO form despite failed projects?
Vague Patch Notes: MMOs are useless, and that’s completely fine
Massively Overthinking: MMO ideas that were ahead of their time
WoW Factor: What’s behind the turning of the tide in World of Warcraft’s patch 9.1.5?
The Game Archaeologist: SOE’s many MMO spin-off digital card games
Wisdom of Nym: A look at Trusts in Final Fantasy XIV before Endwalker
The Soapbox: #DayOffTwitch illustrates how good intentions break under bad planning
Vague Patch Notes: The taxonomy of liars in the MMO development space
Massively Overthinking: Overcoming barriers-to-exit in MMOs
WoW Factor: How World of Warcraft mirrors a toxic relationship for players
LOTRO Legendarium: Analyzing the first look at Brawler and Legendary Items 3.0
The Daily Grind: What are the dumbest arguments in the MMO genre?
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s lack of public testing is fine by me
The Soapbox: Single-player open worlds will never equal those of MMORPGs
The Daily Grind: What does reception to Crowfall and Elyon say about the MMO genre right now?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Everything we learned about Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons’ fishing and skiffs
Choose My Adventure: Slowly acclimating to the goofiness of DC Universe Online
EverQuest II announces Visions of Vetrovia expansion, while EverQuest kicks off Fun Fall event
Vague Patch Notes: Returning MMO players need tutorials too
Stick and Rudder: Gaining traction as a newbie in EVE Online
Massively Overthinking: How much would you pay for an MMO sub in 2021?
Design Mockument: Fresh ideas for City of Heroes 2 in 2021
LOTRO Legendarium: Why do we know so little about Fate of Gundabad?
Wisdom of Nym: Reactions to Final Fantasy XIV’s job changes from the live letter
Fight or Kite: Spellbreak’s wizardry battles wage on with new content
The Daily Grind: Is Blizzard right to ‘desexualize’ art in World of Warcraft?
Activision-Blizzard is now being investigated by four state and federal regulators as its top legal VP departs
Choose My Adventure: The further adventures of a twin pistols gadgeteer in DC Universe Online
Flameseeker Chronicles: Test driving Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons’ Vindicator, Bladesworn, and Catalyst elite specs
Massively on the Go: How to actually have fun in Pokemon Unite as a new player
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft replacing sexualized artwork misses the point
Perfect Ten: Ranking the Guild Wars 2 professions from best to worst
Massively Overthinking: Would you play your favorite MMO without its IP?
Massively on the Go: Tips for making a comeback in Pokemon Unite
The Game Archaeologist: Tanarus, Sony Online Entertainment’s first online game
First Impressions: Revisiting memorable locales in Diablo II Resurrected
Not So Massively: Age of Empires IV is a thoughtful love letter to the past
Hands-on: Does New World hold up in the midgame and beyond?
Choose My Adventure: DC Universe Online just ended up making me love City of Heroes more
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Unite mobile is a good port but better update
Why I Play: Returning to Guild Wars 2 and exploring elite specs after nine years
Perfect Ten: It’s time to end all dragons in MMORPGs
Vague Patch Notes: The problem with flight and flying maps in MMOs
Tamriel Infinium: Anatomy of Elder Scrolls Online’s quests
Massively Overthinking: Initial impressions of New World
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)
