February is generally a quiet month in the MMORPG genre, but not in 2022. Not only did Guild Wars 2 launch its blockbuster End of Dragons expansion that sent players back to Cantha, but Amazon also launched the western version of Lost Ark, which soared past a million players in its first buggy week.
Plus, we saw major releases from the beleaguered World of Warcraft and Star Wars The Old Republic too as the industry response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began ramping up.
Read on for the whole recap from February of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF FEBRUARY 2022
Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons expansion has a launch date: February 28
World of Warcraft’s game director defends cross-faction team-ups: ‘It’s time’
Blizzard’s recently announced survival title has been developing for just over four years
The FTC will investigate the Microsoft Acti-Blizz buyout, company to skip Q4 conference call
Solid Clouds’ upcoming Starborne Frontiers downgrades from MMORPG to ‘squad RPG’
CIG reels back Star Citizen’s roadmap because players ‘interpret anything on the release view as a promise’
Guild Wars 2 shows off End of Dragons’ cyberpunk-esque New Kaineng
Mortal Online 2 finally rolled out its queue patch, then it rolled back the server 24 hours
Funcom enlists the help of another co-developer to bring the DUNE multiplayer survival title to life
Activision-Blizzard Q4 2021: Blizzard lost another 2M monthly actives as ABK revenue holds steady
Path of Exile’s Siege of Atlas expansion is launching this afternoon
New World announces new server merge for February 8, confirms more merges coming soon
Gamigo’s forums are down without explanation or ETA, affecting RIFT, Fiesta, Trove, and more
Google has ‘deprioritized’ Stadia, pivots to offer cloud gaming white labeling
Lost Ark’s headstart begins today at noon – here’s the new trailer and patch notes
ArcheAge developer XLGames unveils an NFT-filled game launching in July called ArcheWorld
Krafton and Bluehole announce a partnership to create NFT avatars to sell in a future metaverse
Over half a million people showed up at the same time to play Lost Ark’s headstart last night
US Army mil-sim FPS America’s Army Proving Grounds announces a May 5 sunset
Lord of the Rings gaming rights are going up for sale – what will this mean for LOTRO?
You’re an MMOTCG, Harry: NetEase and Warner Bros. announce Harry Potter Magic Awakened
Ultima Online is aiming to launch UO New Legacy in 2022
Lost Ark’s launch has been mired in delays and issues, but it’s live now
Over a hundred New World servers are affected by today’s merge round
Just months after supposed angel investment, indie MMO TitanReach has ceased development – again
Lost Ark promises to manage server limits and queues as over 1M players arrive for free-to-play launch
WAPO’s latest Bobby Kotick article lays bare his vindictive litigation history
Lost Ark eclipses 1.3M players in its second full day of launch as it continues to manage global server load
SWTOR: Legacy of the Sith gets ready for launch
Lord of the Rings Online’s producer: ‘We not only want to maintain the value of this IP but grow it’
NCSoft unveils new MMOs, a new battle royale, and new Blade and Soul game, plans Project TL release this year
Valentine’s Day around the MMORPG genre, 2022 edition
Massively Uplifting: MMOs show true love through helping kids, planting trees
TitanReach’s mystery investor actually existed, and the lead dev is accused of misappropriating the investment
Legends of Aria’s new owner discusses the revamp, Classic, and blockchain implementation
NCsoft Q4 2021: Guild Wars 2 did great, but Lineage W drove revenues
SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith expansion is live today – here’s the new ILM cinematic trailer
Is anyone out there happy about SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith?
No Man’s Sky’s Sentinel update is live with mechs, new content, and freakin’ jetpacks
EVE Online and Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss believes it can ‘create a stable blockchain ecosystem’
Palia announces that it’ll hold to a free-to-play business model
Star Stable celebrates its US mobile launch with 21M registered players
Star Citizen kicks off a new free fly event as players raise alarms over changes to the ship buyback program
Hi-Rez’s Global Agenda returns to Steam as an unlisted game
ABK reportedly tries to stall Raven Software’s union vote as DFEH and SEC issue new subpoenas
Book of Travels temporarily halts content development to ‘completely focus on fixing the game’
Project Gorgon acknowledges development delays as key dev contends with a ‘rare form of cancer’
Nightingale studio Inflexion has been sold to Tencent – and it’s still launching this year
The Wagadu Chronicles has kicked off its alpha-1 phase today
Bethsoft is sunsetting its launcher, migrating libraries – including Fallout 76 – to Steam
Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen expansion and Season of the Risen are live today
Fallen Earth Classic has formally returned to Steam
World of Warcraft: Eternity’s End is live today
SeedInvest tells Shroud of the Avatar investors that Portalarium eluded its accountability efforts
What to expect from Elder Scrolls Online’s Update 33, launching March 14 for PC
New World acknowledges survival game ‘friction’ in its travel, storage, and other systems
Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick urged by U.S. Senator to get out of the way of unionization efforts
MMO Business Roundup: The gaming industry reacts to the Ukraine crisis
Elder Scrolls Online players are feuding over account-wide achievements
The most important reveals from the Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons influencer sneak peak
EG7 Q4 2021: EG7 and Daybreak post huge revenues, bank future on MTGO, LOTRO
Battlefield 2042 yanks Russian helicopter reward in light of Ukraine invasion
Super-hardcore fantasy RPG Elden Ring launches – with co-op multiplayer
Shroud of the Avatar boss claims confusion over SeedInvest: ‘I’ve done the part that I’m contractually obligated to do’
Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons is officially live today – check out the new trailer!
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF FEBRUARY 2022
Tamriel Infinium: Six takeaways from Elder Scrolls Online’s High Isle announcement
Choose My Adventure: Returning to Project Gorgon was much harder than I expected
WoW Factor: Pulling the trigger on cross-faction play (in the weakest way possible)
Perfect Ten: Ten things you need to understand about MMO healers
Not So Massively: Shadow of War plays fast and loose but hits the mark
Massively Overthinking: How would you fix New World?
The Daily Grind: Do you even want a survival game from Blizzard?
Vague Patch Notes: MMOs taking inspiration from one another is not a bad thing
LOTRO Legendarium: Lord of the Rings Online must extract itself from its currency quagmire
Wisdom of Nym: Speculating on the next few bits of Final Fantasy XIV content
Fight or Kite: Rocket League Sideswipe is the perfect mobile game
Hands-on with Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons’ newly unveiled jade bots mastery
Hands-on: Lost Ark is a solid MMO that falls just short of true greatness
Choose My Adventure: Zenith opened me to new dimensions of MMO interactivity and weirdness
Perfect Ten: Ten reasons your MMORPG creates a bad first impression
Vague Patch Notes: Looking back on the MassivelyOP magic, seven years in
Massively Overthinking: What else could Blizzard do to fix World of Warcraft?
WoW Factor: Winds of Change, a speculative WoW expansion exercise
Not So Massively: The Anacrusis is nowhere near ready for launch
Wisdom of Nym: Gaming the system in Final Fantasy XIV
Why I Play: Examining why Lost Ark has me so hooked
Jukebox Heroes: Highlights from Lost Ark’s soundtrack
Perfect Ten: What I expect from MMO character cosmetics
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Eyes, a forgotten Japanese MMO from 1999
WoW Factor: Flights Rising, a speculative WoW expansion exercise
Massively Overthinking: Lost Ark and its place in the MMORPG genre
Hyperspace Beacon: A measured response to SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith backlash
Vague Patch Notes: The metaverse doesn’t exist and isn’t a good idea either
Into the Super-Verse: The joy of travel powers in superhero MMOs
Wisdom of Nym: Everything we learned from the February Final Fantasy XIV live letter
Fight or Kite: Checking in with Crowfall after the acquisition
Choose My Adventure: Exploring VR MMO Zenith with my hands
Flameseeker Chronicles: Everything you’ve missed if you haven’t played Guild Wars 2 since Path of Fire
Perfect Ten: 10 reasons MMO armor is completely ridiculous
Vague Patch Notes: Lore is not an excuse for bad MMO design decisions
Massively Overthinking: Is free-to-play as bad as we thought it’d be a decade ago?
LOTRO Legendarium: Exploring LOTRO Update 32’s Angle of Mitheithel
WoW Factor: Shards of Azeroth, a speculative WoW expansion exercise
From the Depths: Checking up on World of Warships’ community promises
Not So Massively: Lost Ark is junk food gaming (in a good way)
Flameseeker Chronicles: What to do first in Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons
Wisdom of Nym: Speculating on Final Fantasy XIV beyond the live letter’s scope
THE FULL 2022 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: Microsoft has entered the chat (January 2022)
MMO Year in Review: End of Dragons, Lost Ark (February 2022)
MMO Year in Review: From Ukraine aid to Throne and Liberty (March 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Leaky Blizzard and Lord Blockchain (April 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Press F for another Marvel MMO (May 2022)
MMO Year in Review: High Isle and Diablo Immoral (June 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Smedleyfaire (July 2022)
MMO Year in Review: DUNE, Neptune, and Island Sanctuaries (August 2022)
MMO Year in Review: The Lich King (September 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Embers and Brimstone (October 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Blizzard China (November 2022)
MMO Year in Review: The FTC strikes back (December 2022)
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