Following a massive leak, Blizzard officially announced World of Warcraft Dragonflight and WoW Classic Wrath of the Lich King in April of 2022, all set against the backdrop of bad financial reports and player frustration over the lack of LFD.
Meanwhile, Bluehole announced a sunset for TERA, Final Fantasy XIV bungled its housing lotteries, and Richard Garriott announced he was involved in the creation of a new blockchain MMO as accountability for Shroud of the Avatar is still nowhere to be found.
Read on for the whole recap from April of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2022
April Fools’ Day around the MMO world, 2022 edition
EVE Online players raised over $500K to benefit Ukraine in latest PLEX for Good charity drive
Gamigo says RIFT’s ‘great first update’ is still happening, still won’t acknowledge layoffs
Activision-Blizzard reverses plan to lift in-office vaccine reqs after employee walkout threat
Guild Wars 2 makes End of Dragons’ infamous final fight easier to complete
Rumor: World of Warcraft’s next expansion is called Dragonflight according to website code leaks
Wargaming will suffer ‘substantial losses’ in corporate exit from Russia and Belarus
Legends of Aria sports a new site extolling its new blockchain nature
Black Desert’s Eternal Winter is live along with a free-play event through April 13
Jagex announces plans to raise prices of subs and cash items for RuneScape and Old School Runescape on May 4
Ubisoft maintenance-modes Ghost Recon Breakpoint following failed NFT scheme
Lineage II: Aden boasts the Garden of Genesis in today’s update
Activision-Blizzard promotes over a thousand QA testers and bumps their pay – but not the ones unionizing
EVE Online boss: NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility’
Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.1: Newfound Adventures is live today
Richard Garriott is building a blockchain MMO following the failure of Shroud of the Avatar
Former WildStar devs wax nostalgic about the late, lamented MMORPG
Gamigo actually pushed out that RIFT update – it’s called the Budgie Carnival Celebration
Become a pirate or smuggler in today’s No Man’s Sky Outlaws patch
EverQuest II’s GU 119 Coffers and Coffins is live with new dungeon content
DFEH attorney accuses California governor of interfering in the Activision-Blizzard lawsuit
Disney has quashed another Club Penguin emulator, this time with arrests in the UK
Niantic’s new MMOARG Peridot looks… kinda just like Pokemon Go
Massively Overthinking: The ideal MMO server setup
The FBI says it was a North Korean hacker gang that crimed Axie Infinity for $620M
Final Fantasy XIV’s new housing lottery is so broken Square has suspended the next cycle
SWG Legends just announced farming, ranching, new houses, and the return of smuggler spice crafting
Mike Ybarra says Blizzard isn’t ‘doing NFTs’ in spite of its play-to-earn and NFT surveys
Activision-Blizzard tells the SEC it hasn’t yet negotiated Kotick’s future with Microsoft
Daybreak’s EG7 intends to sell Innova subsidiary and relocate Toadman Interactive studio in a pull-out from Russia
World of Warcraft’s next expansion is called Dragonflight, WoW Classic Wrath launches this year
Guild Wars 2’s 2013 living world episode Flame and Frost returns in reimagined form today
TERA’s PC version will sunset in June as Bluehole ceases work on the game
World of Warcraft devs address Dragonflight’s dragon flying limitations, Classic Wrath’s missing LFD
Raph Koster’s Playable Worlds scored $25M in investment for his ‘modern sandbox MMO’
Lineage II is turning 18 years old this week with events in L2, Aden, and Classic
China’s National Radio and Television Administration bans access to livestreams of unapproved games
Lord of the Rings Online rolls the servers back after a day of downtime following anniversary patch
Greg Street clarifies Riot MMO progress: ‘It is going great. The team is so stacked.’
World of Warcraft’s Ion Hazzikostas discusses theoretical player housing in new interview
Lost Ark’s Battle for the Throne of Chaos goes live this afternoon as planned
Embracer Group is rebranding Perfect World Entertainment as Gearbox Publishing
Space-based econ MMO Prosperous Universe officially launches on Steam early access
EVE Online is hiking its sub price to almost $20 – and the price of PLEX is going up too
Lord of the Rings Online players experience queues for the first time in years as concurrency ramps up
World of Warcraft Classic interview confirms that there will be no servers for The Burning Crusade Classic at launch
New World prepares to sell you character transfers for $15 a pop
Activision-Blizzard’s Raven Software gets green light to vote for a union by National Labor Relations Board
Activision-Blizzard Q1 2022: Revenues plummet, Blizzard loses another 2M players
MMOARPG Diablo Immortal launches June 2 – the same day its PC open beta begins
Bless Unleashed PC is becoming a blockchain play-to-earn MMORPG
Blizzard explains why – and how – it’s porting Diablo Immortal to PC
Star Wars: The Old Republic adds cosmetic weapon customization in today’s update
Lineage’s Throne and Liberty aims for a PlayStation 5 release on top of PC
Former EVE Online CSM member recounts CCP mismanagement during his tenure
Overwatch 2’s first beta officially begins this afternoon – are you playing?
Dungeons and Dragons start taking Isle of Dread pre-orders, officially adds the Tabaxi race
Rumor: Leakers claim Elder Scrolls Online’s ZOS is working on a Star Wars Mandalorian MMO
Disney announces life sim Dreamlight Valley with multiplayer potential
ABK shareholders approve Microsoft buyout, World of Warcraft gets new executive producer
Gamigo’s parent company just bought another studio a month after MMO dev layoffs
Gearbox is sunsetting PWE’s Forsaken World on November 30
The original Guild Wars has officially turned 17 years old this week
Star Citizen releases alpha 3.17, updates minimum specs, and ends partnership with developer Firesprite
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2022
The Perfect Ten: 10 MMO NPCs as muffins
WoW Factor: Dissecting the Shadowlands story now that we’ve seen the end of it
Wisdom of Nym: Catching up on Final Fantasy XIV’s second patch 6.1 letter
The Game Archaeologist: When EverQuest players killed the unkillable Sleeper
Massively Uplifting: How gamers are bringing humanitarian relief to Ukraine
MassivelyOP’s guide to 13 MMORPGs that you can play on Macs
Choose My Adventure: The point of a community-guided MMO column
Interview: Scoping out Fractured Online’s closed beta content and update plans
Perfect Ten: Top 10 favorite World of Warcraft zones by feels
Fight or Kite: Classic Robocraft is a mashup of a Minecraftian block-builder and arena brawler
WoW Factor: So let’s talk about World of Warcraft’s Dragonflight leak
Massively Overthinking: Which MMO suffers from the most useless housing system?
Vague Patch Notes: When MMOs pit their playerbase against itself
LOTRO Legendarium: Six reasons why LOTRO’s Beorning is amazing
Interview: Lost Ark’s regional parity, genderlocking, and the Amazon-Smilegate collaboration
Wisdom of Nym: Breaking down the extensive changes to jobs in Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 6.1
Wisdom of Nym: Highlights from Final Fantasy XIV’s preliminary patch notes
Tales from the Holodeck: Virtual reality is best as a gaming machine, not as a portal to the metaverse
Choose My Adventure: The quest for big punchy gloves in Albion Online
Perfect Ten: Top 10 favorite Final Fantasy XIV zones
Vague Patch Notes: Stop giving rich people money to make failed MMOs
Desert Oasis: ‘Jumping’ into Black Desert’s new Drakania class
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft: Dragonflight isn’t going to fix everything that’s broken at Blizzard
Lawful Neutral: How is an NFT MMO even supposed to work?
Massively on the Go: Niantic’s Peridot may be cause for Pokemon GO alarm
LOTRO Legendarium: Why Lord of the Rings Online’s world feels different from all other MMOs
Wisdom of Nym: First impressions of Final Fantasy XIV Newfound Adventure’s content
Wisdom of Nym: Why can’t Final Fantasy XIV solve its housing problem?
Choose My Adventure: Delving the expeditions, cities, and dungeons of Albion Online
Flameseeker Chronicles: First impressions of Guild Wars 2’s restored Living World S1E1 Flame and Frost
WoW Factor: Initial thoughts on the World of Warcraft Dragonflight reveal
From the Depths: Everything we know about Wargaming’s exit from Russia
WoW Factor: Good job torching Wrath of the Lich King Classic, my dudes!
First impressions of Lost Ark’s new Battle for the Throne of Chaos update
Fight or Kite: World Wide Hack is a terminal simulation for hacking the planet
Massively on the Go: Pikmin Bloom hasn’t improved six months after release
The Daily Grind: How would you solve Final Fantasy XIV’s housing problem?
Stick and Rudder: Using No Man’s Sky Outlaws as a way to fill the space sandbox void
Tamriel Infinium: A look back at Elder Scrolls Online’s Blackwood
Perfect Ten: The 10 stages of the MMO launch journey, from announcement to release
Massively Overthinking: The WoW Dragonflight and Wrath Classic roundtable
Hands-on with the promising multiplayer Nintendo Switch Sports, launching this week
Wisdom of Nym: Thoughts on Final Fantasy XIV Newfound Adventure’s storyline
LOTRO Legendarium: Six reasons why now is a great time to return to LOTRO
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s 2022 Community Day was as meh as anticipated
Not So Massively: Dune Spice Wars targets a very small niche
Choose My Adventure: A walk into the yellow zones and realm warfare in Albion Online
Perfect Ten: Things that turn me off from trying your MMO
Working As Intended: LFD, community accountability, and the balance of power in classic MMOs
WoW Factor: Blizzard’s excuse for not adding housing to World of Warcraft convinces no one
Desert Oasis: Black Desert Mobile has a little something for every playstyle
Massively Overthinking: Bots in MMOs – but not the bad bots
Vague Patch Notes: The positives of MMORPG rogue servers
Massively on the Go: The top 10 Pokemon Go Mega Pokemon worth investing in
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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