Funcom took the wraps off DUNE Awakening at Gamescom in August as the studio returned to calling the game an “open world survival MMO.”
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV players were enraptured with Buried Memory’s island sanctuaries, Blizzard and Netease squabbling led to the cancelation of a Warcraft mobile MMO dubbed Neptune, Wrath Classic’s prepatch was a mess of queues, Guild Wars 2 rolled out to Steam, Activision-Blizzard saw yet another revenue tumble, Richard Garriott’s NFT game was a mess, Daybreak finished its takeover of EG7, and Embracer bought up the Lord of the Rings franchise rights. Plus, we saw delays for Blue Protocol, Nightingale, and Throne & Liberty.
Read on for the whole recap from August of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF AUGUST 2022
Star Trek Online fans hold vigil for the late, magnificent Nichelle Nichols
Bungie reduced direct communication with players over ‘real threats’ to devs
Would you buy a mythic skin in Overwatch 2 for $45? Asking for a Blizzard
Former CD Projekt Red devs announce a multiplayer co-op and PvP title full of ninja parkour in feudal Japan
Activision-Blizzard Q2 2022: More revenue dips for WoW, ABK, and Blizzard in spite of Diablo Immortal
SWTOR releases Update 7.1 Digging Deeper today with more story and a new raid
Anime MMO Aero Tales Online makes its free-to-play early access debut on Steam and Android
Blizzard-NetEase financing dispute leads to canceled Warcraft mobile MMO ‘Neptune’
Legends of Aria’s new blockchain owners are trying to sell $70 random P2W characters
Stalkers harassed Destiny 2 devs with racist voice mails and doxxing, new court filings show
Blizzard is union-busting again, this time targeting the Diablo IV team
Middle-earth Enterprises sends cease-and-desist letter to LOTRO rogue server project
Star Citizen talks up 3.17.2’s Snake Pit race track and plans for an indoor kart race course
Blue Protocol’s release slips to sometime past 2022 as a result of Bandai Namco online games restructuring
Lord of the Rings Online is working on ‘remastered’ graphics, delving, and alt leveling path
Final Fantasy XIV is a bright spot on Square Enix’s otherwise bleak quarterly report
CCP Games’ VR multiplayer game aspirations expire as EVE Valkyrie, Sparc, and EVE Gunjack go dark
Elite Dangerous applies several fixes and closes the Azimuth Saga with a literal bang in today’s Update 13
Rumor: NCsoft may publish Throne and Liberty globally through Amazon Games
New World’s delayed Barnacles and Black Powder expedition goes live today – here are the patch notes
Blizzard addresses Wrath Classic feedback, refuses to budge an inch on dungeon finder decision
Elite Dangerous’ David Braben steps down as Frontier CEO into president role
EverQuest II’s Myths and Monoliths is live with the Fabled Veeshan’s Peak raid
Nexon Q2 2022: MapleStory’s dramatic turnaround is attributed to monetization transparency
Nightingale announces a delay of its early access launch to the first half of 2023
NCsoft Q2 2022: Throne and Liberty delayed to 2023, Aion 2 in dev, Guild Wars 2 booming
Whatever happened to The Repopulation? (2022 Edition)
Richard Garriott’s NFT MMO has a website and a name: Iron and Magic
Elite Dangerous confirms PC’s 4.0 version will still have a split between Horizons and Odyssey owners
Old-school isometric MMORPG Ashen Empires is forced to delay a Steam launch because of ‘unforeseen issues’
Guild Wars 2 is finally launching on Steam next week – just in time for its 10th birthday
Sci-fi MMO Dual Universe is officially launching next month, six years after its $630K Kickstarter
Kickstarted MMO Untamed Isles ‘goes into hiatus’ after devs lose funds thanks to crypto market
Rumor: WoW Dragonflight launch date and Diablo IV pre-purchase event possibly leaked
Alganon’s website is back as Derek Smart explains the relaunch is coming very soon
CWA accuses Activision-Blizzard of spying on workers and threatening to shut down labor discussions
Eternal Kingdom Battle Peak is an upcoming PC and mobile MMORPG featuring prominent Japanese talent
Lord of the Rings Online’s next two zones leak as Embracer buys up rights to the LOTR franchise
Grimdark MMO Mad World confirms 2022 launch as ‘permanent open beta,’ aims for a primary male audience
Pantheon may delay its September pre-alpha, discusses early ‘hardcore oldschool gamer’ marketing
Derek Smart promises Alganon is returning in the coming months, but in a staggered invite-only release
Path of Exile’s Lake of Kalandra expansion and league go live this afternoon
Judge denies Activision-Blizzard’s attempt to toss California discrimination lawsuit
Singapore creates a government body to regulate lootboxes, citing a blurred line between gambling and gaming
The Elder Scrolls Online releases Update 35 and Lost Depths DLC for PC – here are the patch notes
Tencent lays off over 5000 workers following Q2 revenue decline
Path of Exile’s adjustments to item drops in Lake of Kalandra light a tinderbox of fury among players
Lord of the Rings Online confirms the launch of its next mini-expansion Before the Shadow
XLGames ties down another ArcheAge trademark, this time for ArcheAge WAR
Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.2, Buried Memory, is live with the new Island Sanctuary content
City of Heroes Homecoming’s Issue 27 Page 4 goes live with its new music-wielding powersets
Guild Wars 2 celebrates a decade online with 16M players, Steam launch, and birthday gifts
Destiny 2 begins the Season of Plunder today, readies a new raid August 26, unveils Lightfall expansion for February 2023
Gamescom Opening Night Live: Funcom’s Dune Awakening survival MMO and more multiplayer news
Lost Ark launches the pet ranch, adds new water park content, and brings back event guardians in tomorrow’s update
CCP Games is hunting for veteran DUST 514 players to test its next EVE universe FPS
Elder Scrolls Online’s Rich Lambert admits to ‘some’ crunch at the studio
Elite Dangerous on 4.0 update and playerbase split: ‘We’re not trying to be done with Odyssey’
EG7 Q2 2022: Daybreak’s Jason Epstein is now chairman of the board
Genshin Impact’s 3.0 update is live now and has one final trailer
New World’s dungeon finder is finally live in this week’s update
No, Amazon is not trying to buy EA, probably
Global shortages have delayed Elder Scrolls Online’s much-needed EU hardware upgrade well into 2023
World of Warcraft hopes to have cross-faction guilds by the end of Dragonflight’s run
Requiem Online’s reboot goes live amid crashes, confusion
Path of Exile’s Chris Wilson admits to not fully understanding Kalandra’s item drop changes
Crypto WoW-wannabe Ragnarok loses $1.8M in ETH before it even gets off the ground
The Secret World’s tabletop RPG sourcebook heads to Kickstarter in October
Microsoft admits that Activision-Blizzard acquisition is primarily driven by a desire to get into mobile gaming
Lord of the Rings Online shuts down its Anor server today, but characters are retrievable through Dec 31
World of Warcraft’s Wrath of the Lich King prepatch launches in WoW Classic tonight
Wrath Classic’s pre-patch arrived last night with unsightly queues, level boost sales
Mortal Online 2 defends its decision to go subscription-only
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF AUGUST 2022
Vitae Aeternum: The hits and misses of New World’s summer update
Wisdom of Nym: Did Final Fantasy XIV’s relic farming zones work?
Choose My Adventure: The monster-eating adventures of McFishy the Squid Man in Chimeraland
Vague Patch Notes: Why sticking to one MMO is the smart thing to do
Perfect Ten: 10 MMORPGs that let you talk to cats
Massively Overthinking: What endgame content keeps you in an MMORPG long-term?
WoW Factor: Dragonflight, Wrath Classic, and trying to stop the bleeding
Stick and Rudder: Giving EVE Online another shot
LOTRO Legendarium: Ranking the new class/race combos by excitement factor
Wisdom of Nym: Are crossover events in Final Fantasy XIV worth it?
Choose My Adventure: The winding and confounding road to make Chonkhonk stronger in Chimeraland
Fight or Kite: MultiVersus is so much more than a Super Saiyan Shaggy
Perfect Ten: Small features that still make RIFT awesome
Vague Patch Notes: No, Little Orbit has not solved the MMO blockchain problem
Massively Overthinking: What’s so bad about comfort zones in MMOs?
WoW Factor: The problem with borrowed power was never new systems
Why I Play: Returning to Diablo III in 2022
The Game Archaeologist: MegaWars, the Star Trek online sim from the ’70s
First Impressions: Tower of Fantasy is Genshin Impact in a PSO2 costume (and it’s actually pretty good)
Wisdom of Nym: Everything we learned about Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 6.2
Choose My Adventure: Making a house and making character progress in Chimeraland
Vitae Aeternum: The best solo ranged and melee builds in New World
Perfect Ten: 10 MMOs that took aim at World of Warcraft
Vague Patch Notes: The perils of comparing MMOs to each other
Massively on the Go: Everything multiplayer fans need to know about Splatoon 3
Massively Overthinking: The real-world value of MMOs
WoW Factor: Optimal choices in MMO talent trees don’t justify removing them
LOTRO Legendarium: What new classes could LOTRO add in the future?
Wisdom of Nym: Highlights from Final Fantasy XIV’s Buried Memory patch notes ahead of launch
Fight or Kite: I had a MultiVersus hole in my heart all this time and never knew it
Choose My Adventure: Chimeraland’s weirdness routine continues to become a comfortable cadence
Perfect Ten: My memories from the 2004 World of Warcraft launch
Tales from the Holodeck: Altair Breaker is an unfinished and unsatisfying example of multiplayer VR swordplay
Vague Patch Notes: Novelty is a contradiction in an MMORPG genre that discourages it
Massively Overthinking: The most unusual subscriptions in the MMO space
WoW Factor: Why trying to draw back former MMO raiders doesn’t work
Stick and Rudder: So you’ve completed the EVE Online tutorial – now what?
LOTRO Legendarium: Will Before the Shadow evade the mini-expansion stigma?
Wisdom of Nym: First impressions of Final Fantasy XIV’s Buried Memory content
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go Fest’s Finale was a blend of comfort content and bad bugs
Vitae Aeternum: Previewing New World’s Brimstone Sands, leveling revamp, greatsword, and more
Flameseeker Chronicles: Standout moments from 10 years of Guild Wars 2
Choose My Adventure: Chimeraland lets its freak flag fly one last time
Perfect Ten: The MMO studios that keep whiffing on new projects
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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