It’s our tradition to bundle all the reasons we can’t have nice things – all the worst things that happened to the MMORPG genre over the course of that year – and figuratively burn them in the New Year’s Eve bonfire. We did that last night. Sorry not sorry about the creepy pic.
But as MOP’s MJ is fond of reminding me, we cover a lot more than trash deserving of a good charr. We cover thousands of articles every year, and among them, some are really prove that gaming is pretty great, actually. Gamers can be good. Studios can be good. We can do a lot of good here!
So to usher in 2023, we’re recapping some of the happy MMO news that 2022 delivered to the genre and our wider gaming community, from charity efforts for Ukraine to memorial funds for fallen devs.
Happy New Year to all the uplifting things in MMOs, 2021 edition for 2022
Star Trek Online community podcast Priority One Podcast decides to wrap up after 535 episodes
Global Agenda is back from the dead at least temporarily, Hi-Rez confirms
EVE Online player sets a new speed world record for visiting every star system in the game
Massively Uplifting: MMOs show true love through helping kids, planting trees
Star Citizen fans announce the return of the Crux Cup endurance race event on March 20
Elder Scrolls Online players stage in-game peace walks through Cyrodiil in support of Ukraine
Wargaming pledges aid to Ukrainian Red Cross, sacks pro-invasion developer
Conan Chop Chop launches today as Funcom donates $100K of its proceeds to Ukraine Red Cross
Neverwinter parent company donates $2M in aid to Ukraine, IGDA calls on industry to condemn invasion
Zenith’s Ramen VR joins chorus of MMO studios donating to support Ukraine
Black Desert marks two years of console cross-play as players are married in-game and real life
Activision-Blizzard cuts sales to Russia, pledges support for Ukraine
Star Trek Online shares a mini-documentary all about the canonization of in-game ships
Isometric MMO Broken Ranks lays out content roadmap, raises funds for Ukrainian relief
Itch.io’s Bundle for Ukraine, Cyberpunk 2077 review-bombing, and Twitch withholds pay to Russian streamers
EVE Online studio CCP Games will run a PLEX for Good charity campaign for Ukraine
LOTRO opens Hiddenhoard of Abnankâra T3 this week, plus check out this amazing player-made map
Destiny 2’s Bungie halts sales to Russia, Gamigo begins Ukraine charity initiative in multiple MMOs
Wizard101’s KingsIsle sells Ukraine charity bundle, proceeds to reclaim EU publishing
Square-Enix opens up a free YouTube repository for all the Final Fantasy soundtracks
Niantic suspends Pokemon Go and Ingress in Russia, donates to support Ukraine
EVE Online streamers organize an ‘EVE Blackout’ to protest CCP’s monetization of the sandbox
Fortnite’s new season adds Doctor Strange as Epic Games raises millions for Ukraine aid
Tour the sights of Elite Dangerous’ galaxy with this videographer highlight video
Fortnite’s profit donation efforts have already raised $50M for Ukrainian aid
Jamie Lee Curtis will officiate her daughter’s cosplay-themed wedding as Jaina Proudmoore
Fortnite and its community have now raised $100M for Ukrainian relief
EVE Online players raised over $500K to benefit Ukraine in latest PLEX for Good charity drive
Massively Uplifting: How gamers are bringing humanitarian relief to Ukraine
Trove kicks off this year’s Bunfest Easter event and releases a bundle to benefit Ukraine
Look at the cool things New World players are doing with their in-game houses
MapleStory SEA offers up cosmetics, pets, and mounts for blood donations
RuneScape details charitable bundles for mental health awareness, OSRS acts on Giants’ Foundry feedback
EverQuest guild woke the Sleeper on P99 Green – and all hell broke loose
Sony subsidiary Insomniac secures new policy, donations for reproductive rights
Destiny 2’s Bungie says it won’t be ‘muzzled’ by Sony when it comes to ‘standing up for what’s right’
Star Wars fan strives to create the definitive SWTOR documentary
RuneScape player creates an LED heart light to monitor his character’s health
Final Fantasy XIV’s band The Primals shows off its concert (and you can still watch it)
RuneScape celebrates Pride Month with a mini-event and a spotlight on a community parade
How a typo snowballed into the creation of a Guild Wars 2 in-game romance novelist
Star Citizen and EVE Online unveil a LEGO build-off challenge for prizes and charity
Tonight’s Champions Online official costume contest challenges players with creating a mascot
Trove’s environmentally conscious Trovin’ and Grovin’ event sees players plant over 800K in-game trees
Final Fantasy XIV fans and official talents join together in singing ‘Close in the Distance’
From the Depths: Fun World of Warships warships that actually existed
Modders are making Morrowind and Skyrim into multiplayer co-op titles
MMO Business Roundup: Preservation, charity, modding, memes, and Microsoft’s merger
This year’s Bungie Day celebrates the playerbase of Destiny 2 with cosplay spotlights and emblems
Family of former Ultima Online lead designer and game academic opens college memorial fund in his honor
Lord of the Rings Online’s player-run Weatherstock music festival returns July 16
Skyrim Together Reborn multiplayer mod officially releases and earns itself over 100K downloads
Destiny 2 celebrates summer as Bungie addresses healthcare, racial justice, and its acquisition by Sony
TennoCon 2022: Digital Extremes’ annual charity focus Indspire supports Indigenous education
Lord of the Rings Online’s Weatherstock community concert drew 22 bands this past weekend
Blaugust returns for 2022 with achievements and prompts to encourage the MMO blogging community
NCsoft West and ArenaNet’s DEI committee members talk about company diversity in a video
RIFT fansite posts detailed timeline of the Gamigo era
EVE Online and Star Citizen’s Battle of the Bricks LEGO spaceship build-off concludes today
City of Heroes: Rebirth rogue server adds cel shading and four new powersets
Vanguard Saga of Heroes’ community-run emulator had over 100 players this past weekend
Fan site compiles a list of every MMORPG rogue server and emulator still running
Meridian 59 developer reveals secret ‘Easter egg’ room of statues that was made back in the ’90s
Massively Uplifting: WoW players break barriers, Bungie and ZeniMax raise money to help children
Warcraft Adventures fan remaster project reaches completion after six years
Path of Exile studio took on hosting duties for the player-run wiki
Final Fantasy XIV player develops a functional book controller for playing Scholar
New World shares a lore post as players raise $2300 for St. Jude’s in a player-run fishing tournament
Final Fantasy XIV plans a week of special farm streams in anticipation of Island Sanctuaries arriving soon
EVE Echoes launches a Project Discovery science initiative, EVE Online preps for next Alliance Tournament
Elite Dangerous players rediscover a unique gas giant that has been missing for seven years
Star Stable launches new charity initiative to counter negative ‘horse girl’ stereotypes
Red Dead Online has an in-game equestrian group that’s over 1,600 players strong
Bethesda and id software turn on old official servers for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Check out these amazing World of Warcraft tableaus made for tabletop Dungeons & Dragons
A YouTuber is archiving every single portion of The Secret World
City of Heroes fans have (mostly) restored the game’s original 2012 forums
Warframe discusses Halloween, Frames, cross-play, and charity initiative
Elder Scrolls Online players stuck on Stadia will be able to transfer to PC with all their stuff
Riot Games sponsors design challenge centered on making online spaces safer
One of Wizards101’s most iconic voice actors passed away last week
MMO studios and publishers large and small come together to support Extra Life 2022
Guild Wars 2 promotes this weekend’s Pink Day in LA fundraiser for cancer charity
Jennifer Hale returns to Guild Wars 2 to voice a child character based on a real kid for Extra Life
Guild Wars 2 outlines the boosts and bundles being offered for this year’s Extra Life charity drive
Epic Games MOBA Paragon is resurrected as Paragon The Overprime under Netmarble’s oversight
Black Desert is canceling its Halloween events and sales following Itaewon tragedy
Guild Wars 2 is about to kick off its Extra Life charity stream – and the patch with April!
Guild Wars 2 players raise over $100K for Extra Life and unlock all collection hints in the process
Bungie will donate sales of its Destiny 2 pride pin to benefit a transgender charity all month
EverQuest’s returning Raid Raid Raid event tasks players with slaying giants and dragons all month
DC Universe Online devs and fans honor the passing of Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy
Ashes of Creation condenses the antics from its 24-hour Extra Life charity livestream in a video
Lord of the Rings Online’s community goes bonkers for a boulder nicknamed Dwayne Johnson
Hundreds of QA workers at ZeniMax – including Elder Scrolls Online’s ZOS – are preparing to unionize
Fan creates an elaborate mod for building bases in No Man’s Sky
Pirate101 and Wizard101 highlight a charity speedrunning event for the holidays
See how Lord of the Rings Online’s map expanded over 15 years
Massively Uplifting: A season of gains and losses in the MMO world
Blizzard-owned studio Proletariat announces plans to form a union
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