Blizzard dominated headlines this week as Blizzard counted its best quarter for monthly active players across all of its online games since it started reporting MAUs back in 2018, along with spiking revenues, largely thanks to Overwatch 2, or so we are left to assume without a breakdown. The studio did acknowledge that World of Warcraft’s Dragonflight sales haven’t surpassed Shadowlands sales, though western retention is “higher than recent expansions.” As we noted, we’ll have to wait another quarter or two to grok the full impact of the loss of the whole Chinese playerbase, unless Bobby Kotick goes on TV to talk about it first.
Meanwhile, multiple MMO communities erupted over the GShade malware scandal, and in more meta news, MOP turned eight years old this weekend, on top of the seven years we had at Old Massively in the Before Times. So happy birthday to our team and our community!
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday (since 2010!) in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Activision-Blizzard Q4 2022: Blizzard revenues, MAUs spike thanks to WoW Dragonflight and Overwatch 2 - Welcome back to our inevitable coverage of Activision-Blizzard's quarterly financials: Today's edition sums up Q4's results, comprising October, November, and December 2022. Let's break it down, first with ABK and then…
Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2 communities erupt over GShade malware mod drama - We're back in the thick of the games modding controversy this week, this time over what was meant to be a benign mod - GShade - and a potentially malicious…
WoW Factor: Blizzard’s latest earnings report was mixed news for World of Warcraft - On one level, the most interesting thing that came out of the most recent earnings call for Activision-Blizzard was how much stuff the company stayed silent about. It's perhaps not…
LOTRO Legendarium: Nine Lord of the Rings Online items with fun and helpful abilities - One of my favorite acquisitions in any RPG or MMO is an item that grants a special ability that adds a fun effect or useful boost. It seems to me…
Star Wars: The Old Republic readies 64-bit client, inflation correction, and Galactic Season 4 - Are you ready for the ultimate power in the galaxy? No? How about a new Star Wars: The Old Republic patch then? BioWare's cranking up its Update 7.2.1 on the…
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s Niantic seems to care more about data collection than public safety - I was hoping to be more positive as Pokemon GO’s Las Vegas Hoenn Tour is fast approaching, but ever consistent in disappointment, Niantic has given the playerbase another reminder as…
Sony argues Microsoft’s doc request in FTC lawsuit is tantamount to harassment - The legal claws are coming out between Microsoft and Sony, apparently. Legal filings placed by both companies that involve Sony trying to fight Microsoft's billion-dollar buyout of Activision-Blizzard offer up…
UK regulators suggest Microsoft choked Google Stadia out of the cloud gaming market - The findings shared by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) related to Microsoft's buyout of Activision-Blizzard already had a few things to say about the deal, but one of…
The Daily Grind: What are the pros and cons of console vs. PC MMO gaming? - I can't say that I'm a huge cross-platform player; other than spurts of mobile titles, all of my gaming takes place on the PC. Yet I confess curiosity about our…
Q4 2022: Nexon counts huge YOY revenue boost, pushes harder into blockchain - Nexon's Q4 2022 financial figures are the latest to arrive this week, as CEO Owen Mahoney presided over a mostly decent quarter for the Tokyo-and-Seoul-based gaming giant. The company reported…
Dune Awakening posts a skimpy informational video, promises details on next beta ‘in the coming months’ - Dune: Awakening appears to be in no hurry to tell anyone about itself. Funcom has offered up a 31-second video for the developing survival sandbox MMO - 16 of which…
World of Warcraft’s Chris Metzen: ‘I don’t think I’d ever make video games anywhere else than Blizzard’ - Just before Christmas, Chris Metzen - who'd retired as Senior Vice President of Story and Franchise Development for Blizzard back in 2016 - rejoined the World of Warcraft team as…
EVE Online leverages its PLEX for Good charitable drive to aid earthquake victims in Turkiye and Syria - The list of MMO companies coming to the aid of those in Turkiye and Syria who were devastated by earthquakes earlier this week has grown by one more: EVE Online…
Activision-Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick says Sony won’t return his phone calls - Bobby Kotick and the Activision-Blizzard board have shied away from investor calls for the last year as the Microsoft buyout looms, but that hasn't stopped Kotick from making yet another…
Massively Overthinking: That moment when you realize an MMO is truly something special - MOP commenter Bruno tweeted something the other that that I thought would make a fun topic. Here's what he said, printed with permission: "Wanna know the moment I knew Star…
Final Fantasy XIV suspends European housing demolition in wake of Turkiye, Syria earthquakes - No one wants to be worried about stuff in a video game in the wake of a natural disaster, which is why Final Fantasy XIV frequently pauses any automatic housing…
Q4 2022: Krafton threatens to launch a ‘create-to-earn’ platform in 2023 - Korean games giant Krafton reported $1.47B US in revenues for the full year 2022 period, with operating profit up 15.5% year over year but sales falling 1.7%. In Q4, it…
Not So Massively: Dark Envoy’s demo is where RPG meets RTS - A while back I stumbled across the Steam page for co-op CRPG Dark Envoy and had the thought it could be fun to play with a gamer friend of mine.…
ArcheAge readies two new fresh start servers for Unchained and holds a concert in both games - Players of ArcheAge Unchained who were fans of the game's previous fresh start servers are likely going to be happy with this news: Starting today after maintenance is wrapped up,…
The Division 2’s season 11 delay stretches on as Ubisoft reconstructs its build gen system - Over the weekend, Ubisoft admitted that it was "experiencing delays" in The Division 2's "localization process" that would force the company to move the launch of season 11 to an…
Vague Patch Notes: Diversions are what makes the MMO - I am going to put forth a theory today in the Vague Patch Notes column. It is potentially an odd theory, and as sometimes happens, it is not a theory…
V Rising’s long-delayed first major update will finally arrive in May as a free expansion - So Stunlock Studios has good news and bad news for V Rising fans today. The good news is that it's talking more about its next big content update, which it's…
Lost Ark players have dished out nearly 30 trillion damage in PvP in just one year - If there's one takeaway from the newly released Lost Ark infographic, it's that you guys are extremely good at eating and dying. If there are two takeaways, it's that you're…
UK regulators find that Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard buyout could harm UK market - If you thought Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick's appearance on CNBC was a little bit weird, perhaps it'll make a little bit more sense given that the UK's Competition and Markets…
Fight or Kite: Deckbuilder Ascension is far better as a video game than as a physical one - I mentioned at the top of the Fight or Kite piece about HEROish that I’ve been hankering for some card games. I haven’t spent a ton of time in this…
Hearthstone’s Mercenaries mode will get one last major patch that adds new mercs, mechanics, and endgame - If you're a regular player of the Mercenaries game mode in Hearthstone, then we have good news and bad news: The game is going to be seeing a major content…
Perfect Ten: 10 things I really dislike about Final Fantasy XI - You don't have to dig very far to find my articles saying nice things about Final Fantasy XI. I say them often. I'd be inclined to say nice things about…
Lord of the Rings Online begins testing Update 35’s new Carn Dûm dungeons and raids - Lord of the Rings Online's first content update of 2023 is heading into testing today as Standing Stone Games puts The Return to Carn Dûm through its paces. This first…
Activision-Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick predicts a bleak future for a UK that rejects the Microsoft merger - Probably the last thing you want to see on a Wednesday or any other day that ends in -day is Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on TV. After all, one of…
World of Warcraft is shutting down its integrated Twitter posting feature - One of the very first stories we covered when Old Massively became Overpowered was World of Warcraft's Twitter integration implementation. It seems like yesterday, but that was actually eight years…
Gloria Victis’ first day of full launch sees new servers, crafting quest overhauls, and connection problems - Yes, it's another one of those "water is wet" kind of news stories for MMORPG veterans, but since Gloria Victis made its full launch yesterday, we have a duty to…
The Wagadu Chronicles plans its third alpha test for March 13 with signups open now - It's just about time for fans and testers alike to stop in with The Wagadu Chronicles to see what the game has been up to since its last major testing…
Massively on the Go: Preparing for Pokemon Go’s Las Vegas Hoenn Tour - Pokemon GO's Hoenn Tour is swiftly approaching, but the event is a little different than usual. While GO Fest often has had Niantic sponsored events, the first two Tour events didn't. Moreover, the…
Choose My Adventure: Global Agenda provides a classic MMO ass-beating - I'll be one of the first to admit that in spite of my desire to get into a shooter MMO/multiplayer game this month, I'm not particularly skilled at them. You…
Wisdom of Nym: The powerful stuff in Final Fantasy XIV that went missing in action - First things first: This article is not about your favorite ability that has been removed from Final Fantasy XIV over the years. No, even if it's the option of pole-dancing…
Star Citizen’s CitizenCon returns as a live event in Los Angeles this October - Who needs a massively multiplayer game when you can have a massively multi-player get-together? Roberts Space Industries is encouraging fans of Star Citizen to "save the date" for this year's…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 408: FFXIV on one side, mods on the other
The Stream Team: CMA Live opens fire on the foes of Warframe
The Stream Team: Goofiness galore for the 8th MOPiversary
The Stream Team: Checking out the return of AQ3D’s Cursed Anniversary of Doom
The Stream Team: Taking another look at the current demo build of Ethyrial Echoes of Yore
The Stream Team: Betrayal and bedfellows in Neverwinter
The Stream Team: Backseat Streaming goes hunting for bounties in Elite Dangerous
The Stream Team: Laying siege to castles in the multiplayer battlefield of Warlander
The Stream Team: Forging through Guild Wars 2’s first fractals
The Stream Team: Hungry hungry Helminth and Warframe’s museum of frames
The Stream Team: Happy 4th birthday, Astroneer
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
