The week of Gamescom has been a wild one for the MMORPG genre: Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure opened its gates, World of Warcraft Classic kicked off hardcore servers and got busy permadeathing players, Nightingale admitted to another delay, Kakao announced huge merges for ArcheAge, No Man’s Sky popped out the Echoes expansion, Wayfinder got its house in order, and we brought back news on Warframe and Soulframe from TennoCon 2023.
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
Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure expansion is live today – along with a roadmap for what’s next - Guild Wars 2's 2023 expansion, Secrets of the Obscure, is officially rolling out this afternoon to folks who purchased it. As we've been covering, the expansion includes two explorable maps…
Recapping Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure launch - We can't say that the launch of Guild Wars 2's Secrets of the Obscure release went off without a hitch, but it was relatively smooth, all things considered, thanks to…
Gamescom 2023: Nightingale has been delayed to February 2024, new trailer ahoy - So we've got good news and bad news for Nightingale. The good news is that it's still launching! The bad news is that it's not launching until next year. At…
Kakao is effectively sunsetting ArcheAge Unchained, merging it into two remaining western ArcheAge servers - The age of ArcheAge Unchained is over: Kakao and XLGAMES have apparently decided to merge the Unchained servers back into the regular ArcheAge production servers, resulting in one unified server…
Gamescom 2023 ONL: Nightingale, Crimson Desert, Diablo IV, Fae Farm, Marvel Snap - Even if you aren't in Cologne, Germany, at Gamescom right now, you can still glue your eyeballs to the screen for Gamescom's Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live, which will deliver…
WoW Classic’s hardcore realms claim over 90K character lives in the first day - With an overhaul to its PvP honor system and the launch of the official hardcore realms, WoW Classic surged into the spotlight this past week. Blizzard reported that the permadeath…
First Impressions: Hands-on with Fae Farm’s delightfully strong opening chapters - I suspect that many readers are familiar with the moment when a game has you so completely engrossed that you forget to look up to note the time and suddenly…
Wayfinder reduces queues ahead of the onslaught of expected players this weekend - Wayfinder's rocky launch has pushed on into its second week now, and you might have noticed a lack of streams. That's because the queue for the game has been so…
No Man’s Sky’s 4.4 Echoes release is live – meet your new space robot friends - Hello Games has been dropping little teases all week, so the fact that a new No Man's Sky update has officially arrived this morning isn't going to be a surprise…
WoW Classic’s hardcore realms officially open tonight at 6 p.m. EDT – are you prepared? - World of Warcraft Classic fans best be readying their death shrouds because the hardcore realms officially open tonight at 6 p.m., meaning you barely have enough time to cram dinner…
TennoCon 2023: Warframe cross-save launches this year, mobile pre-orders are live - At TennoCon 2021, cross-platform play was first revealed for Warframe, though it was TennoCon 2022 that gave us the 2022 launch info. Cross-play arrived, and current players mix and mingle…
Diablo IV general manager: ‘We made some sort of mistake in managing expectations’ - While Diablo IV's sold well enough in the run-up to launch, nobody can say that it's been a smooth ride for Blizzard's online ARPG. One of its worst moments is…
After six delays in its long development, Skull and Bones has finally entered closed beta - It's been an extremely long time coming, but Ubisoft's Skull and Bones is finally entering closed beta. The pirate multiplayer title we first demo'd at E3 back in 2017 (!)…
Palia announces its first big open beta event, Maji Market, starting next week - Palia's open beta is about to get its first month-long event in the form of the Maji Market, Singularity 6 announced today. "From August 29 to September 26, all Palians…
WoW Factor: So what is Mike Ybarra teasing for the future of World of Warcraft? - As we are all waiting for Twitter to finish imploding under its current ownership (because nothing is more fun than rich idiots buying things they don't understand just to break…
LOTRO Legendarium: LOTRO’s higher difficulties are a breath of fresh air - A while back, the Treebeard server in Lord of the Rings Online experimented with the first iteration of the new landscape difficulty system. I tinkered around with it briefly before…
Blade & Soul adjusts Shogun’s Lament encounter, adds new items, and begins new ranking season - The August update patch for Blade & Soul might not have too much in terms of brand-spanking new goodies, but what is in the patch may have value to players…
Final Fantasy XIV details the rewards and new lore coming with the Rising event on August 27 - So it turns out that Final Fantasy XIV's rising event which starts on August 27th will not, in fact, allow players to ride on the back of the Phoenix. Instead,…
Genfanad is swapping out its classic MMORPG combat model with a TCG deckbuilder instead - The old-school-styled indie MMORPG Genfanad was always something of a unique duck in our genre, but Rose Tinted Games' next major update is going to make it even more unique:…
Massively Overthinking: What makes you embarrassed to be an MMORPG player? - A week or two ago, the MOP writers were chatting about people flipping tables over River Hobbits in Lord of the Rings Online (sigh) when MOP's Chris deemed it a…
2009’s Aika Online is coming back for a global re-release in the fourth quarter of this year - Cast your mind back to 2009 and an MMORPG called Aika Online, a game we covered since Ye Olden Dayes all the way to its sunset in September 2021. Believe…
Fight or Kite: Harry Potter Magic Awakened offers up plenty of combat in duels and dungeons - August has been hectic for me, largely thanks to the amount of gaming I’ve been able to sneak in. I was initially worried about how to fill out this column…
Dark and Darker is getting a mobile version thanks to a licensing partnership with Krafton - The PvPvE dungeon crawler Dark and Darker continues to write surprising headlines even as developer Ironmace faces a copyright fight with Nexon - and released into early access in spite…
Vague Patch Notes: Internet killed the MMORPG star - If you ever need to understand why MMORPGs today look so different from how they looked back in 1997, there are a lot of answers. But a big portion of…
Some Assembly Required: Craftopia’s housing customization options leave a lot to be desired - Well, well, well. Looks like I've finally found a chink in the armor of Craftopia. And it's the portion of the game that arguably this whole column was built around:…
Throne & Liberty details changes to PvP, cash shop, and autoplay features at Gamescom - With Gamescom 2023 well and truly underway, the western version of Throne & Liberty aims to make a solid showing in light of its launch delay into 2024, and that…
Early access survival MMO Coreborn Nations of the Ultracore releases adventure patch at Gamescom - Coreborn Nations of the Ultracore is just a month into early access, and it's already forging ahead with updates - six of them, in fact, just in the last few…
Tencent’s Tarisland sets second closed beta for November, talks game optimization - We've finally got a window for Tencent don't-call-it-a-WoW-clone Tarisland next testing leg. "[Tarisland's] 2nd closed beta arrives in November!" the tweet this afternoon reads. "Europe, Asia & America, get ready…
New World kicks off the Siege of Sulfur event on August 30 - New World's ongoing season is pushing forward with yet another event: Siege of Sulfur. The event will have you taking on sulfur elementals on to protect sandwurm eggs, which sounds…
BioWare is restructuring – and that means 50 roles ‘eliminated’ at the studio - Bad news for BioWare today, as General Manager Gary McKay has admitted that the studio's impending reshuffle means a wave of layoffs. McKay says the company "must shift towards a…
WoW Factor: Long-shot potential additions for World of Warcraft’s next expansion - Last time we were here, I wound up just talking about potential class and race additions for the next World of Warcraft expansion. As I said then, it's not really…
Not So Massively: First impressions of Warcraft Rumble - Being Canadian and living door to the global superpower down south sometimes feels like being the overlooked younger sibling of a celebrity, so it's always a real thrill when we…
Albion Online announces Wild Blood update for October – here’s the teaser trailer - This whole summer, Sandbox Interactive has been teasing Albion Online's next big update - the one with shapeshifting weapons, the new tracking system, and the elaborate system for awakened items.…
Diablo IV summarizes gameplay features and quality-of-life coming in October 17 Season of Blood - We already got a trailer from Gamescom out of Diablo IV, but now we've got a bit more information about October 17th's Season of Blood, including some of the season's…
Fallout 76’s season 14 is live, kicking off the kitschy Fight for Freedom - Feeling overwhelmed by all the launches today? Have another one: Fallout 76 is unfurling the banner of Season 14 aka Fight for Freedom as of this afternoon, with its satirical…
Destiny 2’s The Final Shape arrives February 27, 2024, as season 22 launches today - Bungie is pushing onward with Destiny 2's next chapter: This afternoon during its Twitch broadcast, the studio took the wraps off The Final Shape, expected to be the last installment…
First Impressions: I sat through Wayfinder’s queues so you don’t have to - Over the past few days, I have spent many hours waiting in Wayfinder's seemingly endless queues. But what of the game at the end of that queue? Is Wayfinder worth…
UK CMA confirms block of Microsoft’s acquisition of ActiBlizz, prompting a restructuring of the deal - The UK's Competition and Markets Authority continues to be a hard hurdle for Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard to clear. As a refresher, the UK government body put a pause to the…
Evercore Heroes ends updates August 24, ‘significantly’ shrinks its dev team, and focuses on redesign - This past June saw Evercore Heroes, a self-described competitive PvE fusion of MMO and MOBA, enter into closed beta, and though it made an extremely strong argument in favor of…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s content pipelines and what we’re getting for whom - I don't really pay attention to the gristle mill of reaction videos we get for Final Fantasy XIV because, well, why would I? It's at best well-meaning content put out…
Embracer Q1 FY 23/24: Sales and debts improve, Cryptic MMOs bolster back catalogue - It's time for another MMO and multiplayer fiscal report, this time coming from Embracer Group, the company that owns Gearbox Publishing, which owns Cryptic Studios and its MMORPGs along with…
Elder Scrolls Online’s Update 39 is live on PC/Mac today with lowbie UX revamp and more - Just in case you thought there wasn't enough going on this week, The Elder Scrolls Online is delivering update 39 to PC and Mac players today.[AL:ESO] "During the ESO Global…
Overwatch 2 hopes to ‘move forward’ after Steam review-bombing and Invasion update - It's likely been challenging to be Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller: The hero shooter is still being absolutely browbeaten on Steam, with negative player reviews rising another 30K since last…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 434: Wayfinder finds the way to early access
The Stream Team: Popping in for another peek at Palia
The Stream Team: Sewer delving and discovery in Dungeons and Dragons Online
The Stream Team: Starting Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure
The Stream Team: Celebrating 10 years of Final Fantasy XIV ARR
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.
