Can we all just agree that Halloween on a Tuesday is weird? Like, why can’t it be Friday or Saturday for some bangin’ weekend parties? Who wants to go to work the next day after eating half a bag of her kids’ candy? Well, if you have proper life priorities (and the willpower to resist all that candy), you can still get your fill of Halloween festivities for the next week or so thanks to MMORPGs, which are more than happy to fill in the gaps with virtual events – this really is the biggest mass-event period of the whole years for virtual worlds. And you don’t even need to wake up early for work with a candy hangover on a Wednesday – bonus! Here’s our roundup of all the events ongoing right now:
Aion Classic EU tasks players with helping the Pumpkin Kings save Halloween in latest event - It's trick or treat time in the EU version of Aion Classic! That means Halloween treats for those who help each faction's Pumpkin King and thwart the villainous Shulack Sugarcrooks…
Albion Online opens the Allhallows Hallowed Ground dungeon for Halloween through mid-November - You might have noticed that Albion Online was suspiciously missing from our recent Halloween roundup - but it was only because it hadn't started yet. As of last night, Allhallows…
APB Reloaded’s Halloween event returns – but for PC only - A warning has been issued to all APB Reloaded units notifying them of a dangerous Headless Horseman in the vicinity. This is due to the return of the crime MMO's…
Astroneer’s fall event has players farming up sturdysquash in spaaaaace - It's three great tastes that taste great together: It's space sandboxes, it's farming, and its a Falloween event. Yep, Astroneer's traditional fall event is back, inviting players to harvest space…
Black Desert plots three spooky Halloween events for its console, PC, and mobile editions - Halloween begins to arrive in Black Desert today - in three different ways across its multiple global versions. "Starting this week, Pearl Abyss hosts a hauntingly horrific Black Desert makeover…
Champions Online’s Halloween event, Blood Moon Rises, returns - In a game that's wall-to-wall costumes and dropped loot, every day is pretty much Halloween. But do you know what's more Halloweeny than that? Champions Online's Blood Moon event, which…
Dark Age of Camelot celebrates the Halloween holiday with its usual selection of events - It's another year of Halloween goodies for Dark Age of Camelot, though this year's celebration is pretty much a repeat of last year's. Even so, those who are still playing…
DC Universe Online goes dark and cursed for its October update - Hope you weren't expecting sunshine and posies in DC Universe Online this month because this superhero MMORPG is all about embracing its shadowy side in October. [AL:DCUO]On Thursday, Daybreak released…
Destiny 2’s Festival of the Lost returns for the Halloween season, is met with general player dissatisfaction - The masks are on, the weapons are loaded, and the Halloween season is now online for Destiny 2: It's time for the annual Festival of the Lost, which features some…
Diablo Immortal’s Hallow’s Wake event brings cosmetics and costumes from now until November 2 - There's plenty of monsters to slay and blood to bathe in when playing Diablo Immortal, but starting this week, those who are playing the OARPG can really get into the…
Diablo IV is free-to-play on PC through Battle.net until Monday - So if you were staring longingly at the free trial for Diablo IV granted to Xbox players earlier this month, you can stop now because it's coming to PC too.…
Dungeons and Dragons Online’s Halloween event returns with new rewards - Boo! Boo who? Oh, don't cry little dungeon crawler. For you see, the Night Revels, Dungeons and Dragons Online's Halloween event, is back in full swing among the denizens of…
Embers Adrift releases new hair, alchemy, and a roadmap for the rest of 2023 - Embers Adrift isn't resting on its laurels Halloween week like so many other MMOs: It's pumped out a new patch to bolster its ongoing anniversary festivities, and the patch focuses…
EVE Online’s Crimson Harvest Halloween event brings murderous good times to New Eden - What does Halloween in space look like? For players of EVE Online, it looks like the annual Crimson Harvest event, which has come back to the stars of New Eden…
Fallout 76 celebrates five years with streams, gifts, and events as Halloween comes to the wasteland - It's hard to believe it but Fallout 76 will be turning five years old in November, which means that Bethesda Softworks is preparing a whole bunch of celebrations across the…
Final Fantasy XI fires up the Harvest Festival once again - Veterans of Final Fantasy XI are quite accustomed to the game's Harvest Festival by this point. There are both tricks and treats, and several of the treats by adventurer standards…
Flameseeker Chronicles: Five Guild Wars 2 event farms to combat your labyrinth letdown - My favorite thing about Guild Wars 2's Shadow of the Mad King Halloween event is the Mad King's Labyrinth. There's nothing quite like it, even at the game's other festivals.…
Fortnite embeds an official Alan Wake gameplay experience as Fortnitemares is underway - Who wouldn't want to play the somber and atmospheric Alan Wake within the cartoon-y and generally more colorful pastiche of Fortnite? Yes, it's true: There is a full-blown official Alan…
Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is an adorable free-to-play ‘multiplayer pumpkin carving simulator’ - There are plenty of MMO, MMORPG, and multiplayer games having lots of Halloween fun, but they arguably don't quite hit the most traditional of notes in terms of their activities;…
Ghostly death returns to Book of Travels in its biggest update since its early access release two years ago - Might and Delight's tiny MMO Book of Travels has traveled a very long way through its early access launch two years ago - and now, it's launching its biggest update…
Grand Theft Auto Online celebrates Halloween with thematic modes, extra rewards, and a spooky mask - The world of Grand Theft Auto Online is dangerous enough without Halloween hijinks complicating matters, but that's precisely what's happening across Los Santos as the spooky season is back once…
Guild Wars 2 introduces a ‘leisurely’ version of the Mad King’s Clock Tower for Halloween - As promised, Guild Wars 2's Shadow of the Mad King is live today across Tyria, bringing new and old content 'round for the Halloween season. In fact, some of the…
Guild Wars 2’s latest roadmap plots events, balance, and betas well into 2024 - As we noted this morning, ArenaNet has announced Guild Wars 2's next Secrets of the Obscure chapter, Through the Veil, but as it happens the team isn't just stopping there:…
Hi-Rez just officially announced SMITE 2, soft-launching into beta this year – but SMITE will stay online - Have you ever wanted to play SMITE but with better graphics, improved matchmaking, and more modes and special events? Well, soon you can! Except it will not be an overhaul…
Lord of the Rings Online’s Harvestmath Festival returns with a new mount and cosmetics - Lord of the Rings Online's autumn events are underway today as the Harvestmath Festival has officially returned to Middle-earth - and it's got fresh cosmetics in tow. "Fall is considered by…
Lord of the Rings Online’s Yuletide Festival is live - Yesterday was Halloween, today is Christmas. That's how it feels like, at least, and Lord of the Rings Online is doing nothing to dissuade us of a rapidly passing holiday…
Lost Ark’s Monster Bash October update launches the continent of Pleccia today - It's called the Monster Bash, and it was meant to go live this morning in Lost Ark's October update. Don't get too excited at the reference, as it's not technically…
Mad World shares the rest of its 2023 roadmap with tribal wars and Halloween - Poor Mad World: This splatterpunk horror MMO was birthed into this world in about the most messy fashion possible while still surviving. And as we continue our long vigil for…
MapleStory’s Halloween update, the Midnight Carnival Nautilus, is almost upon us - MapleStory understood the assignment: Halloween is en route, and it's spooky and adorable all at the same time. Nexon revealed the Midnight Carnival Nautilus v.245 update last night, promising the…
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go goes to Hisui with poor timing - Pokemon Go has a lot to make up for after last month... nay, last season. The bonuses were terrible, the Research Breakthrough 'mon were dull, Showcases frequently broke (and still won't…
MMOs You’ve Never Heard Of: Wild Card Football, Bish Bash Bots, Silica, Zombie Within - Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMOs and MMO-adjacent multiplayer titles you've (probably) never heard of! This edition is mostly smaller-scale multiplayer, but maybe something will pique our MMO…
Neverwinter previews Spelljammer’s Defense of the Moondancer trial - On Halloween, Cryptic rather abruptly announced Spelljammer, Neverwinter's next module, for November 7th. In addition to adding a new adventure zone and overhauls of boons and Paladins, the update will…
New World’s Halloween event, Nightveil Hallow, is live today through November 14 - In what is the first real patch (not just a hotfix) since the launch of Rise of the Angry Earth, Amazon is delivering New World's 3.0.1 update today, and as…
Old School RuneScape previews its next wave survival activity, reruns last year’s Halloween event - Old School RuneScape is once again bursting at the seams with all sorts of news and updates, from future plans to current events and even a new novel. With that…
Overwatch 2 Season 7 adds a Diablo-themed Halloween event, reworks Sombra, and tweaks Route 66 map - We already knew that more information about Season 7 in Overwatch 2 was on the way from Blizzard, and now we have the full skinny, with details about this year's…
Palia’s latest beta patch offers pumpkins, romance, and a challenging obstacle course - You didn't think a cozy MMO like Palia was doing to let the Halloween season slip by without mention, did you? No sir, and Singularity Six has rolled out the…
Past Fate’s alpha refines combat, brings new cooking recipes, and celebrates Halloween - While testing of Past Fate may be closed up once more after its July open alpha weekend, that doesn't mean people can't keep up with the sandbox MMORPG's progress. As…
Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis gets more quests, story, events, and level cap raise in October - It's the final week of September, and that means Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is looking ahead to the slate of October updates that are coming for the anime…
PlanetSide 2’s Halloween event, Nanite of the Living Dead, is back through October 31 - Lest you think that Daybreak had forgotten about PlanetSide 2 in its mad rush for announcements and releases for its five other MMORPGs this week, the studio has kicked off…
PvP MMO Gloria Victis has officially sunsetted as Siege Survival Gloria Victis marches on - Back in August, we relayed the unfortunate news that Polish indie studio Black Eye Games was sunsetting siege PvP MMORPG Gloria Victis after a decade of early access and several…
RIFT revels in Autumn Harvest celebrations during its Steam Tennaversary - You know what MMO threw a pretty good Halloween time? RIFT. Its Autumn Harvest was one of the better annual festivals for the MMO with some special quests, minion adventures,…
Runes of Magic brings a haunted house, spooky in-game letters, and boosted earnings for Halloween - The Halloween season stretches its candy-coated fingers across all of the MMORPG genre, including the still-running Runes of Magic, which is setting up plenty of seasonal events throughout the month…
RuneScape’s Halloween event offers up masks, overhead emotes, and fort decor for smashing pumpkins - Monday, October 16th, may be known as the greatest day ever known by players of RuneScape. That's because the MMORPG's Halloween event will go live as it brings all kinds…
Shroud of the Avatar prepares to celebrate 10 years of monthly updates in December - It's been almost 10 years since Shroud of the Avatar started making monthly updates - since December 2013 by Catnip Games' reckoning, which is when the Chicken Room first became…
Sky Children of the Light celebrates the crab-filled Days of Mischief for the Halloween season October 23 - When an event is known as the Days of Mischief, it can probably go one of two ways: either very playfully or very badly. But did you expect it to…
Splatoween returns to Nintendo’s Splatoon 3 just in time for Halloween - Splatoween - the Splatoon version of Halloween - is making its return to Splatoon 3 this year from October 27th-29th after a noticeable absence last year, Nintendo announced this week. While players…
Star Citizen shares a new sprint report and kicks off Halloween events - It's the end of the quarter for Star Citizen's weekly video digests known as Inside Star Citizen, and the last video for this series has a familiar format for regular…
SWG Legends kicks off the Galactic Moon Festival 2023 for Halloween - Halloween comes not just to live MMORPGs but to dead ones - dead ones still running on rogue servers, that is. So it is with Star Wars Galaxies' Legends server,…
Temtem’s Endless Night update arrives today with a new mythical being to collect - Just when you thought you caught them all in Temtem, here comes a spanking new update to prove you wrong. Patch 1.5: Endless Night arrives today, bringing with it Season…
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v7.0 - Once again we put a wrap on another year of MMORPG news, opinions, and -- most pertinent to this column -- history. In a way, Massively OP is a history…
The Stream Team: Enjoying pumpkin carving in The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival - It's not often you find a game that is planned to only be around for a limited time annually, but when it follows a specific holiday, it makes more sense.…
The Stream Team: Fighting against fear in Final Fantasy XIV’s All Saints’ Wake Halloween event - The Halloween season has once more descended upon Final Fantasy XIV, as has the dastardly voidsent family that seeks to feast on people's fear, which means it's up to MOP's…
The Stream Team: Heading to AQ3D’s Pizza Hero Horror Nights - Massively OP's MJ loves spooky, horror, and Halloween so how could she not jump for joy when AQ3D announced Pizza Hero Horror Nights? She's eager to experience an old pizza…
The Stream Team: Mad King says check out the Stopped Clock Tower in Guild Wars 2! - [AL:GW2]What Mad King says, you do! That's just how the holiday works in Guild Wars 2. And who is Massively OP's MJ to argue? She always looks forward to Halloween-time…
The Stream Team: Making more Mogloween memories in AQ3D - Although Massively OP's MJ loved the addition of the Friday the 13th Ravenspire adventure and the Five Nights of Fright in Pizza Hero in AQ3D, she still loves the the…
Tower of Fantasy previews its next character arriving October 24 and begins celebrating ‘Halloweeks’ - Do you like tragic heroines? Do you like Halloween? Then you'll probably enjoy what Hotta Studios' Tower of Fantasy has been cooking up for you over the next few weeks,…
Trove brings back its Shadow’s Eve Halloween event with a new questline and new rewards - The Halloween chill has descended upon the cubic land of Trove once again, as the MMO is kicking off Shadow's Eve this week with both new and familiar seasonal fun…
Villagers and Heroes brings back raids, ushers in Halloween Horde of Horrors - There's an ill moon hanging over Villagers and Heroes these days. Wait, did we say "ill?" We meant "chill." A totally chill moon over a chill game that's smiling down…
Vitae Aeternum: New World Rise of the Angry Earth’s generous endgame and season three - We have now arrived at the final installment of my impressions of New World's first paid expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth. Having already covered new features like mounts and…
Warframe prepares a headless horsewoman for its spooky October update - Hope you're ready to embrace pure space horror because Warframe's October update is anything but tame and safe. Last night, Digital Extremes announced that it's bringing Update 34: Abyss of…
Warframe’s Halloween-themed Abyss of Dagath cements 2023 as the year of creep - It is no secret how much I love Halloween, horror, and all things eerie and spooky, so learning about Warframe's next update Abyss of Dagath both before and at TennoCon…
Warframe’s Whispers in the Walls adds new narrative, hub, and Tenno ‘skin’ - What is TennoCon but the opportunity to debut something big for Warframe? Every year Digital Extremes introduces players to new and exciting content that's quickly -- and not so quickly…
Warhaven releases its new Bard character and begins the Halloween Soulsdance Festival - Last week saw the team-based PvP medieval fantasy brawler Warhaven bring the rock as it started its first pre-season featuring the arrival of the new Bard class. In order for…
Warhaven’s first pre-season arrives October 18 with a Halloween event and a new Bard class - What would happen if Jack Black and Ozzy Osborne were mashed together, thrown into a medieval world of endless warfare, and told to bring the power of rock to the…
Wizard101 brings out a new gold skeleton key boss with ‘valuable’ loot - You should always be suspicious when things get a little too quiet around the Halloween season: That's when you know that evil is up to sneaky things. Wizard101 sniffed out…
World of Tanks gets into the spooky spirit with the Halloween-themed Mirny Lost Hope event - You would think that rumbling into a spooky location in a fully loaded tank would make you feel safer, but that is likely not the case for World of Tanks…
World of Warcraft brings Hallow’s End to Azeroth once again - You are probably not scared of the dark in World of Warcraft and you definitely aren't scared of dragons, because Dragonflight is downright lousy with them. It's dragon o'clock over…
World of Warships runs a cross-promotion with the 24-year-old Heroes of Might and Magic III - Winner of this year's "Out of Nowhere Award" comes the news that World of Warships is hosting a cross-promotional collaboration with Heroes of Might and Magic III. You know, that…
We’ve got a few more that didn’t quite make it into our formal post roundup:
- MechWarrior Online is running a Trick or Treat lootbag event.
- Super Animal Royale, which MJ and Chris can’t stop toying with, has a big Halloween event running with a new mode through November 10th.
- The original SWG Emu’s Finalizer server invites players to the Something Wicket This Way Comes event, with the finale running on Halloween itself.
- AdventureQuest 3D has brought Mogloween back for another season.
- Paragon The Overprime is granting game currency for matches through Halloween.
- Fiesta Online has been beset by a malevolent threat in its Maze of Madness event.
And let us not forget the streams (and podcast) where we focused on Halloween stuff this year:
DragonCon 2023: Costumes and cosplay were a treat - A key component of Halloween is the tradition of dressing up as favorite characters, be they from folklore, history, literature, media, or even every day life. And Dragon Con is…
Massively OP Podcast Episode 441: A Blizzard trick or treat - Justin and Bree discuss MMO Halloween events, Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard acquisition, WoW Classic's LFD, Embers Adrift, and Ship of Heroes, with adventures in LOTRO, New World, and WoW Classic, plus a…
The Stream Team: A day with Dagath and Warframe’s Halloween horror update - [AL:WarF]Ever since it was introduced at TennoCon 2023, Massively OP's MJ has been eagerly awaiting Warframe's Abyss of Dagath update. She can't help but anticpate it with its Halloween-themed horror…
The Stream Team: Finishing up AQ3D’s newest Friday the 13th adventure - As Massively OP's MJ discovered last week, AQ3D's new Friday the 13th adventure was too robust to finish in just one stream. And she's definitely not complaining! She's eager to…
The Stream Team: Halloween F.A.R.M.ing in Astroneer - The award for the most pumpkin-tastic event for Halloween goes to Astroneer! It may be a simple event of gathering and growing sturdysquash, but Massively OP's MJ looks forward to…
The Stream Team: Howloween in Super Animal Royale - If there's one thing that we've learned, it's that if the game is adorable, Massively OP's MJ and Chris can't resist! Toss in a Halloween... er, Howloween event, and they…
The Stream Team: Pumpkin smashing and chocolate hoarding in Dungeons & Dragons Online’s Night Revels - [AL:DDO]While Halloween is for collecting candy in meatspace, Night Revels is for collecting treats in Dungeons & Dragons Online. Instead of gorging in these treats, however, Massively OP's MJ gets…
The Stream Team: Returning to the fire house of Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed - It just isn't the Halloween season until you've experienced Ghostbusters, and MOP's Chris is headed back to the asymmetrical multiplayer title Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, particularly after it got several updates…
The Stream Team: The hunt for Halloween coins and spooky activities in Tower Unite - The season of Halloween has landed in the multiplayer game world Tower Unite with coins to collect, seasonal goodies to spend those coins on, and whatever appropriate activities he can…
The Stream Team: The truth about Neverwinter’s Masquerade of Liars - [AL:NW]It's here again: Neverwinter's Masquerade of Liars. And Massively OP's MJ is going to expose the truth of it! The truth is... it's a Halloween-themed festival focusing on costumes, illusions,…
Spot any more we missed – ideally the type that aren’t just costume or pumpkin photography contests? Drop ’em in the comments!
