The end of the year means time to look forward to where we’re going – but also to look back at where our genre has been. In truth, I do these recaps for myself as much as for anyone else since it’s so easy to forget everything that happened, and this year, I tried to do them as I went instead of all at the end of the year. Either way, the result is tradition: As we did in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, let’s take a tour back through our MMO coverage, one month a day for the next 12 days, to hit the highlights and frame our upcoming journey into 2024.
January was a harbinger of the year to come, as 2023’s rash of mass–layoffs was brightened only but successful unionization efforts across our industry. The month saw John Smedley leave Amazon, the first reveal of Tencent’s Tarisland, the dramatic firing of a WoW team lead for all the wrong reasons, the final demise of The Repopulation, and of course the end of WoW in China as the rift between NetEase and Blizzard only widened.
Here’s the whole recap from January of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JANUARY 2023
Star Citizen heralds 2022 as a year of growth, touches on 3.18’s features and update plans for 2023
Square-Enix’s Yosuke Matsuda is still all-in on blockchain and NFTs even after 2022
Microsoft’s ZeniMax QA just formed the largest games industry union in the country
EVE Online says lowsec murder and ship production are up since Uprising
Workers at Blizzard-owned Proletariat say management refused its union and is ‘forcing’ them to go through NLRB voting
Final Fantasy XIV’s latest update, Gods Revel, Lands Tremble, is live now
Kickstarted sandbox MMO The Repopulation is apparently dead as Idea Fabrik’s contracted dev team quits
Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has been delayed for the sixth time, potentially to 2024
John Smedley is leaving his position as head of Amazon Games’ San Diego studio
Blade & Soul celebrates seven years and the new year in latest update
Chronicles of Elyria boss insists Kingdoms of Elyria: Settlements will ship in 2023 in spite of lawsuit appeal
Titan Reach changes its name, rebuts claims of copyright stealing, opens Kickstarter and Steam demo
World of Warcraft is offering everyone bonus Trader’s Tender for purchasing Dragonflight
Lapsed yet legitimate Lost Ark players were hit in the game’s latest ban wave
Former Lord of the Rings Online producer illuminates the MMO industry’s pay problem
Blizzard claims NetEase rejected a license extension to keep Chinese games (including WoW) up another six months
It has once again been zero days since a War Thunder player used military documents to win a forum fight
Get a first peek at Tencent’s new Chinese WoW clone, Tarisland
Microsoft and Unity collectively shed over 10,000 employees in latest round of tech layoffs
Ubisoft Paris will strike on January 27 following CEO’s responsibility-shifting
EU Parliament adopts resolution to regulate games industry harms from lockboxes to manipulative design
NetEase slams Blizzard China’s last-minute WoW proposal as ‘brash, unseemly and commercially illogical’
War Thunder players have now leaked military documents a grand total of five times to win forum arguments
Halo Infinite and Elder Scrolls Online teams were hit by Microsoft’s 10,000-person layoff
Osiris New Dawn formally departs early access for launch, having sold 600K copies
Class action law firm probes Diablo Immortal over false advertising claims
Lord of the Rings Online’s 2023 roadmap teases Corsairs of Umbar expansion theme
GDC’s State of the Games Industry survey once again demonstrates dev skepticism for metaverse and blockchain hokum
Bored Ape Yacht Club’s upcoming ‘skill-based mint’ NFT game sparks a speculation market
Lord of the Rings Online executive producer talks River Hobbits, a new launcher, and even boats
Square Enix-published Marvel’s Avengers is ending official support this fall
Old School RuneScape player reportedly makes off with nearly $120K in cash thanks to an exploit
Siege-centered PvP MMO Warlander makes its free-to-play launch, is immediately flooded with cheaters
Final Fantasy XIV director expresses frustration and confusion as another world first clear is won via addon use
E3 2023: Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony will all apparently skip the first in-person E3 since 2019
EA is sunsetting Apex Legends Mobile, canceling Battlefield mobile game
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JANUARY 2023
Not So Massively: Why I’m not playing Lost Ark
Wisdom of Nym: Ways for Final Fantasy XIV to make more use of old zones
Leaderboard: What’s the most vulnerable Daybreak MMO in 2023?
Choose My Adventure: Guild Wars delivers a shock to the system after months in the sequel
The Game Archaeologist: PlaneShift, the poster child of open-source MMOs
Leaderboard: What was the most overrated MMO of 2022?
End-of-Year Eleven: The top MMOs to watch in 2023
Vague Patch Notes: Embracing limited-time content modes in MMOs
Global Chat: Would Secret World have done better if it had been set in the 1920s?
Massively Overthinking: Hopes and fears for MMOs in 2023
WoW Factor: Why is Dragonflight’s crafting not going over well?
MassivelyOP’s complete 2022 awards debrief and annual recap
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online faces an uphill battle in 2023
Fight or Kite: Hi-Rez’s shooter Rogue Company is a less-punishing Valorant
Wisdom of Nym: Takeaways from the Final Fantasy XIV 6.3 preliminary patch notes
Choose My Adventure: How good advice led to some minor comfort with Classic Guild Wars
Wisdom of Nym: Examining Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 6.3 job changes
Massively on the Go: Splatoon 3 begins 2023 with its best Tricolor Battle iteration yet
The Daily Grind: What MMO hill would you die on?
End-of-Year Eleven: The MMOs with the most uncertain futures in 2023
Vague Patch Notes: Stop taking your released MMOs back to the drawing board
Working As Intended: The MMOs we lost in 2022
Lawful Neutral: Recapping 2022’s MMO and gaming law dramas
Global Chat: The MMO blogs you should be reading in 2023
The Daily Grind: Do you love or hate MMO pet classes?
LOTRO Legendarium: 10 more tips to improve your LOTRO experience
Vitae Aeternum: New World should do more with its housing
Wisdom of Nym: First impressions of Final Fantasy XIV’s Gods Revel, Lands Tremble content
Interview: Annex is a ‘romantic gold-rush’ MMO set in a post-post-apocalyptic world
Choose My Adventure: Nightfall might end up being the superior classic Guild Wars starting experience
Perfect Ten: Why it’s better than ever to be an MMO fan in 2023
The Daily Grind: What’s your favorite abandoned MMO system?
Vague Patch Notes: Fractured Online deserved better, even if you think it looked bad
Massively Overthinking: What were your three most-played MMOs in 2022?
LOTRO Legendarium: Reacting to LOTRO’s 2023 roadmap
Wisdom of Nym: Impressions of Final Fantasy XIV Gods Revel, Lands Tremble’s story beats
Fight or Kite: HEROish is blend of MOBA and card game aimed at both PvE and PvP players
Choose My Adventure: Landing on a stable character in the original Guild Wars
Perfect Ten: Tutorial topics every MMO really needs to cover
WoW Factor: Brian Birmingham’s ousting and the ever-deepening rot at Blizzard
The Soapbox: Comparing the monetization of physical and digital card games
Massively Overthinking: What will be your three most-played MMOs in 2023?
Vague Patch Notes: Floaty, samey, and janky – a treasury of MMO terms for bad combat
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online’s Necrom is more fanservice, but I don’t hate it
Vitae Aeternum: Obsessing over New World’s population numbers is a waste of time
Wisdom of Nym: In praise of Final Fantasy XIV’s Ultimate content
The Soapbox: Subscriptions might actually be the next big innovation in digital card games
Choose My Adventure: Classic Guild Wars just makes me want to play Guild Wars 2
THE FULL 2023 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: NetEase versus Blizzard (January 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Amazon’s expanding empire (February 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Press F7 for E3 (March 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Crisis maps (April 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Second breakfast (May 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Returning to Morrowind (June 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Dawn of the Entrails (July 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The mage’s tower (August 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The next EverQuest Next (September 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Angry Earth, hungry Microsoft (October 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The Worldsoul Saga (November 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Come on baby Light No Fire (December 2023)
