Trouble continued brewing at Activision-Blizzard in April as UK regulators made clear their intent to impede Microsoft’s acquisition, Blizzard MAUs and revenues sank in line with Overwatch 2’s performance, and a World of Warcraft producer admitted that Blizzard’s talent losses had forced the studio to create “crisis maps” to handle the exodus of workers.
Meanwhile, CCP Games dug in its heels on its blockchain EVE spinoff, the Mortal Online 2 devs announced a new sci-fi MMO dubbed Mortal Exodus, Amazon Games was hit with layoffs that spared the New World team, and we got our first hint that Throne & Liberty would be delayed again – and it was.
Meme credit to the WoW team’s genius social media liaison, who frankly deserves a better place of employment.
Here’s the whole recap from April of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2023
April Fools’ Day events in the MMO world, 2023 edition
Star Wars The Old Republic opens its first cloud-based server for testing in the Asia-Pacific region
Galaxies of Eden devs cancel plans for social sandbox MMO to develop dubious AI-generated playground
New World’s Fellowship & Fire launches today as Amazon apologizes for the delay
No Man’s Sky adds a new ship type, corrupted planets, and sentinel tech with the Interceptor update
Multiplayer survival sandbox Frozen Flame launches survival mode ‘open beta’ today
Early access retro PvP MMORPG Leafling Online has sunsetted over waning interest
Amazon Games hit with layoffs, but ‘the New World team in Irvine will grow’
Greg ‘Ghostcrawler’ Street is already forming a new MMO studio
NCsoft is taking Kakao’s ArcheAge War to court over alleged plagiarism of Lineage 2M
Interview: Spellcraft’s game director on the first public alpha and its intense gameplay
EVE Online sees another large-scale battle erupt at X47L-Q, causing the server to groan under the strain
Path of Exile’s Crucible expansion and league go live this afternoon on PC
CCP Games’ CEO defends Project Awakening’s existence as the studio seeks a blockchain ecosystem dev
‘Our bad’: Wildcard addresses Ark Survival Ascended debacle and server sunsets
Raph Koster predicts the future of the metaverse is a ‘virtual Machu Picchu’ – that you can leave
World of Titans fails its Kickstarter, pulls its demo, and promises ‘something huge’ – all while selling founder’s packs
Elder Scrolls Online studio addresses allegation of fan art used on cash shop skin
War Thunder welcomes Minecraft to the ‘gaming playerbases leaking military secrets’ club
EVE Online’s month-long battle at X47L-Q concludes with a destroyed keepstar and trillions of ISK in losses
Albion Online surpassed 300K daily players – a new record – thanks to Albion East’s launch
Star Vault says newly announced sci-fi MMO Mortal Exodus won’t pull resources from Mortal Online 2
Path of Exile launches Crucible for console today as PC delivers new 321K peak concurrency
Microsoft president and US intel say Russian operatives are targeting gaming for espionage
EVE Online players commandeered a dormant guild and made off with $22K in plunder
Elite Dangerous joins a host of science fiction-focused events at the London Science Museum on May 4
Lord of the Rings Online is testing major new customization options for hairstyle, skintone, and gobs more
Wayfinder delays its global beta to May and its early access to summer
Players cry foul over Call of Duty Warzone cash shop skins that offer unfair advantages
Pokemon Go’s Niantic pushes Marvel World of Heroes into beta, announces Monster Hunter Now
World of Warcraft producer claims Blizzard is bleeding talent and creating ‘crisis maps’ for feature releases
Minecraft Legends launches with plenty of blocky multiplayer battle strategy
BlizzCon 2023 is still happening, Blizzard’s Mike Ybarra tells Twitter fans
Multiplayer cozy game Fae Farm has been delayed from spring 2023 to late 2023
Harry Potter Quidditch Champions is a competitive multiplayer title currently taking playtest signups
Rumor: Throne & Liberty has been delayed to fall 2023, CBT arrives in May
CCP Games is already sunsetting EVE Anywhere after just a year in the wild
DC Universe Online releases Episode 45 Shock to the System to PC and all consoles today
Lord of the Rings Online celebrates 16 years of adventure with a fireworks goat mount
Champions Online’s Cryptic says it’ll ‘start exploring more inclusive customization options’
Square-Enix claps hands with a blockchain game platform that ‘hides web3 technology under the hood’
Tencent’s World of Warcraft clone, Tarisland, plans global rollout
That NetEase lawsuit against Blizzard turns out to have been a… bizarre clerical error?
Aion Classic has officially launched in its third region: Europe
Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis gets housing, a new enemy type, and cel-shaded visual options in June
Cliff Bleszinski is apparently interested in a LawBreakers revival
UK regulators block Microsoft’s buyout of Activision-Blizzard
Amazon is shutting down New World’s and Lost Ark’s forums next week in favor of Discord
Activision-Blizzard Q1 2023: ABK revenues are up as Blizzard MAUs fall back down to reality
NCsoft’s Throne & Liberty announces another round of Korean testing in May
Whatever happened to Kickstarted sci-fi PvP sandbox Dual Universe?
MapleStory is deleting a whole character – Jett – after 11 years in the global version
Mad World’s free-to-play launch stumbles out of the gate and misses its Steam release target
Block of Activision-Blizzard merger is ‘darkest day’ for Microsoft in the UK, Brad Smith argues
New World is finally letting players create multiple characters on a single server
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2023
LOTRO Legendarium: Eight features I’d love to see added to LOTRO
Wisdom of Nym: What we know so far about Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.4, the Dark Throne
Why I Play: Diablo III – From Reaper of Souls to today
Choose My Adventure: The Neverwinter Bard continues to rock even as the challenge level rises
Fight or Kite: Starborne Frontiers is an autobattler with plentiful monetization schemes
Perfect Ten: 10 MMO promises that are not filling me with confidence
Massively on the Go: It’s Pokemon NO time again for Pokemon Go players
Vague Patch Notes: E3 is gone, but it’s only half a victory
Massively Overthinking: Tabletop and boardgames for MMORPG players
Storyboard: Pros and cons for scripted narrative stories in MMOs
The Game Archaeologist: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Casually Classic: 20 tips for surviving the WoW Classic community’s hardcore mode
Wisdom of Nym: This is how Final Fantasy XIV wants you to play, even if it doesn’t say so
Choose My Adventure: The Songblade makes Neverwinter’s Bard rock even harder
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Typhlosion summons ghost of former self for raids
Perfect Ten: 10 reasons New World deserves a second look
Massively Overthinking: How to alienate your MMORPG playerbase
Elder Scrolls Online counts 22M players, teases Necrom content, and schedules April 17 PTR test
Storyboard: When is an MMO story ‘real’?
Why I Play: Pokemon Go (and why I shouldn’t)
LOTRO Legendarium: Is the Burglar LOTRO’s least-loved class?
Leaderboard: Is an overlay map essential in OARPGs?
Choose My Adventure: Rocking my way to max level Bard play in Neverwinter
Massively on the Go: Splatoon 3’s Eggstra Work could be fun if it entailed less social work
Perfect Ten: 10 ways World of Warcraft feels like a dead mall
Vague Patch Notes: If there’s any sort of metaverse, it’s already here – and it’s not what you think
Four Winds: The Artist has become my favorite support class in Lost Ark
Massively Overthinking: What should MMOs do when guild leaders vanish?
Global Chat: Black Desert is the MMO sandbox to beat
LOTRO Legendarium: Making sense of LOTRO’s virtue system
Vitae Aeternum: Analyzing New World’s disappointing first season
Wisdom of Nym: We don’t need another Final Fantasy XIV – we already have one
The Daily Grind: How could Blizzard make World of Warcraft more appealing to former players?
Choose My Adventure: Endgame in Neverwinter nearly rocks my Bard’s face apart
Casually Classic: Eight legacy MMOs to satisfy that old school craving
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s May lineup embraces Niantic’s bugs
Massively OP Podcast Episode 419: Dining at the MMO news buffet
Warframe of Mind: A sneak peek preview of Warframe’s The Duviri Paradox
Perfect Ten: 25 text-based MMOs and MUDs that are worth playing in 2023
Vague Patch Notes: Can the gaming industry move on from high school, please?
Massively Overthinking: The MMOs you know you’re done with
WoW Factor: Dragonflight wasn’t a hit – so now what?
Desert Oasis: Returning home to Black Desert Online
LOTRO Legendarium: On the occasion of Lord of the Rings Online’s sixteenth birthday
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)
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