![New World Beast Lords cutscene](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/New-World-Beast-Lords-cutscene-e1697840122261-696x231.jpg)
New World opened the gates of its Rise of the Angry Earth expansion this month, driving its servers and queues to capacity all over again (and largely charming our writers) with a new weapon and – finally – mounts.
October also saw the final steps in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. You guys, there was a trailer, so you know it’s real. And yes, Bobby Kotick is apparently on his way out… in just a few more days, in fact.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV released its Growing Light update, Destiny 2 set off a firestorm with layoffs and retention chaos, Cryptic briefly revived Giganic, Elder Scrolls Online patch in the Endless Archive, and Pantheon admitted to the rumored extraction side-game.
Here’s the whole recap from October of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF OCTOBER 2023
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FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF OCTOBER 2023
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ultimaonline.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/lotro-mariner-1.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/everquest-2-mage-doing-mage-crap.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ffxiv-won-65content-epl-1008.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cma-header-new-world-cliff-view.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/eqnext.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/everquest-next.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/lotro-bree.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/wow-factor-alts-epl-1208.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/newworld-07.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/lotro.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ffxiv-won-64ll-epl-514.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ashes-of-creation-spooki-tower.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/p10-value-epl-1222.jpg)
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![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pokemon_go_not_so_feast-y.jpg)
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wow-factor-alphabeta-epl-127.jpg)
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THE FULL 2023 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
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