Welcome to MMO Hype Train, a new column here at Massively OP! In this space, I’ll be channeling my excitement, speculation, and curiosity about upcoming MMO projects into what I hope will be a healthy and entertaining fashion. After all, the wait for these games might be really long, so why not fill up that time with conversations about these MMOs? I’m pretty enthused to be diving into all of this with you!
I have so many titles to talk about, but when I did a quick gut check about what I wanted to talk about for this debut piece, one title immediately leaped to mind: Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Initially announced back in January 2014, Pantheon has struggled down a strange, sometimes sad road to get to where we are today — a mere two months away from early access.
Friends, I’m ready for it. And I have deep concerns.
When Pantheon was unveiled to the world a decade (!) ago, it sparked some fierce hype in certain MMO quarters. Brad McQuaid was a then-legendary designer in the genre, and his work on EverQuest and Vanguard created a cult following (especially in the case of the latter). For many fans, Pantheon was to be Vanguard 2.0, a do-over to bring justice to a neglected design.
While the initial Kickstarter failed — which raised some warning signs — the project surged forward with other crowdfunding methods and a dev team that sometimes worked for less than peanuts. A lot of folks were hanging their hopes on this MMO as being the next great PvE title that would return to the “good old days” of the genre, and Pantheon routinely showed up in players’ most-anticipated lists.
The long development process and the struggle to adequately fund Pantheon suffered a third blow when McQuaid passed away in 2019. He wasn’t the only person leading this project, sure, but he was a major figurehead and visionary. There was a period of time after his death that a lot of us figured that Pantheon would fold entirely, and nobody would’ve blamed the devs if they’d done just that.
But they didn’t, and the project continued forward. I’m not interested in recapping every single twist and turn that Pantheon’s seen over the past 10 years, but last year’s sweeping graphic changes and the bizarre (but fortunately canceled) pivot to create an extraction shooter-style game out of the MMO shook a lot of confidence that this would go the distance.
Now here we are, staring down a December early access release to an MMO that, frankly, most of MMO gamers haven’t seen, tested, or know too much about beyond gut feelings. Visionary Realms is now in the unenviable position of getting a game ready for launch while simultaneously trying to make a solid case for why we MMO fans should care about this title. I don’t get the sense that a lot of people really know what this game is supposed to be other than in vague, sweeping terms, and sometimes I feel the same in spite of covering it for years.
Yet I do want Pantheon to succeed, very badly, despite seeing it as an incredible underdog at this point. I don’t think I’m going out on any limb here — in fact, I’m hugging the tree trunk — when I say that this looks like Visionary Realms is in a launch-or-die situation. Crowdfunding, investor support, and loyal following only goes so far, and then you’ve got to bring a product to market, find another approach, or call it a day.
Pantheon isn’t ready for prime time, in case the term “early access” doesn’t make that clear, and the devs are already specifying what content (including races and classes) will and will not be available on launch day. The studio can say that “this is not a soft launch” all it likes, but c’mon, it’s totally a soft launch. It’s the framework of an MMO, not a fleshed-out one, and players are going to see that from the start.
The only question is whether enough will stick around to give Pantheon the runway to get to a full MMO state.
Concern and interest in a game aren’t mutually exclusive; sometimes, they go hand-in-hand. As I said, I really do want Pantheon to buck the odds and prove itself in a satisfying and encouraging way. I am totally going to be picking up a copy of this (as long as it’s not over, say, a $40 price point) and would love to come back to you at the end of December and happily report that it’s a bit of a sleeper hit — a better-than-expected MMO offering that shows a lot of promise.
Because the alternative is really somber to consider. Maybe there isn’t much of a Day One crowd at all. Maybe those who get into this find a half-baked MMO that doesn’t offer much that we don’t already get elsewhere with better support and production values. If that happens, 2025 is going to be a very hard year for this title.
Either way, Pantheon won’t be reinventing the genre, but its early access could be the start of an even longer journey — a journey to becoming the MMO that McQuaid and company envisioned way back when. If it can garner some good word-of-mouth, assemble a steady playerbase, and make enough money to keep the doors from closing, perhaps this will be the Christmas delivery that we’ve been waiting for over the past 10 years.
Make it good, Pantheon. You’ve got just one shot at a first impression in a fickle field. I’m rooting for you.
Do you love spectating and speculating about upcoming MMOs? We do too! Every week, Justin tackles another upcoming title on the MMO Hype Train with opinions, analysis, and blind fervent hope. Choo choo all aboard!
