We’re continuing our tour back through 2024, one month at a time, in MassivelyOP’s MMO Year in Review today.
Daybreak took center stage in February: Not only did it deem 2024 the Year of EverQuest and revive its community event in Fippyfest, but DC Universe Online saw layoffs and EG7 admitted to selling off the PlanetSide IP.
Meanwhile, Gigantic returned from the dead, Palworld kept blowing up, we learned Throne & Liberty was struggling in Korea, Ubisoft finally launched Skull & Bones, Camelot Unchained resurfaced with a 2025 launch target, and even more studios saw layoffs.
Here’s the whole recap from February of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF FEBRUARY 2024
Palworld counts 19M players across Steam and Xbox, becomes the largest third-party release for Game Pass
Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast denies that it’s looking to sell off Dungeons & Dragons
NCsoft announces plans to move Aion, Lineage II, and Blade & Soul to its Purple platform
Kickstarted VR MMO Zenith is launching a spinoff F2P co-op RPG called Zenith Infinite Realms
Former devs of The Day Before recount a workplace of employee fines, shifting whims, and ‘pure megalomaniacal chaos’
Microsoft will require Final Fantasy XIV players to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass in order to play the game
Tencent buys up majority stake of Swords of Legends developer and gains access to the IP
Scars of Honor is a throwback to the ‘golden age’ of MMOs with a $200K Kickstarter
Disney invests $1.5B into Epic Games with plans to create a ‘huge Disney universe’ in Fortnite
Skull & Bones’ soft launch is underway for preorder players ahead of next week’s formal release
Lunar New Year events around the MMORPG world, 2024 edition
Former Overwatch 2 lead vfx artist calls out Blizzard for deceptive promotion and pay behavior
Microsoft insists Activision-Blizzard was planning on mass layoffs before the merger
RuneScape’s Jagex confirms it’s being sold for the fourth time in eight years as it talks up ‘forever games’
Daybreak’s DC Universe Online studio Dimensional Ink is the latest games team hit with layoffs
Magic to Master goes crypto, ties down a publisher, and eyes a nebulous February early access release window
NCsoft Q4 2023: Guild Wars 2 is a bright spot for NCsoft as Throne & Liberty stumbles
EG7 Q4 2023: DCUO’s delayed latest-gen console launch hurt Daybreak’s revenues last quarter
Star Wars Galaxies Legends dropped a massive player city upgrade (with roads!) for Valentine’s Day
It looks like the ‘noncore IP’ Daybreak sold for $5.9M is PlanetSide after all
Crowfall owner Monumental hit with layoffs while eyeing blockchain
Valentine’s Day events around the MMORPG world, 2024 edition
Narrative director Steve Danuser quietly left World of Warcraft last fall
Diablo IV releases its uber unique crafting system, tries selling portal effects for $30
Star Citizen’s live game director vacates position after nine years at CIG
Haven is a co-op focused MMORPG being built by Blizzard, EA, and Turbine veterans
Pearl Abyss Q4 2023: Well at least EVE Online had a good financial year
Diablo IV lands on Xbox Game Pass March 28, Sea of Thieves will expand to PS5 and the Switch
Helldivers 2 will ‘never’ add a PvP mode in an effort to ‘reduce toxic elements from the community’
Skyforge devs promise that ‘development of Skyforge continues’ in spite of long silence
Embracer confirms layoffs of nearly 1400 people were part of efforts to ‘always maximize shareholder value’
Palworld’s community manager suggests you just… play other games if you’re bored
Bandai Namco reports YoY sales drop, admitting Blue Protocol JP ‘significantly fell short’
Stormgate studio plans to sell company stock to its players in order to raise marketing funds
First Impressions: Gigantic resurrects as a B2P no-cash-shop Rampage Edition on April 9
Helldivers 2 is suffering from success as servers crumble under a flood of record-breaking player numbers
Nightingale’s early access launches to mixed Steam reviews, performance hotfixing, and a growing playerbase
Kickstarted OARPG Last Epoch officially launches as players overwhelm its servers
Titan Forge’s EVE War for New Eden board game closed out a successful Kickstarter with $682K
Netmarble’s Paragon spinoff Paragon: The Overprime is slated for sunset on April 22
Daybreak announces Fippyfest 2024, an in-person and digital event celebrating EverQuest
Corepunk boss says early access launch in 2024 is ‘very realistic’
Survivalbox Nightingale pivots on co-op design, promises offline mode ‘as soon as feasible’
Temtem subreddit mods temporarily close the sub following Temtem Swarm uproar
Zenith OARPG Infinite Realms launches today as Steam reviews plummet over MMO development halt
Sony is laying off nearly a thousand workers, 8% of its global workforce, following $1.5B stock buyback
Black Desert celebrates 55M registered players and €2B revenue since 2014
EA lays off nearly 700 workers to ‘deliver the entertainment players want’ and ‘optimize its global real estate footprint’
Daybreak’s EverQuest-themed Fippyfest fan event will cost in-person attendees $1499
Star Citizen’s CIG admits to rumored layoffs, blaming restructuring and relocation
10-year-old Camelot Unchained is launching ‘late next year’ following CSE rebrand and investment haul
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF FEBRUARY 2024
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO shows little love for February
Working As Intended: Yes, you can make money as a newbie in City of Heroes
Vague Patch Notes: Why we drift away from MMORPGs we still love
Casually Classic: When will WoW Classic stop adding expansions?
Massively on the Go: Preparing for Pokemon Go’s Los Angeles Sinnoh Tour
Massively Overthinking: Do you care more about MMO stats or looks?
First Impressions: Palworld copied all the right homework to graduate as its own enjoyable game
Into the Super-Verse: Early SOs pose a perplexing problem in City of Heroes Homecoming
Wisdom of Nym: The franchise references in the world of Final Fantasy XIV
Not So Massively: Stormgate isn’t delivering a revolution (yet)
Perfect Ten: The MMO franchises that can’t count past two
Working As Intended: City of Heroes macros and popmenus for noobs
Fight or Kite: Ravendawn has a great class system, but gameplay needs polish
Into the Super-Verse: What’s wrong with City of Heroes’ Incarnate system?
Massively Overthinking: When the original MMO is better than the sequel
Working As Intended: A guide to City of Heroes Homecoming’s best player-crafted portal bases
Vague Patch Notes: MMORPGs and the PC gaming market
LOTRO Legendarium: How to walk away from LOTRO (for a while)
First Impressions: Nightingale’s survival and realmwalking blend could make it a stand-out in the sub-genre
Wisdom of Nym: What the hey is up with Final Fantasy XIV’s Xbox pricing?
Not So Massively: Lightyear Frontier is a charming blend of survivalbox and life sim
Perfect Ten: The 10 phases of MMORPG pre-launch hysteria
Working As Intended: 10 City of Heroes Homecoming base builds you need to see
WoW Factor: Steve Danuser was not really the problem with World of Warcraft
Massively Overthinking: The last great year of the MMO genre
Into the Super-Verse: So what can Homecoming do with City of Heroes’ Incarnates?
Four Winds: Phantasy Star Online 2 offers some of the best social features in MMORPGs
LOTRO Legendarium: Rethinking LOTRO’s landscape soldiers
Global Chat: What are the top dragons in EverQuest?
Wisdom of Nym: How long until Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion based on patch 6.57?
The Soapbox: Why I’m OK with ‘missing’ attacks in City of Heroes
Choose My Adventure: The Wagadu Chronicles is off to an extremely rough start
Massively on the Go: Guide to preparing for Pokemon Go’s Global Sinnoh Tour
The Daily Grind: Should MMOs stop making us heroes?
Perfect Ten: 10 problems that really hurt The Secret World
Desert Oasis: Black Desert has grown so much in its 3333 days of life
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online proves the worth of a small story arc
Into the Super-verse: Missing in City of Heroes is part of what makes it hit
Fight or Kite: Harry Potter Magic Awakened’s February update nerfed dailies and degraded the UI
Massively Overthinking: Are MMOs suffering from shrinkflation?
Vague Patch Notes: What does the future of MMORPGs look like?
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s Los Angeles Sinnoh Tour was one step forward and one step back for Niantic
LOTRO Legendarium: 10 ways LOTRO was vastly different at launch
Wisdom of Nym: The franchise references for monsters in Final Fantasy XIV
Not So Massively: Last Epoch is a potential gem in dire need of polishing
Flameseeker Chronicles: First impressions of Guild Wars 2’s The Realm of Dreams, launching today
Choose My Adventure: The Wagadu Chronicles’ worldbuilding is epic, but the gameplay…
Casually Classic: Is it worth playing into World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm Classic?
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with interesting Guinness World Records
Vague Patch Notes: The day I deleted a character in anger in Final Fantasy XI
Massively Uplifting: Dragon Con and The Game Awards demonstrate the rise of awareness, accessibility, and inclusion
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s Sinnoh Tour turned players into guinea pigs
Massively Overthinking: Always-online vs. offline modes in multiplayer games
