We’re wrapping up our tour of the biggest MMORPG stories of 2024 with the conclusion of MassivelyOP’s MMO Year in Review today. Thanks for joining us – time to start compiling 2025 now! (But seriously, I’ve actually started compiling 2025 already.)
December was an odd month, as instead of seeing a big slow-down, we get a huge rush of big news and even some launches as studios try to beat the Christmas deadline. We saw the staggeringly huge debut of Path of Exile 2, Pantheon’s long-awaited early access launch, the release of EverQuest’s Outer Brood expansion, Throne & Liberty’s first major global update, the implosion of Dauntless, another major MMO team union, and the disturbing news that Elder Scrolls Online is killing its traditional content cadence for 2025 in spite of huge profits. Plus, we kicked off our annual end-of-the-year content, complete with our 2024 awards series, with Throne & Liberty, Guild Wars 2’s Janthir Wilds, and Stars Reach taking top honors.
Here’s the whole recap from December of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials. Thanks for reading!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF DECEMBER 2024
Pantheon lists its 22 early access launch servers opening on December 13
Black Desert brings the Awakened Dosa to console, announces native PS5 and Xbox Series builds
The Diablo franchise boss seriously suggested that ARPGs should be called ‘Diablo-likes’
Pokemon Go is testing a monthly reward program that caps out at $500 a month
New World has enlisted rapper T-Pain and other influencers for a ‘T-Party’ Aeternum stream today
Ubisoft is shuttering XDefiant already, along with multiple studios – around 277 workers affected
Classic EverQuest’s 31st expansion, The Outer Brood, is live – and so is a brand-new EverQuest book
DC Universe Online’s new leadership teases new content format and event system in 2025
MMORPG vet Rich Vogel says the games industry is recovering more slowly than he expected
Now XLGAMES is sunsetting the Korean version of ArcheAge too
NetEase formally unveils its cute new solo/co-op game ANANTA (fka Project Mugen)
Throne and Liberty’s Call of the Spear is live with the new spear weapon and dimensional trials
Marvel Heroes emulator project gets loot updates and functioning missions in 0.4.0 build
CCP does not want you calling its blockchain game EVE Frontier a blockchain game
Marvel Rivals’ free-to-play launch hits over 400K Steam players, solid reviews, and purchase problems
Elder Scrolls Online’s 10th anniversary fizzles as ZeniMax cancels its North American meetup
Path of Exile 2 wrestles with database issues and half a million Steam concurrent players
Dauntless players express frustration over Awakening update’s mechanics and monetization
China’s mobile Blue Protocol ARPG rebrands as Star Resonance with a new test for December
Marvel Rivals’ similarity to Overwatch apparently annoyed former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra
Fantastic Pixel Castle shares new prototype gameplay and dev plans for its Ghost MMO
Star Wars: The Old Republic GU 7.6 goes live today with Dynamic Encounters and new PvP season
Serbian post-apoc MMOFPS Pioner is set to launch in 2025
World of Warcraft has added a whopping 38,000 quests in 20 years
Star Wars Galaxies Restoration teases new species, a housing deco upgrade, and a combat tree overhaul
Chronicles of Elyria dev claims development is ‘progressing steadily,’ but no, you can’t see it
Former Dauntless dev decries Awakening update as ‘blatantly not player focused’
Eight-year-old indie superhero MMORPG Ship of Heroes sets a Q2 2025 launch window
Marvel Rivals director speculates on Concord’s demise: “I don’t think anybody can accurately predict” flops
All the big MMO and multiplayer news from The Game Awards 2024
Pax Dei invites you to go on a shopping spree as its Market Square update is live
The Secret World TTRPG group is working on a North American expansion book
Lost Skies’ island construction tool is officially launched and F2P on Steam
Happy holidays: 461 Elder Scrolls Online studio developers just unionized
Warframe 1999 is officially live with new romance and story content
Sandbox MMORPG The Quinfall announces early access release date of January 25
Dauntless details plans to change rewards, progression, and gear after Awakening’s player backlash
Elder Scrolls Online ends its chapter-based cadence in favor of a seasonal model in 2025
World of Warcraft’s Siren Isle update goes live this evening with a new zone and Plunderstorm
Blizzard’s 2024 infographic is light on useful info, but gamers did play 8.34B hours in Blizz games this year
Lord of the Rings Online’s 2025 roadmap includes an expansion and new 64-bit servers
Ashes of Creation starts up the second phase of Alpha Two this weekend
Amazon already greenlit a second season of its videogame-themed Secret Level series
New World’s PvP seasonal worlds and season 7 launch January 21
Star Citizen alpha 4.0 releases as a ‘preview’ version that runs parallel to the ongoing alpha 3.24.3
Winter holiday events around the MMORPG world, 2024 edition
World of Warcraft previews the features of its Undermined update as Winter Veil brings the Christmas spirit
There’s still no ETA for the return of Corepunk’s servers, but there are test shards up now
Dune Awakening shares closed beta stats and answers questions about PvP death and Landsraad benefits
Ashes of Creation previews new dungeon, new races, and player housing added in Alpha Two phase two
Star Wars: The Old Republic touts 2024’s modernization efforts, updates, and Mac beta
Shroud of the Avatar lead dev joins another new studio, this time as ‘chief velocity officer’
War Thunder nerds have once again posted classified hardware docs to argue for game vehicle balance
WoW Classic players manage to recreate the infamous Corrupted Blood event
Final Fantasy XIV dev discusses over-streamlined battle content as the Heavensturn New Year’s event returns December 31
Riot Games tries to rebuff report that Arcane TV series was a ‘financial miss’ for League of Legends
Publishing of Tower of Fantasy Global will revert to Perfect World in 2025
Tree of Savior to merge its Brazilian and North American servers together
Superhero MMO project City of Titans shows off gameplay improvements after a quiet 2024
Lord of the Rings Online explains why it announced the new 64-bit servers early without all the details
Former WildStar dev Tim Cain claims the MMO’s lengthy development hurt its launch
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF DECEMBER 2024
Wisdom of Nym: The myth of Final Fantasy XIV’s budget
Choose My Adventure: Starting life as a Jem’Hadar in Star Trek Online
Not So Massively: ZeroSpace’s MMO-inspired Galactic War and other PvE modes
End-of-Year Eleven: The healthiest live MMORPGs going into 2025
MMO Hype Train: My growing obsession with Stars Reach
Vague Patch Notes: Nostalgia isn’t the problem with pining for your MMO past
Massively Overthinking: The top three MMOs we played in 2024
Design Mockument: In defense of visual ability customization in MMORPGs
Casually Classic: Ranking WoW Classic’s six starting zones
Fight or Kite: IfSunSets tasks players with surviving the night on a zombie-filled island
Wisdom of Nym: Good aim and bad for Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail predictions
Choose My Adventure: Tiny ship takes on big battles in Star Trek Online
End-of-Year Eleven: The biggest MMO surprises of 2024
The Daily Grind: Which MMOs do you see yourself trying in 2025?
Casually Classic: WoW Classic’s unusual gift of time
Vague Patch Notes: EVE Frontier’s blockchain foundation makes it a worse MMO
Not So Massively: Deep-diving ZeroSpace’s factions and final thoughts on the beta
Massively on the Go: Planning your Pokemon GO December 2024 Community Day targets
Massively Overthinking: The best and worst MMO developer quotes of 2024
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Most Underrated MMORPG
Design Mockument: What should Guild Wars 3 look like?
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Rogue Server
LOTRO Legendarium: Looking back at LOTRO’s run in 2024
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Most Improved MMO
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Biggest MMO Blunder
The Soapbox: The Dauntless Awakening update is just as bad as advertised for veteran players
Wisdom of Nym: Reflecting on Final Fantasy XIV’s custom delivery clients
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Trend
Vitae Aeternum: Analyzing New World’s 2025 ‘living roadmap’
Working As Intended: The hits and misses of our 2024 MMO predictions
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best New MMO Class
Vitae Aeternum: New World’s Secret Level episode and Amazon’s odd priorities
End-of-Year Eleven: The biggest MMO stories of 2024
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Biggest MMO Disappointment
Vague Patch Notes: MMORPG accelerationism is a stupid sucker’s game
Casually Classic: Putting a cap on WoW Classic’s crazy 2024 run
Massively Overthinking: Our MMO predictions for 2025
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: MMO Studio of the Year
WoW Factor: The pros and cons of stripping timer requirements from World of Warcraft’s Mythic+ runs
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: MMO with the Stormiest Future
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best PvP MMO
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Business Model
Wisdom of Nym: The highs – and lows – of Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 7.15 stories
Fight or Kite: Multiversus is actually still incredible – but it’s not without some missteps
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Not-So-Massively Game of the Year
Choose My Adventure: Wrapping up Victory is Life and wrapping my head around a new ship in Star Trek Online
The MassivelyOP Podcast in review, 2024 edition
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Golden Yachties: Most embarrassing MMO announcement
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives, 2024 edition
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Crafting
A look back at the MMO and gaming science topics of 2024
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: MMO Story of the Year
End-of-Year Eleven: The top MMO expansions of 2024
Tamriel Infinium: I’m no doomer, but I’m worried about the future of Elder Scrolls Online
Vague Patch Notes: My favorite five MMO columns of the year edition
Warframe of Mind: Appreciating the opaque nonsense of Warframe’s storytelling
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best Classic MMO
LOTRO Legendarium: Digging into LOTRO’s 2025 roadmap and new server panic
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Housing
Make My MMO: The biggest MMO crowdfunding stories of 2024
The great and majestic One Shots Awards of 2024
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s January dough
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Golden Yachties: Best worst post
The Daily Grind: Will you Kickstart any MMOs in 2025?
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: MMO Expansion of the Year
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s Summoner has always been a problem
The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG has the brightest future heading into 2025?
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Biggest MMO Surprise
Choose My Adventure: All of the MMOs you made us play in 2024
Goodbye to all the reasons we can’t have nice things in MMOs, 2024 edition
THE FULL 2024 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: City of Heroes comes home (January 2024)
MMO Year in Review: PlanetSide on the move (February 2024)
MMO Year in Review: The bewildering announcement of Guild Wars 3 (March 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Stop killing games (April 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Cataclysm redux, Pandaria remix (May 2024)
MMO Year in Review: A Gold Road to a new New World (June 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Dawntrail, our summer destination (July 2024)
MMO Year in Review: War Within, Janthir Wilds (August 2024)
MMO Year in Review: ArcheAge Chronicles (September 2024)
MMO Year in Review: The rise of the Amazon MMORPG (October 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Moving house to Midnight (November 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Pantheon and Path of Exile 2’s festive debuts (December 2024)
