E3 is already shaping up to be interesting before it even begins: So far, we’ve heard more about both Anthem and EA’s new Jedi-centric Dark Times-era Star Wars game as well as posted up our wish list for Bethsoft’s Fallout 76.
Meanwhile, Valve abdicated all responsibility for what it profits from on Steam, CCP announced a mobile EVE Online game called Project Galaxy, Hi-Rez launched Realm Royale on Steam, Bless Online tried to recover after its messy launch, and we posted our post-launch impressions of Elder Scrolls Online Summerset.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
E3 2018: BioWare’s Anthem has soloable co-op open world, no lockboxes, a sweet trailer, and a February 22 launch - At this afternoon's EA Play, EA and BioWare have revealed Anthem's brand-new trailer. The game is now slated to launch on February 22nd, 2019. During the developer discussion, BioWare said…
E3 2018: EA confirms its open-world Star Wars game, Jedi Fallen Order - At EA Play this afternoon, Electronic Arts confirmed that it is indeed working on a Star Wars game, previously rumored as an open-world game. The game's title is Star Wars: Jedi…
Perfect Ten: What I’ve always wished for in a Fallout MMO - This week I've been absolutely consumed by the thought of Fallout 76. I know, I know I shouldn't get my hopes up for a proper MMORPG, but even the prospect…
Massively Overthinking: Why is no one meeting the obvious player demand for big MMORPGs? - Massively OP reader ichi_san has a burning question about the state of the industry. "Lots of people seem to be looking for an MMO they can get into - consider…
Steam’s new moderation policy is even less of a moderation policy than before - If you have learned nothing about Steam, you have probably noticed that Valve is actively disinterested in moderating, curating, or really interacting with the platform beyond collecting money from games…
Tamriel Infinium: With Elder Scrolls Online’s Summerset, more of the same is a good thing - [AL:ESO]Today is the formal launch day for Summerset! My goal during the PC early access was to finish the main storyline, and I'm happy to say that I did it…
Bless Online goes on an all-out offensive with its upcoming 140-player battle - Pushing back against poor reviews and mass refunds, Bless Online has grand plans to turn public perception of the game around with big ol' battles. Neowiz dropped a preview of…
Guild Wars 2 fans grow impatient for episode 3 while Pride Month commences - [AL:GW2]The slow rollout of Guild Wars 2's season 4 is starting to severely tax the patience of the MMO's community and content creators. It's now been three months since episode…
Wild West Online pivots away from faction system PvP, plans free trial - Another week, another huge plan change for Wild West Online. Newly installed studio (or maybe the old studio with a new name) DJ2 Entertainment says it's completely deleting the faction…
The Soapbox: Do MMOs still fall victim to the copycat curse? - When Radical Heights launched, I was inspired to put together a whole Perfect Ten about why trend-chasing doesn't work for online games. Obviously, my chief focus was on games that…
Little Orbit on Fallen Earth: ‘There is something special here worth rebuilding’ - Could the acquisition of GamersFirst -- including APB Reloaded and Fallen Earth -- be what actually saves these games? Players of these long-abandoned MMOs are holding onto a fresh hope…
Valve elaborates on trolling policy amid moderation criticism - This past week's announcement by Valve stating that the company would not moderate or vet games that it sold except for ones that were "trolling" or straight-up illegal stirred no…
The Division will roll out shields system, new legendary mission modes in next week’s update - You're probably mentally gearing up to hear more about The Division 2 at E3 this year, but Ubisoft has reiterated its resolve to continue supporting the original The Division with…
The Survivalist: Eight ways to give Just Survive a fighting chance - Do you remember at the beginning of May when Just Survive was talking about "working on a plan to go forward"? I understand if you don't: It almost seems as…
The Game Archaeologist: Myst Online - The impact of Myst in 1993 was akin to an atomic bomb going off in the PC gaming world. The leap forward in graphical fidelity (aided by the large storage…
Leaderboard: What’s the ideal way for an MMO studio to handle toxicity? - MOP reader BulletTeeth pointed us to a piece on The Verge this week about an incident in online shooter Battalion 1944. A highly placed e-sports team member, SUSPC7, apparently went…
Black Desert’s Lahn class awakens today as Kakao counts 8.5M registered players and bans 738 cheaters - [AL:BDO]As promised, Lahn Awakens in Black Desert today, which is preeeeetty fast turn-around for a new class in the game. "She can swiftly switch between awakening and pre-awakening skills enriching…
More rumors: Fallout 76 is a co-op game coming in August - While we will have to wait for the June 10th Bethesda E3 showcase for the full scoop on Fallout 76, the rumormill is churning out some interesting possibilities from alleged…
Diablo builds a new game while Hearthstone preps free packs and events - [AL:Hearth]A job listing for a Blizzard dungeon artist has the gaming community buzzing today, as this particular listing is for a "new and unannounced" Diablo title. This confirmation of a…
Hi-Rez launches standalone F2P game Realm Royale, a mix of ‘open-world PvP MMO and your favorite hero shooter’ - You can't accuse Hi-Rez of not chasing trends: Not only is it introducing a battle royale mode to SMITE, but it's actually just launched a standalone free-to-play battle royale game…
Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion will launch September 4 - We're updating below the fold! [AL:D2]If you're still playing Destiny 2, you're going to want to catch Bungie's reveal livestream today. The studio has promised it'll dish on the game's…
Champions Online puts subscription switch on hold in light of player disapproval - [AL:Champ]So, as we reported Friday, Champions Online was on deck to lose its subscriptions just like Star Trek Online. Except that as many, many players pointed out on the forums with…
Hi-Rez is basically maintenance-moding Hand of the Gods - Back in May, we covered the bizarre silence surrounding Hi-Rez's SMITE-infused free-to-play online card game Hand of the Gods. At the time, the information and update flow had completely and dramatically…
CCP Games announces EVE Online mobile game called Project Galaxy - CCP has just announced a brand-new mobile MMO, being built in conjunction with NetEase. It's called Project Galaxy, and yes, it's intended as the mobile version of EVE Online. CCP…
Lord of the Rings Online 22.2 update is live with sweeping class balance changes, wearable instruments, and new story quests - [AL:LOTRO]It's release day for Lord of the Rings Online. Update 22.2 is the big ol' class balance patch that everyone's been fussing about for the last few weeks. "We have…
Star Wars Galaxies creator Raph Koster to release postmortem book on MMORPGs - Raph Koster is certainly a well-known name in the MMORPG industry who has spent his career working on titles such as Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Metaplace, and Crowfall. But…
Warframe teases The Sacrifice trailer and June update – including the next frame - [AL:WarF]Warframe has been busy preparing its next major story update. It's called The Sacrifice, it's coming in June, and it's even getting an honest to goodness teaser trailer and splash…
Secret World Legends preps first anniversary event, delays next mission pack - [AL:SWL]If there's one thing that the Secret World Legends team does really well, it's keeping upcoming content, well, a secret. It can't help itself there. Even so, Lead Designer Chris Meredith…
Bless Online apologizes for poor game balance while players find novel ways to break the game - Is there any possible redemption for Bless Online? This disastrous soft launch has many players throwing up their hands and demanding refunds (not to mention flocking to competing titles). Any…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 173: The Bless Mess
The Stream Team: First steps into Outpost Zero
The Stream Team: Grabbing more ARK glow pets
The Stream Team: Scouting out future Conan Exiles tames
The Stream Team: A first look at claymation survival game Disdoored
The Stream Team: Raiding Path of Exiles’ temple
The Stream Team: Basement dwelling in a Secret World Legends’ mansion
The Stream Team: A first romp in Paladins’ Realm Royale
The Stream Team: Going to the temple in Path of Exile’s Incursion League
The Stream Team: Talking Teen Titans in DCUO
The Stream Team: Prowling through AdventureQuest 3D’s Dragon’s Graveyard
The Stream Team: The wacky world of WildStar turns four
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Before the Storm rips our hearts out in the best way possible – a spoiler-free review
Battle for Azeroth to have global launch, will technically go live August 13 for NA
The Kul Tiran Druid flight form is awesomely horrifying
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the little bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
