Going through our coverage of 2019’s MMOs, I realized there are a bunch of games that have previously been on our “anticipated” lists that didn’t do a whole lot of anything this year. What’s going on with Cryptic’s Magic MMO or Re-Evolve? When will we get something solid out of Funcom’s Dune MMO or the MMORPG CCP Games is working on? Or even Raph Koster’s new game? Where’s Mad World and Ascent Infinite Realm? What about Blue Protocol and Phantasy Star Online 2? Heck, even The Sims folks were hiring for an unannounced MMO. There’s so much in production that’s still just a whisper, and while some of it’s still new (like Koster’s game), I’m grumpy that we still don’t have a solid line on stuff like, say, Lost Ark.
Let’s talk about these types of under-the-radar-but-still-in-production MMOs in today’s Massively Overthinking. What MMO were you hoping to hear much more about this year?
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I’ll be the weird one and say that I was hoping for a lot more info from PWE’s Re-Evolve. (Plus I know everyone else is going to point at A:IR). Andrew got to see Re-Evolve at E3 2018, and it looks like one of the better mobile offerings in the cutesy sandbox MMO subgenre I’ve seen. But we got barely one blip of info on its Chinese progress, and really none for ours. Sadface.
I was hoping for a lot more progress on things like Camelot Unchained and Torchlight Frontiers, but I can’t exactly accuse them of not keeping us informed of what’s going on, I suppose.
I also can’t wait to hear more about Koster’s game, but I know that’s in early stages and we’re a long way away from that. I remain impatient anyway.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): I am unnaturally grumpy for not hearing much out of Ascent: Infinite Realm. At least from an aesthetic/setting standpoint, that game looks so much like my jam and it kinda sucks that it’s been mostly quiet. Granted, that likely means that the devs are hard at work on its release, but I still am squirming in my seat to know more about it. Then again, there is also such a thing as information burnout. Camelot Unchained has incidentally poured a bit of cool water on my enthusiasm for its overabundance of updates. So I guess I shouldn’t whine… but still, I really want to steampunk it up.
Colin Henry (@ChaosConstant): I want to know what John Smedley is up to. I was intrigued by Hero’s Song, but, following the team being picked up by Amazon Studios, it was shut down before I felt like it was “done” enough to be worth a first look. The first impressions I saw of the game were mixed, but I’m interested to see what that team can do with an Amazon-sized budget.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): I was looking forward to Peria Chronicles. So I guess I’ll just go f*** myself. There. There’s my Overthinking.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): As a news hound, I want to hear about all of the things — and there’s nothing more frustrating than getting teased with an MMO announcement followed by months of silence by the studio. Cryptic’s Magic the Gathering is a particular annoying spot, since I generally like that studio’s MMOs and was really excited to hear that they were teaming up with this hot IP for a new game. But we really haven’t heard anything this year, and that both makes me worried and wonder if they announced it too early or had to go back to the drawing board.
Ascent: Infinite Realm stuttered and faltered in its development communication, which is a shame because that kind of looked cool. I’m down for a steampunk MMO. I really wouldn’t mind getting more information about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO project considering that I have a vested interest in this gaming IP. I really want to know what kind of game will it be like — how expansive it’ll be, what combat style it will use, and if it will have any focus on the virtual world apart from killing everything in it.
Tyler Edwards: I guess A:IR is the main one that comes to mind for me. I’m not very big on pre-launch hype; I wait for a game to be ready before paying too much attention (with occasional exceptions), but this one looks interesting enough to be worth keeping on the radar at least. The steampunk aesthetic could be a nice break from the usual fantasy tropes. Hopefully we’ll hear more from it soon.
Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!
