Elder Scrolls Online’s big High Isle chapter launched in June of this year, but you’d never know it because all MMO players – and anyone else – wanted to do was talk about Diablo Immortal, the Blizzard/NetEase mobile MMO whose egregiously offensive monetization makes lockboxes look like child’s play. (Please, do not let your child play any of this.) The launch was particularly rocky as only a third of registered users actually showed up to play, likely because the Chinese launch was delayed, which caused NetEase’s stock to plummet. In the aftermath, Diablo IV developers rushed to social media to convince gamers to trust the company’s future products.
Meanwhile, Tencent unveiled its new Wuxia MMORPG, the former CEO of Gazillion apologized for Marvel Heroes’ messy 2017 sunset, and WoW Classic began beta testing for Wrath of the Lich King.
Read on for the whole recap from June of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JUNE 2022
World of Warcraft wraps up Shadowlands with today’s patch 9.2.5 and faction crossplay
Tamriel Infinium: The Elder Scrolls Online’s High Isle brings new story, new lands, and a new card game to Tamriel
DC Universe Online delays episode 45 to 2023 over ‘staff shortages’
Wrongful death lawsuit filed by family of an Activision-Blizzard employee is dropped
Diablo Immortal launches on mobile and PC today with hellacious microtransactions
But seriously, War Thunder nerds, stop leaking classified military documents
World War II Online marks 21 years by handing out premium access to everyone for a limited time
EVE Online’s ‘revitalized’ multiple character training monetization sends players into a tailspin
Microsoft promises ‘creative and collaborative approaches with unions’ in official blog post
Diablo Immortal players estimate being fully geared up will cost $110,000 in microtransactions
Elder Scrolls Online’s big 2022 chapter, High Isle, is live on PC today
WoW Classic to retire 21 servers while Diablo II improves its lobby
BioWare-supporting studio’s QA workers vote to form Canadian union
Albion Online heads Into the Fray with today’s update – check out the new trailer!
Crowfall’s Gordon Walton joins Raph Koster’s Playable Worlds MMO and platform
Saudi Arabia buys a $1B chunk of Gearbox’s Embracer Group to extend games reach to the MENA region
Fallout 76 exposé reveals a culture of crunch and chaos from devs who snubbed MMOs
Newly relaunched Kritika Online’s cash shop is just as gross as you’d assume
Summer Game Fest 2022: Warframe’s Duviri Paradox, Nightingale teaser, and more
Its legal options exhausted, Activision-Blizzard finally agrees to negotiate with union after half a year of clowning
Overwatch 2 launches early access October 4, Diablo IV is slated for 2023
Gamigo’s Echo of Soul will close July 15, though a new publisher could potentially take over
Diablo IV devs take to Twitter to get ahead of monetization fears spawned by a job posting
Microsoft and CWA union enter into ‘labor neutrality’ agreement that will ultimately apply to Activision-Blizzard
EVE Online players robbed billions from interstellar banks this past May
Neverwinter’s Dragonslayer module launches today on PC and console
ARK 2 heralds a 2023 release window in new trailer and opens up a Steam page
You can watch – but not play – TERA’s last quest before its shutdown
Former Gazillion CEO apologizes for Marvel Heroes’ chaotic 2017 shutdown
MMO sandbox BitCraft picks up another $22M in funding round led by Roblox CEO
Overwatch 2 shares seasonal patch plans from its October launch with PvE planned for 2023
Activision-Blizzard workers on Board’s exoneration of execs: ‘The fish rots from the head’
Conan Exiles accidentally leaks a video announcement of its large-scale Age of Sorcery update
Diablo IV talks up player choice in PvE and endgame while Diablo Immortal rakes in $24M in revenue
Diablo Immortal delays its launch in China, sending NetEase stock into freefall
300K players got hit by Lost Ark’s promised ‘massive’ ban wave
12-year-old MOBA Heroes of Newerth has officially sunsetted
Diablo Immortal snagged only 10M players out of its 30M registrations
US Senator Ted Cruz and Asmongold could have a meeting over gaming microtransaction legislation
Interview: ArcheAge’s Ham Young Jin on the Great Prairie, the western build, and beyond
Blizzard says World of Warcraft Dragonflight will launch in 2022 as preorders begin
Activision-Blizzard shareholders reject employee Board rep, approve workplace abuse reports
The original Secret World suddenly finds itself back on digital store shelves
WoW Classic begins Wrath beta, defends #SomeChanges design philosophy
Jagex announces new hires for a new ‘open world survival game within the RuneScape universe’
These are the online gaming companies supporting reproductive choice and healthcare for workers
Tencent’s teased UE5 MMORPG is codenamed To Jin Yong, a Wuxia open world headed for global release
Guild Wars 2 team vows ‘better context’ for controversial class changes following death threats
Guild Wars 2 adds emboldened raids, more rewarding strikes, and contentious balance changes in today’s update
Trove’s Sunrise update is live today with the new Solarion class and Sundered Uplands biome
Blizzard bought out Spellbreak’s Proletariat to shore up the World of Warcraft team
Xbox head says reports of crunch at Fallout 76 studio are from a time when crunch ‘was just part of the industry’
Say farewell to TERA – Gameforge and Bluehole sunset it tomorrow just before dawn
Pokemon Go’s Niantic scuttles four more gaming projects and lays off 85+ people
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JUNE 2022
Perfect Ten: Weird ways we heal each other in MMORPGs
Vague Patch Notes: Mobile MMOs, free-to-play MMOs, and the path of microtransactions
MMO Burnout: Miss Heroes of Might and Magic? Try Songs of Conquest
Massively Overthinking: Making money in MMOs – easy, hard, or in-between?
WoW Factor: What was the point of Shadowlands?
The Soapbox: Are modern games more disposable than ever?
Not So Massively: First impressions of Diablo Immortal on PC
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.15 is a bit late in its arrival
LOTRO Legendarium: Which LOTRO race is the best to play?
Choose My Adventure: Slow-going through Final Fantasy XI’s more recently added systems
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go Fest 2022 was not the worst Go Fest by a long shot
Perfect Ten: 10 things you can spend money on instead of Diablo Immortal
Design Mockument: Mocking up Final Fantasy XI-2
Perfect Ten: The stupid reasons I have had for sacrificing sleep for MMOs
Massively Overthinking: ‘Every MMO inconvenience is someone else’s game’
WoW Factor: The shrinking landmass of World of Warcraft’s ‘Azeroth’
Into the Super-verse: Is there any hope left for the future of superhero MMOs?
Fight or Kite: New World’s 3v3 arenas are unplayable if you’re not already level-capped
Wisdom of Nym: Examining Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.15 in the wild
Tamriel Infinium: Big-name voice actors you didn’t know were in Elder Scrolls Online
Choose My Adventure: Final Fantasy XI shows its age and its nostalgia in equal measure
Perfect Ten: The 10 NPCs you meet in MMORPGs
Vague Patch Notes: Examples of predatory monetization in the MMO industry
Massively Overthinking: Which classic MMOs hold up the best visually in 2022?
WoW Factor: How greater-scope villains harm World of Warcraft’s storytelling
LOTRO Legendarium: Return to Moria hopes to fill a niche crevasse
Not So Massively: Enduring Space Punks’ sensory onslaught
Wisdom of Nym: The status of the Garlean legions in Final Fantasy XIV
Choose My Adventure: What Final Fantasy XI taught me about games preservation and the ‘good old days’
Perfect Ten: The old-school guide to grouping up in Final Fantasy XI back in the day
Vague Patch Notes: You are not immune to predatory monetization in MMOs
Massively Overthinking: The second big five MMOs
WoW Factor: All right, so we’re going to speedrun to Dragonflight after all
LOTRO Legendarium: Embracing Lord of the Rings Online’s new class/race combos
Wisdom of Nym: So what will we hear in the next Final Fantasy XIV live letter?
Fight or Kite: King of Crabs is just what you need to start your summer right
Tamriel Infinium: Was Elder Scrolls Online’s One Tamriel actually a bad idea?
Choose My Adventure: Forewarned is forearmed in my return foray to V Rising
Perfect Ten: Abrupt MMO sunsets that shocked us
WoW Factor: Looking at Dragonflight’s release schedule with math
Massively Overthinking: Is MMO class balance achievable – or even desirable?
THE FULL 2022 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: Microsoft has entered the chat (January 2022)
MMO Year in Review: End of Dragons, Lost Ark (February 2022)
MMO Year in Review: From Ukraine aid to Throne and Liberty (March 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Leaky Blizzard and Lord Blockchain (April 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Press F for another Marvel MMO (May 2022)
MMO Year in Review: High Isle and Diablo Immoral (June 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Smedleyfaire (July 2022)
MMO Year in Review: DUNE, Neptune, and Island Sanctuaries (August 2022)
MMO Year in Review: The Lich King (September 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Embers and Brimstone (October 2022)
MMO Year in Review: Blizzard China (November 2022)
MMO Year in Review: The FTC strikes back (December 2022)
