The bloodbath across the industry continued in March with layoffs at everything from EA and Disney to CCP Games and Twitch – and the cancelation of E3.
Meanwhile, Destiny 2 players mourned the death of Lance Reddick, EVE Online dabbled in crypto again, Pax Dei and Bellatores burst onto the MMO scene, and Ghostcrawler left the Riot MMO.
Here’s the whole recap from March of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF MARCH 2023
Meet Pax Dei, a well-funded open-world social sandbox built to ‘true MMO scale’
Bless Global is back again, this time on mobile and Steam as a shambling blockchain horror
EA lays off hundreds of Apex Legends QA testers
Chronicles of Elyria boss justifies website rebuilding, communication, and re-opening the Discord
Following another weak quarter, Square-Enix will replace Yosuke Matsuda as president
Embers Adrift’s newest dev video plays up its largest patch to date
Square-Enix’s Babylon’s Fall went out with the wimpiest of whimpers
Hitman series developer IO Interactive teases its work on an upcoming online fantasy RPG
Bless Global is already delisted on Steam after trying to push crypto racket
Kakao’s mobile MMO Moonlight Sculptor is closing down in May after less than two years online
CCP Games laid off more than dozen staffers from its EVE Online and FPS studios
Blizzard commissioned artists to paint an entire chapel with Diablo IV’s gothic art
Riot Games alums form The Believer Company, putting $55M investment to work on possible MMO
Austrian court finds FIFA lockboxes violate the country’s gambling laws, orders Sony to issue refunds
Greg ‘Ghostcrawler’ Street leaves Riot – and the Runeterra MMO he was spearheading
World of Warcraft reveals Embers of Neltharion while planning for its next patch before the end of the month
Wayfinder, still wrapped in NDAs, drops new trailer ahead of PAX demo and panel
Sony legal docs suggest hypothetical ways Microsoft could hurt Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles
Bellatores sounds like a full-scale Korean PvP sandbox MMORPG, now aiming for 2024
Blizzard is handing out Diablo IV early beta access in exchange for eating Kentucky Fried Chicken
NCsoft is launching Battle Crush, a new MOBA, to PC, Switch, and mobile this year
Roblox confirms that it had $150M in Silicon Valley Bank, now shut down by regulators
Star Citizen enters alpha 3.18 with more persistence, a new graphics renderer, and more ships and locations
City State says new hires put Camelot Unchained progress ‘ahead of schedule,’ debuts Hamadryad race
6000 EVE Online players and four alliances went to war over the weekend
Elder Scrolls Online’s update 37 and Scribes of Fate DLC are live on PC and Mac today
After 14 years, Enjin drops guild site building tools in favor of blockchain and NFT tech
Conan Exiles releases third and final chapter of Age of Sorcery as Funcom turns 30
Star Citizen apologizes for its messy alpha 3.18 launch as the game progresses to a partial outage state
Former Trion boss Scott Hartsman illuminates the rise and fall of RIFT
Lost Ark’s Art of War March update launches tomorrow morning while you sleep
NCSoft unveils a mobile and PC MMORTS codenamed Project G
Ex-Blizzard execs Jen Oneal, J Allen Brack, and John Donham form Magic Soup Games
The Riot MMO marches onward, Riot says, following Ghostcrawler’s departure
VR MMO Zenith drops support for PS VR1 and Quest 1 headsets
A Counter-Strike player shelled out six figures for an AK-47 skin because it had flowers and stickers on it
Classic EverQuest celebrates 24th birthday with new mission, new quests, and XP bonus
Could an AI bot do a better job as a games company CEO than an actual human?
Diablo IV’s paid closed beta aka ‘early access open beta’ is officially underway
Destiny 2 players mourn the death of Lance Reddick, longtime voice of Commander Zavala
Diablo IV’s first open beta night was slammed with long queues, disconnects, and performance issues
EverQuest II community accuses Daybreak of pay-to-win over raid chests
MechWarrior Online rebrands as MWO: Legends, crams a new tier of Mech and mini battle pass into cash shop bundles
Interview: Century Age of Ashes looks to the future of PvE and balance as Season 2 begins March 21
Derek Smart posts video for impending return of 14-year-old MMORPG Alganon
Square-Enix is still all-in on its NFT game, Symbiogenesis
Twitch lays off 400 workers following CEO’s resignation
World of Warcraft patch expands Monk options and returns to the Forbidden Reach today
CCP Games officially unveils plans for a new blockchain game set within the EVE Online universe
Lord of the Rings Online’s Return to Carn Dûm launches today with new dungeons and the Warden/Captain revamps
Final Fantasy XI producer Akihiko Matsui passes the torch to Yoji Fujito
Ship of Heroes’ arrival on Steam is imminent as Heroic is still planning launch in 2023
For Science: Crit-Rate is another survey-driven attempt to match gamer personalities to games
Elite Dangerous delays update 15 and ‘major feature rework,’ re-opens console transfers in April
Nexon dives further into NFT and blockchain games with MapleStory N and a MapleStory Universe ecosystem
PvPvE dungeon crawler Dark and Darker was booted off Steam over stolen code allegations
PAX East 2023: Wayfinder unveils new character, battle pass plans, and April closed beta testing
Warner Bros. pulls MultiVersus’ beta offline in June, plans full launch next year
Star Wars: The Old Republic kicks off Galactic Season 4, PvP Season 2, and 64-bit client
XLGames’ NFT MMO ArcheWorld arrives in the Americas April 20 in spite of (or because of) weak start in Asia
Neverwinter’s Salvatore-penned Menzoberranzan module is live on PC and console today
Guild Wars 2’s Super Adventure Box – and part of an unfinished World 3 – is live ahead of April Fools’ Day 2023
Japan drops Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard antitrust probe as lawmakers scrutinize Japanese gaming market
Foxhole studio announces Anvil Empires, a persistent war sandbox MMO with thousand-person battles
Activision-Blizzard and NetEase’s breakup was caused by long-brewing disputes and alleged threats
Donkey Crew announces new survival game Bellwright as Last Oasis begins fourth year of early access
Disney axes its fledgling metaverse division as part of a 7,000 employee layoff round
Grimdark MMOARPG Mad World is finally launching April 27
Electronic Arts lays off hundreds of employees as part of a ‘restructuring’ plan
Star Citizen ramps up its timetable to release 3.18 patches in order to deliver alpha 3.19 on schedule
Path of Exile’s April 7th update Crucible gives weapons their own skill trees
E3 2023 has officially been cancelled
EverQuest II pulls a crate containing controversial treasure-boosting keys from its cash shop
Final Fantasy XIV is delivering patch 6.4, The Dark Throne, in late May
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF MARCH 2023
Perfect Ten: 10 small Guild Wars 2 details that make it special
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft is just coasting down the mountain
Massively on the Go: Splatoon 3’s new season and paid DLC creatively blast the past
Massively Overthinking: How should MMOs handle in-game criming?
Vague Patch Notes: Why I’m anticipating Blue Protocol
Lawful Neutral: What MMO gamers need to know about Section 230
LOTRO Legendarium: Six unpopular opinions about Lord of the Rings Online
Wisdom of Nym: How is Final Fantasy XIV going to end?
Choose My Adventure: Starting out in Embers Adrift is just as tough as expected
Fight or Kite: Shadowverse is a wildly successful card game, but it takes cash to compete
Perfect Ten: 10 franchises that deserve another shot at an MMO
Tamriel Infinium: How ZeniMax should fix Elder Scrolls Online’s combat
Vague Patch Notes: Being there or getting there in MMORPGs
Massively Overthinking: The FOMO in our MMOs
Interview: The Wayfinder team on group size, customization, monetization, and more
WoW Factor: Everything we know about Embers of Neltharion – so far
LOTRO Legendarium: 17 groovy places to visit in LOTRO’s Minas Tirith
The Soapbox: Hating on the competition is no way to promote an MMO
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 6.35 content is a mixed bag
Choose My Adventure: Embers Adrift defeats me
Massively on the Go: Why Pokemon Go elite raids fail while Scarlet/Violet tera raids fly
Perfect Ten: 10 pieces of striking MMO cover art
Vague Patch Notes: How WildStar’s first dungeon killed me
Massively Overthinking: When is localization itself the kiss of death for an imported MMORPG?
WoW Factor: Narrative justification for every missing class/race combo in World of Warcraft
LOTRO Legendarium: 16 more fun places to visit in LOTRO’s Minas Tirith
Global Chat: Are we gaming in the ‘Age of Diablo?’
Not So Massively: Diablo IV’s beta brings the horror, but not the fun
Wisdom of Nym: Potential destinations for Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion
First impressions of Diablo IV: Resurrecting Diablo II once again
First impressions of Destiny 2’s Lightfall – through the lens of a long-lapsed player
Perfect Ten: A primer on 10 very basic MMO fight mechanics
Fight or Kite: Faeria is a cross between a card game and skirmishing boardgame
Wisdom of Nym: What will a new producer mean for Final Fantasy XI?
Casually Classic: How permadeath runs are revitalizing WoW Classic
Massively Overthinking: The times MMO developers admitted they were… wrong
Vague Patch Notes: The objective truth of ‘objectivity’ in games journalism
Activision-Blizzard’s diversity and inclusion goals are out of sync with its corporate action
The Daily Grind: What’s one change that would make an MMO infinitely better?
MMO Burnout: Mass Effect’s Legendary Edition modernizes a classic
Not So Massively: Wolcen’s Endgame is one of online gaming’s all-time worst blunders
Wisdom of Nym: Recurring Final Fantasy XIV systems we could probably get rid of
Choose My Adventure: Neverwinter’s Bard rocks
Global Chat: Diablo IV is an MMO, change my mind
Not So Massively: Second impressions of Diablo IV
Perfect Ten: 10 features that take Star Trek Online out of this world
Vague Patch Notes: Can anyone really cover games objectively when there’s suffering built-in to them?
Massively Overthinking: The dumbest conversations in your main MMO’s general chat
The Daily Grind: Would you play a My Little Pony MMO?
Storyboard: Pros and cons for purely player-driven story experiences in MMOs
Why I Play: Diablo III – From pre-release to Reaper of Souls
THE FULL 2023 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: NetEase versus Blizzard (January 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Amazon’s expanding empire (February 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Press F7 for E3 (March 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Crisis maps (April 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Second breakfast (May 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Returning to Morrowind (June 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Dawn of the Entrails (July 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The mage’s tower (August 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The next EverQuest Next (September 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Angry Earth, hungry Microsoft (October 2023)
MMO Year in Review: The Worldsoul Saga (November 2023)
MMO Year in Review: Come on baby Light No Fire (December 2023)
