If you were prescient enough to put Guild Wars 3 on your predictions post from last year, congratulations: an NCsoft exec defending another NCsoft exec blurted out to investors that GW3 is in production. Oh, they all tried to walk it back after, but it’s as good as happening. Perhaps they could’ve taken a page from Blizzard, which cynically presented a nearly data-free chart to GDC attendees in an attempt to convince everyone that World of Warcraft is booming.
Meanwhile, DCUO launched natively on PS5, Hellgate is being resurrected (again again again), and both Tarisland and Throne & Liberty are taking tester signups for dueling test phases.
See you tomorrow, friends. Totally normal day ahead!
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday (since 2010!) in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Hostile NCsoft shareholder meeting reveals ArenaNet is working on Guild Wars 3 - The topic of Guild Wars 3 has been a common one over the last few years; when I dredged our articles, the first one I found specifically about Guild Wars…
WoW Factor: Blizzard didn’t reveal World of Warcraft sub numbers – it drew a Mystery Line - It will not surprise anyone reading this to learn that there are things which upset me. This is just part of being a human being; there's no greater moral architecture…
Daybreak’s DC Universe Online launches native PS5 version, picks up ex-Cryptic devs, drops huge 2024 roadmap - If you cast your mind back to early February, you might recall that Daybreak parent company EG7 specifically called out DC Universe Online studio Dimensional Ink for hurting Daybreak's performance…
Path of Exile has cracked open the doors to its Necropolis expansion - Considering how dark and brooding Path of Exile is, you have to imagine that the developers had to come up with a shade blacker than black to help deck out…
LOTRO and DDO are still offline after 24 hours, so you might as well watch DDO’s PAX East panel - If you tried logging into Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons and Dragons Online since yesterday morning, you're in for a bit of Easter Sunday disappointment, as both games…
Throne and Liberty finally opens signups for April 10 global beta - Finally, here we go! Amazon and NCsoft announced this afternoon that they're finally moving forward on Throne & Liberty's western testing process after truncating it last year and leaving us…
LOTRO Legendarium: Middle-earth’s world integrity is an endangered species in MMOs - Back in 2018, Steven Spielberg adapted the popular novel Ready Player One into a film. It seemed like a great pairing: The master director of many '80s film classics handling…
Amazon team commits to New World and future expansions – but won’t spoil the June secret - As we noted in our Vitae Aeternum column this morning, New World drama has been mounting over the past few weeks. Amazon had delayed Season of the Guardian and not…
No Man’s Sky launches Orbital update with major upgrades for space stations - Whenever Hello Games starts sticking little cutesy icons in its tweets, you know a No Man's Sky launch is imminent, so Monday's little start emoji was an obvious clue. That…
New Hellgate game for PC and console, codenamed Hellgate Redemption, is in the works - Hellgate: London is mostly known nowadays as the IP that just won't die despite resurrections continuing to prove to be increasingly shambolic - a topic that our Game Archaeologist Justin…
Monsters and Memories hopes to launch into early access by the start of 2026 - Does it help or hurt to know that a wishlisted game now has a release date -- and that this date is still almost two years away? That's the question…
Noah’s Heart is sunsetting April 29 as Archosaur diverts players to Dragon Raja - Cozy multiplatform MMO Noah's Heart has never been a loud and splashy MMO, with news about its updates since its official global launch in 2022 being kept largely to the…
Osiris New Dawn resurfaces with a new April update after 2023 Steam delisting - It's been almost a year since we heard much from Osiris New Dawn, and it's apparently not just us as the official site hasn't had much movement since 2022. Readers…
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online celebrates its 10th anniversary in Orc-land - I have to give some serious credit to ZeniMax: This studio isn't letting Elder Scrolls Online's 10th anniversary go by with nothing more than a token nod and a box…
Vague Patch Notes: The limits of data in MMORPGs - Yesterday, I went on a rant about data. As you probably guessed from the various columns wherein I attempt to use data to analyze future points, I like data. I…
Donkey Crew debuts new trailer for survival RPG Bellwright while Last Oasis languishes in early access - Readers of our site are likely familiar with Polish studio Donkey Crew and its woodpunk survival sandbox Last Oasis. The game, which was first unveiled in 2019, cast players as…
Enlisted Reinforced quickly suspends Steam early access over pricing and technical issues - At the tail end of January, we reported on the WWII FPS Enlisted's plans to launch into Steam early access, complete with a new name of Enlisted: Reinforced and all…
Elite Dangerous previews visual updates of summer’s Powerplay 2.0 while promising more details later - Elite: Dangerous fans likely remember that the start of February had big plans for the spaceship sandbox, including a reworking of the powerplay mechanic among them. Some of those updates…
Massively Overthinking: Lies about MMOs we thought were true - A totally not-gaming video inspired this week's Massively Overthinking: Hank Green's video called I Believed These Four Lies. Green elaborates on a quad of things he thought were true but…
World of Warcraft’s Holly Longdale reassures players that further PvE-based experiments are coming - If you're a World of Warcraft player looking at Plunderstorm with some combination of bafflement and trepidation about the possibility that every further "experimental" bit of content will be PvP-focused,…
Embers Adrift plots more solo content, additional bosses, new areas, and more in latest roadmap - What's the state of Embers Adrift? One with lots and lots of plans, according to an address from executive producer John Gust, which features a new content roadmap for 2024…
Black Desert offers a first look at new areas and features of Land of the Morning Light’s Seoul - The Land of the Morning Light in Black Desert will soon throw its... uh, morning light across a new area, as Pearl Abyss has provided another peek at the Seoul…
Cozy MMO Palia handwaves its bizarre beta obfuscation on the grounds that it’s free-to-play - Yesterday, we recapped the ongoing drama with Singularity 6's cozy mini-MMO, Palia. The short version is that the game hit beta last summer and has been launching on different platforms…
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer admits massive layoffs were due in part to gaming’s ‘lack of growth’ - Ever since Microsoft announced a wave of layoffs that would affect 1,900 people - over 800 of whom work for Activision-Blizzard - the officially stated reason for why has changed…
Dune Awakening discusses MMO size, PvP and PvE, the deep desert, and getting rid of Funcom ‘jank’ - Funcom's Joel Bylos was among those in attendance at this year's GDC, which is the stage where he answered questions about the upcoming Dune: Awakening that involved the game's population…
Overwatch 2 announces nonbinary geotech hero Venture, trialing this weekend - It surely goes without saying that Blizzard did not see Riot Games announce a non-binary character this past weekend and then decide to announce one of its own for Overwatch…
Perfect Ten: MMOs that experienced a surprising comeback - It's hard to pass up a really good comeback story. We love it when a beloved something or someone is counted down and out... and then returns in a surprising…
NetEase and Marvel Games are building a new team shooter called Marvel Rivals, with closed alpha in May - The lack of Marvel in the MMO space has always seemed kind of weird, especially given the vacuum left by the beloved Marvel Heroes, and I'm afraid today's announcement isn't…
PSA: Palia is still in open beta and should be flagged that way on Steam too - If you've been watching our coverage of Palia over the last few articles, you'll know we've had to keep pointing out an inconvenient fact: Palia is still in open beta.…
The Daily Grind: Do you experience social anxiety in MMOs? - While an outmoded argument says that everyone who shows up for massively multiplayer online roleplaying games must be in the mood for socializing, history has shown that's not the case.…
Fallout 76 launches America’s Playground update and Season 16 Duel with the Devil - Had your fill of Atlantic City in Fallout 76? Too bad! You're going back, and in fact, you're going back right the heck now, as the America's Playground update is…
Choose My Adventure: Losing myself roaming the realms of Nightingale - This edition of Choose My Adventure might strike similar notes as last week, but I suppose that's to be expected considering you told me in the polls to continue exploring…
Tarisland opens registration as it ‘nears official release’ (but no the launch is not June 14) - You might wonder about Tarisland opening registration in preparation for launch, given how many do-overs for major game systems Tencent has talked up in the last half year, but that's…
Playable World’s Raph Koster refutes claim that his book Theory of Fun espouses a regressive agenda - Reading comprehension is an important skill that one could argue is being lost to the flood of hot takes and those who absorb only headlines. A flagrant display of this…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail release dates, event dates, and philosophy - Well let me be the first to say that I can most definitely live with this particular set of revelations from PAX East, so well played to the Final Fantasy…
Albion Online’s Foundations update launches April 15 – in the middle of the EU server rollout - Albion Online fans are about to have one hell of an April: Not only are they getting a fresh-start European server, but they're also getting a huge spring update. "Berlin,…
Vitae Aeternum: Analyzing New World’s ‘content drought,’ comms chaos, and lack of a 2024 expansion - The always cantankerous New World community is in even more of an uproar than usual lately. Go to any of its social media, and you'll hear the constant refrain that…
Wayfinder says disentangling from Digital Extremes caused its lapse in updates and communication - Airship Syndicate's multiplayer RPG Wayfinder continues to stay live, though you'd be forgiven for assuming that might not be the case since it hasn't had any major update since February…
Ashes of Creation’s latest Alpha Two preview video takes a deep-dive of the Fighter class - The seemingly non-stop parade of Alpha Two preview videos from Ashes of Creation continues this weekend, as Intrepid Studios grants fans and followers of the gankbox a granular look at…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
The Stream Team: Chasing after the beat and the bread in Headbangers Rhythm Royale
The Stream Team: Venturing into AQ3D’s Wiggly Whompa’s chocolate factory
The Stream Team: All done with Neverwinter’s The Dwarven King
The Stream Team: A spring (festival) fling in LOTRO
The Stream Team: Making a return trip to Palia as part of its Steam platform release
The Stream Team: Achievement hunting for Guild Wars 2 XP
The Stream Team: An Orsinium story speed run in Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: The Orsinium Orc King’s troubles are moot in Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: Learning the Sage class from square one in Final Fantasy XIV
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 bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
