We’re continuing our tour back through 2024, one month at a time, in MassivelyOP’s MMO Year in Review today.
April was marked by renewed industry interest in game preservation, thanks to Ubisoft’s callous blundering with The Crew franchise. Games rallied around the Stop Killing Games movement, seeking actionable ways for regular people to influence the politics that allow game companies to get away with forced obsolescence in video games.
Meanwhile, we learned ArcheAge was headed for sunset, Blizzard canceled BlizzCon again, PlanetSide 2 development moved from Daybreak to Toadman, Neverwinter rolled out its Adventures in Wildspace module, Albion Online launched its European server, and the layoffs just kept coming.
Here’s the whole recap from April of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2024
Monster & Memories has only cost $70K to date – from the devs’ pockets
New World’s Season of the Guardian finally launches this morning
Almost five years after killing Player Studio, Daybreak wants to revive a Creator Program
Blizzard’s John Hight on using AI to support World of Warcraft’s artists, not replace them
Stop Killing Games is a modern games preservation initiative prompted by The Crew’s cynical sunset
Ankama launches DOFUS Touch on mobile as Waven adds new chapters and Wakfu rolls back a server
Palia studio Singularity 6 has been hit by layoffs – 35% of the team impacted
Multiplayer medieval fantasy brawler Warhaven has officially sunsetted
Blizzard starts hiring high-level positions for a new mystery game
Wayfinder sales are temporarily halted as Airship Syndicate assumes publishing from Digital Extremes
EverQuest II’s GU 125 Darkpaw Rising revives ‘the spirit of Fippy’ this afternoon
Last week’s massive Palia layoffs included waaaay too many senior Singularity 6 staff
NetEase and Blizzard ink deal to revive World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, and Diablo IV in China
The last remains of Perfect World Entertainment rebrand as Arc Games following Gearbox sale to Take-Two
Mythic vets at Loric Games unveil Echoes of Elysium, a new co-op skyship survival sandbox
Battlefield 2042 confirms Season 7 is the shooter’s last as development focus shifts to the next title
Rumor: Bungie is (or at least was?) supposedly working on Destiny 3
Cozy MMO Sky Children of the Light launches F2P early access on Steam today
World of Warcraft previews the upcoming Mists of Pandaria Remix in patch 10.2.7
Stormgate studio Frost Giant opens equity crowdfunding campaign to make players into investors
Fallout 76 kicks off free-play week in celebration of the Fallout TV show’s launch
Roblox walks back statements that children earning money is a ‘gift’ and not exploitation of labor
Todd Howard doesn’t see an Elder Scrolls television series happening any time soon
Blizzard’s return to China has already counted over two million interested WoW players
Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra thinks players should be able to tip developers for their work
Albion Online is shaken to its Foundations with today’s massive territory update
Life is Feudal MMO continues its comeback with a relaunch on Steam
LawBreakers fans have created an emulator – with Cliff Bleszinski’s stamp of approval
Ubisoft pulls The Crew 1 from player libraries, encourages them to ‘check the store to pursue your adventures’
EG7 transfers PlanetSide 2 development from Daybreak to Toadman, posts 2024 roadmap
Elder Scrolls Online is rolling back a ton of NA accounts after last night’s PTS database fiasco
Mad World will condense all of its regional servers into one single server April 25
Black Desert just overhauled its gear enhancement system with a major QOL addition, the Ancient Anvil
Last Oasis, four years in early access, finally releases its modkit and teases season 6 (again)
Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive lays off 600 employees and axes game projects
Kickstarted MMORPG Legends of Aria is relaunching as Legends of Aria Classic on May 9
Heroes of the Storm is getting its biggest post-maintenance mode patch yet
Entropia Universe announces plans to have an ‘AI president’ manage its MMO
City of Heroes Homecoming unveils huge community-driven base building initiative
Skull & Bones is already on 50% discount two months after launch
Embracer Group announces plans to split itself into ‘three standalone publicly listed entities’
Star Citizen says alpha 3.23’s personal hangars would have made the game ‘literally unplayable’
EVE Online’s Equinox expansion brings planetary mining and territory features to nullsec June 11
Neverwinter’s 28th module, Adventures in Wildspace, lifts off on PC and console today
Elite Dangerous plans to sell ship bundles – including its upcoming new ship – in the cash shop
Community-led Infantry Online, SOE’s 25-year-old shooter, marches its way onto Steam
Kakao’s western version of ArcheAge is sunsetting in June
Fallout 76’s population spikes to one million players in one day thanks to the TV series
ArenaNet shifts more resources to Classic Guild Wars as it turns 19 years old
Seafaring survival MMO Age of Water hits Steam early access, addresses premium perks
As Warcraft turns 30, Blizzard has preemptively canceled BlizzCon for 2024
World of Warcraft is retiring the Companion App as it looks forward to the Cataclysm Classic conversion
Escape from Tarkov causes firestorm by locking PvE mode behind $250 special edition
Albion Online’s European server is fully live and F2P for all players now – here’s the new music video
Ubisoft resolves to launch two Web3 games this year but admits five years of work have yielded nothing
Blizzard laid off prolific World of Warcraft writer and lore queen Christie Golden
ArcheAge’s player-run rogue servers are booming as the retail MMORPG’s sunset is looming
‘If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing,’ say gamers reviewbombing the remaining The Crew games
Nexon is publishing Overgeared-themed Project T MMORPG for PC and mobile
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2024
Working As Intended: The top 10 hot tubs in MMORPGs
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV isn’t easier, but it also is
Choose My Adventure: Returning, remembering, and relearning in New World
Fight or Kite: Predecessor’s open beta brings back MOBA action and a heap of nostalgia
Perfect Ten: The 10 best Final Fantasy crossovers
Global Chat: What should we be thinking about Guild Wars 3?
Into the Super-Verse: How to get started with Incarnates in City of Heroes
Massively Overthinking: Would you pay for a Guild Wars 1 revival?
Tamriel Infinium: Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online’s Gold Road chapter
Vague Patch Notes: Game preservation is way more complicated than it seems
LOTRO Legendarium: Lord of the Rings Online’s Corsairs of Umbar is a vacation into the unknown
First Impressions: Gigantic Rampage Edition’s classic Clash mode and the game’s overall plans for the future
Wisdom of Nym: Taking a look at the Final Fantasy XVI x Final Fantasy XIV crossover
Not So Massively: Final Stand Ragnarok might be the seed of a fun game, but it was set up for failure
Perfect Ten: MMOs that earned a notorious reputation
Into the Super-Verse: What to pick for your Incarnate powers in City of Heroes
Massively Overthinking: How long should it take MMO players to get to ‘endgame’?
WoW Factor: What’s a Mists of Pandaria remix and why is World of Warcraft doing it?
Wisdom of Nym: Benchmarks, better graphics, and bountiful schedules for Final Fantasy XIV
Fight or Kite: Gigantic is a fantastic MOBA, but it’s missing a bit of Q and A and TLC
Choose My Adventure: Battling New World tank builds, the wider meta, and personal stubbornness
Casually Classic: Four lessons we’ve learned from WoW Classic’s Season of Discovery so far
Perfect Ten: The 10 types of MMO rotation
Vague Patch Notes: Getting meta in MMORPGs
Not So Massively: Godsworn made me break my ‘no early access’ rule
Massively Overthinking: MMOs and ‘fresh piece of gum’ syndrome
LOTRO Legendarium: Looking back and ahead at LOTRO’s 17th birthday
Wisdom of Nym: Does Final Fantasy XIV not have enough minigames?
Choose My Adventure: Elder Scrolls Online makes a play to be my second home MMO
Vitae Aeternum: So just what is New World’s big June announcement?
Perfect Ten: Great MMO April Fools’ Day pranks from back in the day
Tamriel Infinium: Will Elder Scrolls Online Gold Road’s spell scribing be a gamechanger?
Vague Patch Notes: When MMO designers build traps for players
Massively Overthinking: Is there a feature or item in MMORPGs you won’t play without?
WoW Factor: Exit BlizzCon, for good this time?
Into the Super-verse: Why the resurrection of 20-year-old City of Heroes is worth celebrating, even if you don’t play
Stick and Rudder: So let’s talk about those Elite Dangerous pre-built ships
LOTRO Legendarium: 27 practical benefits of LOTRO’s player housing
Wisdom of Nym: It’s OK that your Final Fantasy XIV character is going to look different in Dawntrail
Choose My Adventure: Necro Kitty proves to be a reasonable Elder Scrolls Online tank
Fight or Kite: Pax Dei’s alpha is equal parts survival gameplay and grind-fueled crafting
THE FULL 2024 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
MMO Year in Review: City of Heroes comes home (January 2024)
MMO Year in Review: PlanetSide on the move (February 2024)
MMO Year in Review: The bewildering announcement of Guild Wars 3 (March 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Stop killing games (April 2024)
MMO Year in Review: Cataclysm redux, Pandaria remix (May 2024)
