This year, we’re taking a time-machine back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we head into 2017.
Everyone saw Pokemon Go coming, but few people anticipated just how huge it was going to be this summer. We actually resorted to daily roundups of Pokemon Go news as mainstream media, never mind gaming sites, began covering it as a cultural phenomenon around the clock.
Meanwhile, July also saw WoW Legion rumblings, the launch of Guild Wars 2’s third living story season, and another panic moment for Firefall.
Read on for the whole list!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JULY 2016
Black Desert publisher Daum EU rebrands as Kakao
Star Citizen’s 100th Around the Verse highlights the female avatar
Aeria Games lays off over 100 employees
R.I.P. PlanetSide
Kickstarter is pulling in less video game money in 2016
Blizzard sues Bossland again, this time for Overwatch cheat
Lord of the Rings Online’s first raid in almost three years goes live today alongside housing tweaks
DCUO plans larger, slower releases, Suicide Squad map, and boosted characters
Kakao argues that Black Desert is not pay-to-win
Riders of Icarus’ (soft) launch-day roundup and trailer
Pokemon Go is live in the United States
TERA’s Aces Wild update is live today
Tribes: Ascend Creative Director resigns, Hi-Rez plans final patch in his honor [Updated]
Turbine layoffs confirmed: Turbine is transitioning into a ‘mobile’ dev studio
Richard Garriott and Starr Long are literally selling their blood for Shroud of the Avatar
Raph Koster says that augmented reality games like Pokemon GO are MMOs
Pokemon Go quickly hits the top of the mobile charts
Trove is headed to console as it celebrates 5M players
Meridian 59 creator says that MMOs are everywhere in disguise
Jagex confirms sale to Chinese company
Atlantica Online closing down, will reopen under new management
Aion: Echoes of Eternity goes live
Star Citizen rep: ‘Nothing special’ about $3000 Kickstarter refund
Pokémon GO becomes the biggest mobile US game of all time
Elder Scrolls Online’s dye system adds a color splash for cash
Trion’s Scott Hartsman on Trove’s console launch, fighting lag, and whether RIFT is next
Star Citizen has the financial backing of 500,000 fans
SWTOR: Knights of the Eternal Throne confirmed for this fall
Final Fantasy XIV hits 6M registered players, patches in the Deep Dungeon
Sword Coast Legends is available today on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Black Desert touts one million players, teases Gamescom booth
Neverwinter launches on the PlayStation 4 today
World of Warcraft weathers roleplay and silencing controversies
Lord of the Rings Online has ‘big’ plans for Mordor
ARK: SotF delayed on PS4 in favor of releasing Survival Evolved first
Threats against Blizzard Entertainment lead to a Sacramento man’s arrest
Defiance ditches its brand-new auction house
Pokemon Go: Stock plummet, trolling, design fails, and crossing the Canadian border
Rumor: Firefall’s Red 5 Studios has suffered mass layoffs
Man drives a car into Nexon’s headquarters
Pokemon Go: A Vegas shootout, trolling the White House, and 50M Google Play downloads
EU gaming blogs seemingly confirm RIFT’s Starfall Prophecy expansion
Tencent reveals Transformers Online, a team-based Chinese shooter
What we know about Age of Wushu 2
Shroud of the Avatar raised over $130,000 last night; the not-a-launch launches today
Mark Kern to Ember followers: ‘I feel a profound sense of responsibility for what happened to Firefall’
Nexon chairman steps down following corruption indictment
BioWare to close all game forums except SWTOR’s
Rhode Island investigators will not criminally charge 38 Studios
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JULY 2016
WoW Factor: The hope I have for Legion
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Age of Camelot
Guild Chat: Successfully merging MMORPG guilds
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR’s clear message of indifference for its most loyal players
Interview: Cryptic on the launch of Star Trek Online’s Agents of Yesterday
Perfect Ten: The 10 components of a ‘fair’ MMO PvP fight
The Game Archaeologist: Eight launch trailers from classic MMOs
A sneak peek at Guild Wars 2’s Living World Season 3, Episode 1: Out of the Shadows
Hands-on: A tour of duty through Star Trek Online: Agents of Yesterday
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 Season 3 Predictions
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR’s mid-term report card scored by Bartle’s taxonomy
Perfect Ten: The most exciting MMO developments yet to come in 2016
EverQuesting: A guide to running EverQuest II Heritage Quests efficiently
Massively Overthinking: The best MMORPG trailers of all time
WoW Factor: Titanforged items and content relevance
First impressions: Why Pokemon Go is uniquely compelling
Jukebox Heroes: MMO tunes from the 1990s
MMO Mechanics: Creating engaging crafting mechanics
The Soapbox: Calling an MMO launch a launch
Here’s your World of Warcraft: Legion pre-expansion patch survival guide
Hyperspace Beacon: Wild speculation about SWTOR’s Knights of the Eternal Throne
Perfect Ten: Older PC games that would make for great MMOs
EverChaosing: Adapting Pokemon Go for The Secret World and EverQuest II
Massively Overthinking: The golden age of MMORPGs
First impressions of Nexon’s Riders of Icarus
Wisdom of Nym: Why I adore Final Fantasy XIV’s Deep Dungeon
EVE Evolved: When was EVE Online’s golden age?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2’s new Living Story has launched
Tamriel Infinium: Exploring the lore behind Elder Scrolls Online’s Shadows of the Hist
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Legion’s Demon Hunter
WoW Factor: The Legion prepatch brings the storm front
Jukebox Heroes: Black Desert Online’s soundtrack
Guild Chat: Recruiting for your MMORPG guild ahead of WoW Legion
ALL 2016 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Blade & Soul reaches western shores (January 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A wild Black Desert approaches (February 2016)
MMO Year in Review: EverQuest Never (March 2016)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s legacy server snarl (April 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Carebear tears of Elyria (May 2016)
MMO Year in Review: The Landmark and WildStar Steam parade (June 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Pokemon madness (July 2016)
MMO Year in Review: We are Legion (August 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A whole New World (September 2016)
MMO Year in Review: One foot in One Tamriel (October 2016)
MMO Year in Review: New Eden free-for-all (November 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Turbine gave the ring to the eagles (December 2016)
