WoW Factor: World of Warcraft: Dragonflight isn’t going to fix everything that’s broken at Blizzard
I really wanted to write a different column this week. I really did. But wouldn't you know it, Activision-Blizzard had to remind everyone that...
The FBI says it was a North Korean hacker gang that crimed Axie Infinity for $620M
At the tail end of March, we reported on a massive hack of exploitative play-to-earn blockchain job/game Axie Infinity. At the time, the hackers...
Whatever happened to survival sandbox Life Beyond? It went all-in on blockchain and NFTs
It's been a while since we checked in on survival sandbox Life Beyond, huh? The last time we looked at the game was back...
Disney has quashed another Club Penguin emulator, this time with arrests in the UK
Remember way back in 2017, when Disney shut down the long-running Club Penguin MMO in order to replace it with Club Penguin Island? And...
Diablo III’s new season brings the Echoing Nightmare feature and quality-of-life updates to Greater Rifts
Are you ready to relive the tortured memories of Nephalem who fell in a Greater Rift until you're inevitably overwhelmed or defeated? If that...
Destiny 2 studio Bungie transitions to ‘digital first’ workplace
At a time when many gaming companies, perhaps most notably Activision-Blizzard, have been trying to coerce workers back into the office during an ongoing...
DFEH attorney accuses California governor of interfering in the Activision-Blizzard lawsuit
The Activision-Blizzard scandal just keeps on scandaling - and drawing more people and agencies into its ugly orbit. Bloomberg has a piece up today...
Richard Garriott is building a blockchain MMO following the failure of Shroud of the Avatar
Richard Garriott is working on a new MMORPG, and yes, it's filled with NFTs.
Garriott, who is probably best known to mainstream gamers as the...
Lord of the Rings Online welcomes Allan ‘Orion’ Maki back to the team after nine years
Long-time Lord of the Rings Online fans will remember the name "Orion" from back in the Turbine era. Orion - aka Allan Maki -...
MMO Business Roundup: China’s freeze, ABK’s new diversity officer, and Sony and Epic’s metaverse
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news.
China has ended its latest gaming-approval freeze after nine months of regulators locking out...
EVE Online boss: NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility’
At GDC this year, EVE Online's CCP Games raised eyebrows when CEO Hilmar Petursson was photographed meeting with crypto, NFT, and metaverse entrepreneurs. Players...
Sega executives outline ‘SuperGame’ project plans including potential cloud gaming and NFTs
Despite Sega's own CEO stating in January that it would reel back its NFT gambit if it was "perceived as simple money-making," it looks...
Make My MMO: Fractured’s persistent closed beta, Wagadu Chronicles’ alpha trailer
This week in MMO crowdfunding, SpatialOS MMORPG sandbox Fractured Online pushed its way into closed beta under Gamigo's publishing banner, with Dynamight's Jacopo Gallelli...
Betawatch: Fractured Online’s closed beta has launched
Mm, who doesn't like some good old-fashioned traditional closed beta testing? It tastes like nostalgia and actual progress toward launch. And also just a hint...
SpatialOS developer Improbable announces a ‘network of interoperable web3 metaverses’ called M²
Remember back in January when SpatialOS developer Improbable released a poll that asserted that a large number of gamers and game devs believed a...
Activision-Blizzard promotes over a thousand QA testers and bumps their pay – but not the ones unionizing
Last night, Activision-Blizzard announced that it is converting 1100 quality assurance testers from contract work to full-time with pay starting at a minimum of...
An esports pro is developing an AI system to help game devs track and address in-game toxicity
You'd be forgiven for believing that reporting someone's behavior through in-game tools simply sends that report directly into some unseen void that devs don't...
Guild Wars 2’s unnamed fourth expansion has announced its narrative lead
Back in March, ArenaNet promised many big things coming to Guild Wars 2 in the future, including a fourth expansion after End of Dragons....
Overwatch alters one of Zarya’s legendary skins to avoid any possible association with the Russian invasion of Ukraine
One of Zarya's legendary skins in Overwatch has received an unannounced but very important change with the game's recent patch: The skin no longer has...
Star Trek announces plans for starship NFTs and a new pay-to-earn game called Star Trek Continuum
You read that headline correctly: Paramount Global is getting into bed with RECUR, a company in the business of creating "innovative NFT experiences with the biggest brands in film, TV, sports, and pop culture," to create starship NFTs based on the Star Trek IP, which in turn will be used in an upcoming pay-to-earn game known as Star Trek: Continuum.
