In the MMO genre, an emulator is a playable, private version of an MMO run by players independent of a game studio. Both sunsetted and extant games are emulated with varying degrees of moral and technical support from the community and the studios; some develop their games better than the original and even attempt to charge fees or take donations. Despite the claims of emulator runners, private emulators are generally illegal under DMCA laws and violate the terms of service of most online games, but some studios and many players choose to look the other way.
emulator
Free Realms ‘Sunrise’ emulator prepares for second alpha test
Last year, almost three years after SOE shut down Free Realms for good, a group of players announced that it was resurrecting the title...
Asheron’s Call emulator lead explains what went down with the cease-and-desist
What are lawyers good for? Pouring lemon juice on the open wounds of an MMO community desperately trying to hold on to the remnant...
One of the last Asheron’s Call emulators vanished last night
When Asheron's Call shut down last winter following the spinoff of Standing Stone Games from Turbine, one of the few hopes the community had...
The Sims Online emulator project deals with the inevitable cease-and-desist from EA
It looks like any hopes of a Sims Online resurrection as a fan emulator project might be put to rest for good. The creator of...
World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade emulator shut down by Blizzard cease-and-desist
Well, what did you think was going to happen?
As they have no legal legs on which to stand, MMORPG emulator projects operate on the...
The Game Archaeologist: Where are all of the open-source MMOs?
Recently we had an interesting question come in from reader and Patron Rasmus Praestholm, who asked me to do a little investigating: "What (if...
New World of Warcraft emulator project takes players back to The Burning Crusade era
The muddy waters of emulators and the contentious conversation around World of Warcraft legacy servers is getting a whole lot more crazy this summer, thanks...
The Stream Team: Celebrating Star Wars Galaxies’ birthday
Star Wars Galaxies was the game that sucked Massively OP's MJ into MMORPsGs, so how could she not celebrate its birthday? The official game...
Leaderboard: Do you play Star Wars Galaxies’ emulator?
Welp, here we are: Star Wars Galaxies would be turning 14 years old today, had it been allowed to live.
SWG is much beloved around...
Habitat is back online in a museum
If you're not familiar with Habitat, that's understandable, but you can catch up on the history of the title with our own column on...
Indie sandbox El Somni Quas answers Q&A, features Rogues Guild and Sparrow Port
It's been a while since we checked in with El Somni Quas, the indie sandbox from a Czech studio that cut its teeth on Ultima...
The Sims Online emulator might be launching soon
In just two weeks, a long-forgotten social MMORPG might be making a comeback. The team behind FreeSO, a Sims Online emulator, announced on Twitter yesterday...
Leaderboard: Where do you draw the line between griefing and roleplaying?
On the Morrowind subreddit a few days ago, a player was recounting a particular roleplay-slash-griefing episode on a hardcore-roleplay Ultima Online emulator. The player...
Join MOP in Paragon Chat for Friday’s City of Heroes anniversary bash
Beloved superhero MMORPG City of Heroes turns 13 years old tomorrow, and what better way to celebrate than in Paragon City? That's exactly what...
Beta signups for new Pirates of the Caribbean MMO are live
In case you weren't sick of looking at Johnny Depp's face, here comes another stab at a Pirates of the Caribbean MMO. No, it's...
Sims Online emulator’s test server sees strong community interest
The underground revival of The Sims Online is seeing marked interest from the community, as players are checking out the current FreeSO beta. In...
Free Realms Sunrise emulator vows to bring back some of the fun
Were you there when they turned the lights out on Free Realms? The title went dark on this family-friendly MMORPG back in March 2014,...
The Game Archaeologist: Earth and Beyond
Personally, I prefer science fiction over fantasy nine times out of ten, even though most of the MMOs that grace my desktop are fantasy...
The Elysium WoW emulator community is in total meltdown
The Elysium World of Warcraft private server community is in total meltdown, so popcorn at the ready.
Most MMORPG players would probably have never heard...
Asheron’s Call fan project saves as much info as it can
Now more than a week following the closure of Asheron's Call, the fight to save the game might only be heating up.
Over on The...
