https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:24:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/chimeraland-is-shutting-down-at-the-end-of-march/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/chimeraland-is-shutting-down-at-the-end-of-march/#comments Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477895 Back in September of last year, we checked in on Tencent’s strange survival sandbox Chimeraland only to find that very little had happened… followed two days later by an utterly unexpected surprise update. Alas, it appears that was the last gasp rather than the start of a new era for the game, as developer Pixel […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/chimeraland-is-shutting-down-at-the-end-of-march/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/nexon-is-shutting-down-its-multiplayer-medieval-war-game-warhaven-in-april/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/nexon-is-shutting-down-its-multiplayer-medieval-war-game-warhaven-in-april/#comments Fri, 26 Jan 2024 23:00:13 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477289 You may not have thought much about Warhaven this week prior to reading our PvP columnist Sam Kash’s take on the game’s current state of affairs. That article now sadly serves as a eulogy, as it was written prior to our learning the news that the game has quietly announced an impending shutdown on April […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/nexon-is-shutting-down-its-multiplayer-medieval-war-game-warhaven-in-april/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/avatar-franchise-mobile-mmo-avatar-reckoning-has-been-canceled-after-split-from-tencent/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/avatar-franchise-mobile-mmo-avatar-reckoning-has-been-canceled-after-split-from-tencent/#respond Fri, 26 Jan 2024 15:00:18 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477188 Almost exactly two years ago, we first caught wind of an MMO based on the Avatar franchise – mobile MMO, to be precise, although we were skeptical about how many people it would actually hold. The key selling point for Avatar Reckoning, of course, was the wildly popular IP and the fact that it was […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/avatar-franchise-mobile-mmo-avatar-reckoning-has-been-canceled-after-split-from-tencent/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/what-we-knew-of-blizzards-now-dead-survival-game-odyssey/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/what-we-knew-of-blizzards-now-dead-survival-game-odyssey/#comments Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477151 The history of Blizzard’s game development includes a graveyard full of titles that never made it to launch, including the likes of Starcraft Ghost, Warcraft Adventures, and Project Titan. This week another game was interred in this somber place as Odyssey was laid to rest following the huge layoffs at Activision-Blizzard. Odyssey wasn’t much of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/what-we-knew-of-blizzards-now-dead-survival-game-odyssey/feed/ 45 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/kritika-global-is-officially-shut-down-today-while-kritika-zero-heads-for-release-tomorrow/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/kritika-global-is-officially-shut-down-today-while-kritika-zero-heads-for-release-tomorrow/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2024 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476640 This is a tale of two Kritika Online titles, which might be a mercy since this game has come back four different times. Specifically, we’re referring to the nominal end of Kritika Global and the upcoming Kritika Zero. Readers will remember that Kritika Global was the NFT-filled form of the action MMO that had a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/kritika-global-is-officially-shut-down-today-while-kritika-zero-heads-for-release-tomorrow/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-day-before-has-officially-sunsetted-bringing-its-early-access-drama-to-a-final-ending/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-day-before-has-officially-sunsetted-bringing-its-early-access-drama-to-a-final-ending/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476598 This year’s popcorn drama is currently being provided by the likes of Palworld, but last year, it was The Day Before – and now it is no more. MOP readers will remember that The Day Before was Fntastic’s open-world survival MMO, first revealed back in 2021, though it was 2023 when the game actually started […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-day-before-has-officially-sunsetted-bringing-its-early-access-drama-to-a-final-ending/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/riot-games-laid-off-over-500-people-last-night-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-means-for-the-riot-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/riot-games-laid-off-over-500-people-last-night-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-means-for-the-riot-mmo/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476580 Riot Games is joining the seemingly endless list of game studios continuing to dump workers overboard: Last night, the company announced it is shedding a whopping 530 employees, representing 11% of the company. The studio tells players “the biggest impact [is] to teams outside of core development,” though the growing list of affected devs says […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/riot-games-laid-off-over-500-people-last-night-and-no-we-dont-know-what-it-means-for-the-riot-mmo/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/apb-reloaded-is-sunsetting-its-console-versions-in-fact-the-xbox-server-is-already-permanently-offline/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/apb-reloaded-is-sunsetting-its-console-versions-in-fact-the-xbox-server-is-already-permanently-offline/#respond Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475779 We’ve got some bad news for the APB community: Last night, Little Orbit announced that it’s sunsetting APB Reloaded’s console versions. “The decision to discontinue APB Reloaded on consoles was driven by a combination of technical challenges, resource constraints, and the evolving landscape of gaming,” the studio explains in its dev blog. “We want to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/apb-reloaded-is-sunsetting-its-console-versions-in-fact-the-xbox-server-is-already-permanently-offline/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/minecraft-legends-releases-its-final-content-update-before-entering-maintenance-mode/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/minecraft-legends-releases-its-final-content-update-before-entering-maintenance-mode/#respond Wed, 17 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475495 It hasn’t even been a full year since the real-time strategy title Minecraft Legends released on multiple platforms, but unfortunately for fans of the game, last week saw the multiplayer title get its final piece of content before entering maintenance mode. Developers Blackbird Interactive and Mojang Studios didn’t give any clear information about the decision, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/minecraft-legends-releases-its-final-content-update-before-entering-maintenance-mode/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/temtem-closes-its-competitive-esports-tournament-and-associated-showdown-standalone-pvp-side-game/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/temtem-closes-its-competitive-esports-tournament-and-associated-showdown-standalone-pvp-side-game/#comments Fri, 12 Jan 2024 15:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475131 Allow us a moment to recap events before diving in to the headline above because this one is going to need some context. Last June, the creature capturing MMO Temtem announced the release of a free-to-play standalone PvP side game called Temtem Showdown, which was designed to get players right into creature battling against others […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/temtem-closes-its-competitive-esports-tournament-and-associated-showdown-standalone-pvp-side-game/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/nexons-vindictus-is-killing-off-all-of-its-pvp-systems-in-two-weeks/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/nexons-vindictus-is-killing-off-all-of-its-pvp-systems-in-two-weeks/#comments Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474639 Nexon action MMORPG Vindictus went through a period of relative quiet around 2020, but it’s been putting out regular updates for the last couple of years, including new characters as Korean content is ported over. This is why it’s so frustrating to report that today, Nexon announced it’s sunsetting all of the game’s PvP systems. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/nexons-vindictus-is-killing-off-all-of-its-pvp-systems-in-two-weeks/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/hearthstone-is-sunsetting-its-duels-mode-in-april-blizzard-has-announced/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/hearthstone-is-sunsetting-its-duels-mode-in-april-blizzard-has-announced/#comments Thu, 04 Jan 2024 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474145 Hearthstone fans are in for disappointment today as Blizzard has announced the impending demise of the game’s Duels Mode. “As we think about the future of Hearthstone and where the team can best focus their efforts, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue support for the Duels Mode,” Blizzard wrote today. “We do not have […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/hearthstone-is-sunsetting-its-duels-mode-in-april-blizzard-has-announced/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/#comments Thu, 04 Jan 2024 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467752 If preserving MMORPGs is your jam, 2023 was not a great year. The one nice thing I can say about it is that we didn’t lose too many massive MMOs, which isn’t always a given, but the list of sunsets is a long one, as you’re about to see as I’m rounding up all of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/superhero-card-battler-dc-dual-force-surrenders-to-a-shutdown/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/superhero-card-battler-dc-dual-force-surrenders-to-a-shutdown/#comments Fri, 22 Dec 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472977 Back in October, we reported on the launch of DC Dual Force, a card battler that came out in response to the popularity of Marvel Snap. Apparently the game hasn’t done so hot in the past few months and will be closing its doors in a couple months. “We have made the difficult decision to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/superhero-card-battler-dc-dual-force-surrenders-to-a-shutdown/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/steam-keys-for-the-day-before-are-selling-for-three-figures-in-the-grey-market/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/steam-keys-for-the-day-before-are-selling-for-three-figures-in-the-grey-market/#comments Fri, 22 Dec 2023 15:00:15 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473007 We all thought that news from The Day Before was going to end too, but the whole sordid story of this zombie extraction shooter apparently has one more page to it, as Steam keys for the game are going for hundreds of dollars on the keyseller grey market. According to tracking on GG.deals, Steam keys […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/22/steam-keys-for-the-day-before-are-selling-for-three-figures-in-the-grey-market/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/18/revelation-online-will-sunset-on-march-13-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/18/revelation-online-will-sunset-on-march-13-2024/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2023 21:00:28 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472473 The year 2023 has a few more things to take from the MMO industry, apparently: Revelation Online is heading to sunset. MY.GAMES and NetEase made the announcement this morning without explanation. “After eight years of adventures and quests throughout the realm of Nuanor, our journey has come to an end. Revelation Online will end all […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/18/revelation-online-will-sunset-on-march-13-2024/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/16/naughty-dog-cancels-the-last-of-us-online-owing-to-the-massive-scope-of-its-ambition/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/16/naughty-dog-cancels-the-last-of-us-online-owing-to-the-massive-scope-of-its-ambition/#comments Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472130 Naughty Dog – a studio that’s primarily known for its single-player titles – was looking to enter our sphere of the gaming world when it announced plans for multiplayer for its dramatic and heart-wrenching zombie title The Last of Us, which itself dovetailed from a multiplayer mode that was initially designed for the sequel. Details […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/16/naughty-dog-cancels-the-last-of-us-online-owing-to-the-massive-scope-of-its-ambition/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/15/ubisofts-2014-racing-game-the-crew-1-is-sunsetting-in-march-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/15/ubisofts-2014-racing-game-the-crew-1-is-sunsetting-in-march-2024/#comments Fri, 15 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=471948 2023 has one more thing to take away from the greater MMO genre: Ubisoft is sunsetting The Crew, the original game in the driving franchise. “Today, The Crew 1, including all its editions, and virtual currency packs, will be delisted from all online stores,” Ubisoft announced last night. “The game will remain playable until March […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/15/ubisofts-2014-racing-game-the-crew-1-is-sunsetting-in-march-2024/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/06/team-vs-team-hero-fps-gundam-evolution-has-unfortunately-sunsetted/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/06/team-vs-team-hero-fps-gundam-evolution-has-unfortunately-sunsetted/#comments Wed, 06 Dec 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=470105 Fans of the team vs. team hero shooter Gundam Evolution already knew that the game’s closure was coming, but it doesn’t make it any less hard. As of November 29th, the game entered its sunset as scheduled. The closure of the game was without much fanfare, though Bandai Namco simply wrote on the day of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/06/team-vs-team-hero-fps-gundam-evolution-has-unfortunately-sunsetted/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/01/archeage-and-archeage-unchained-officially-merged-this-morning-sending-unchained-into-its-last-sunset/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/01/archeage-and-archeage-unchained-officially-merged-this-morning-sending-unchained-into-its-last-sunset/#comments Fri, 01 Dec 2023 15:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=469835 The great failed experiment that was ArcheAge Unchained is officially over. This week, Kakao merged the alternate business model version of the game into the default version, while also using this move as an opportunity to further merge all ArcheAge servers down to a single European and a single North American shard. The merge, which […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/01/archeage-and-archeage-unchained-officially-merged-this-morning-sending-unchained-into-its-last-sunset/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/28/nexons-early-access-5v5-action-shooter-veiled-experts-will-sunset-december-14/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/28/nexons-early-access-5v5-action-shooter-veiled-experts-will-sunset-december-14/#comments Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:52 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=469373 You may not have heard of Veiled Experts, a free-to-play 5v5 tactical action shooter from Nexon: The company billed it as a game that’s all about high octane and movement, with parkour moves, maps that change depending on what happens mid-match, and a shrinking magnetic field that tries to keep players from staying in one […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/28/nexons-early-access-5v5-action-shooter-veiled-experts-will-sunset-december-14/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/27/ccp-games-finally-ends-official-support-of-the-long-neglected-eve-portal-mobile-app/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/27/ccp-games-finally-ends-official-support-of-the-long-neglected-eve-portal-mobile-app/#comments Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468961 Longtime fans of EVE Online have likely noticed that the sandbox’s official EVE Portal mobile app has been in decline for a number of months – fellow blogger The Ancient Gaming Noob has chronicled some of the app’s degradation in a recent post – and now it looks as if the app’s declining performance is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/27/ccp-games-finally-ends-official-support-of-the-long-neglected-eve-portal-mobile-app/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/20/one-more-game-ends-dev-on-multiplayer-battler-spellcraft-after-failing-to-find-a-financially-viable-prototype/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/20/one-more-game-ends-dev-on-multiplayer-battler-spellcraft-after-failing-to-find-a-financially-viable-prototype/#comments Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468047 Things have been worryingly quiet over at developer One More Game and its self-described “real-time battler” Spellcraft. The multiplayer tactical title was first unveiled by the studio back in April 2022, promising “a fast-action, competitive game that requires both strategic thinking and quick decision-making to achieve victory.” The game went into alpha this past April […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/20/one-more-game-ends-dev-on-multiplayer-battler-spellcraft-after-failing-to-find-a-financially-viable-prototype/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/15/cinderstone-online-has-apparently-sunsetted-after-just-two-months-as-devs-plan-f2p-relaunch/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/15/cinderstone-online-has-apparently-sunsetted-after-just-two-months-as-devs-plan-f2p-relaunch/#respond Wed, 15 Nov 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467604 Over the last couple of years, we’ve kept an eye on Cinderstone Online aka Fioresia Online, a cutesy indie MMO that actually made it to early access launch in September; we even gave the game a spin on stream. Unfortunately, it’s not going to make it any further, at least not in its last form, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/15/cinderstone-online-has-apparently-sunsetted-after-just-two-months-as-devs-plan-f2p-relaunch/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/02/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-has-officially-sunsetted-as-siege-survival-gloria-victis-marches-on/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/02/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-has-officially-sunsetted-as-siege-survival-gloria-victis-marches-on/#comments Thu, 02 Nov 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=464957 Back in August, we relayed the unfortunate news that Polish indie studio Black Eye Games was sunsetting siege PvP MMORPG Gloria Victis after a decade of early access and several months after the formal launch. At the time, the devs said they were simply out of money as the launch hadn’t pulled in the players […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/02/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-has-officially-sunsetted-as-siege-survival-gloria-victis-marches-on/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/01/ubisoft-and-ea-deprecate-a-dozen-multiplayer-games-including-star-wars-battlefront-ii-of-pride-and-accomplishment-fame/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/01/ubisoft-and-ea-deprecate-a-dozen-multiplayer-games-including-star-wars-battlefront-ii-of-pride-and-accomplishment-fame/#comments Wed, 01 Nov 2023 17:00:57 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=464867 You can either chalk it up to the inescapable march of time and technology, shrug indifferently that older games are just dust in the wind anyway, or sigh at another reminder that “always online” games were always a horrible idea. However you feel about the news, both Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are wrapping up support […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/01/ubisoft-and-ea-deprecate-a-dozen-multiplayer-games-including-star-wars-battlefront-ii-of-pride-and-accomplishment-fame/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/segas-cancelled-pvpve-shooter-hyenas-was-reportedly-a-doomed-project-from-the-very-start/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/segas-cancelled-pvpve-shooter-hyenas-was-reportedly-a-doomed-project-from-the-very-start/#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=460693 Have you heard about Hyenas? It’s OK if you didn’t, as this PvPvE shooter from developer Creative Assembly and publisher Sega had a pretty small shelf life, entering a closed PC beta test at the end of August and ultimately falling silent until Sega cancelled the project in September, which not only saw the game […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/segas-cancelled-pvpve-shooter-hyenas-was-reportedly-a-doomed-project-from-the-very-start/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/mmo-business-roundup-bioware-lawsuit-nintendo-multiplayer-sunset-twitch-layoffs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/mmo-business-roundup-bioware-lawsuit-nintendo-multiplayer-sunset-twitch-layoffs/#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2023 15:00:56 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=460640 Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. Numbers numbers numbers. BioWare Remember the hefty BioWare layoffs back in the summer? A group of former Dragon Age and Mass Effect developers affected by those layoffs are suing the company in the Canadian courts, alleging that BioWare’s severance offers ran afoul of provincial […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/mmo-business-roundup-bioware-lawsuit-nintendo-multiplayer-sunset-twitch-layoffs/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/star-trek-online-is-discontinuing-its-3-d-printed-ship-partnership-with-gameprint/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/star-trek-online-is-discontinuing-its-3-d-printed-ship-partnership-with-gameprint/#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2023 13:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=460579 There are a whole lot of different ships in Star Trek Online, and considering the customization and personal investment that a player can have in their ships, you’d probably agree it makes no small amount of sense that the game has had a 3-D printing deal with Gameprint for the past six years. Unfortunately, that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/04/star-trek-online-is-discontinuing-its-3-d-printed-ship-partnership-with-gameprint/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/02/wildcard-sunsets-ark-survival-evolved-official-servers-confirms-no-steam-cross-play-at-ark-ascendeds-launch/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/02/wildcard-sunsets-ark-survival-evolved-official-servers-confirms-no-steam-cross-play-at-ark-ascendeds-launch/#comments Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=460107 “We aren’t meant to live forever,” reasons the title of a video for ARK: Survival Evolved, which is part of a wider send-off for the now-closed official servers of the dinosaur survivalbox. The post thanks players for their support, reminds them that Evolved isn’t fully gone, and encourages them to look ahead, all while the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/02/wildcard-sunsets-ark-survival-evolved-official-servers-confirms-no-steam-cross-play-at-ark-ascendeds-launch/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/27/the-cycle-frontier-sunsets-today-as-studio-yager-says-goodbye-to-players-literally/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/27/the-cycle-frontier-sunsets-today-as-studio-yager-says-goodbye-to-players-literally/#comments Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=459580 Back in June, we learned the sad news that Tencent-backed YAGER would be sunsetting its PvEvP shooter The Cycle Frontier, owing in part to the game’s wild early success. As the studio explained, its insanely strong launch overwhelmed the company’s infrastructure, and it wasn’t able to scale up to handle bugs and cheaters fast enough […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/27/the-cycle-frontier-sunsets-today-as-studio-yager-says-goodbye-to-players-literally/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/18/rumor-ea-will-stop-supporting-wild-hearts-just-half-a-year-after-release/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/18/rumor-ea-will-stop-supporting-wild-hearts-just-half-a-year-after-release/#comments Mon, 18 Sep 2023 15:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=458040 This past February saw Wild Hearts, a cross-platform multiplayer monster hunting game from developer Koei Tecmo and publisher Electronic Arts, make its debut to the big critter-slapping sub-genre. The primary hook of the title was the use of buildable contraptions to vault characters or trap monsters, and while its setting was distinct, our quick peek […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/18/rumor-ea-will-stop-supporting-wild-hearts-just-half-a-year-after-release/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/09/tencents-battle-royale-shooter-ring-of-elysium-will-sunset-in-december/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/09/tencents-battle-royale-shooter-ring-of-elysium-will-sunset-in-december/#comments Sat, 09 Sep 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456980 The battle royale bandwagon continues to prove its inability to bear the weight of too many games, it seems. Readers might recall the existence of Ring of Elysium, Tencent’s entry into the sub-genre that arrived to early access in 2018 and then made it to full launch about a year later. Or maybe people haven’t […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/09/tencents-battle-royale-shooter-ring-of-elysium-will-sunset-in-december/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/06/embracer-group-is-killing-off-the-jagex-pubbed-space-punks-and-its-studio-flying-wild-hog/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/06/embracer-group-is-killing-off-the-jagex-pubbed-space-punks-and-its-studio-flying-wild-hog/#comments Wed, 06 Sep 2023 13:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456624 The Embracer Group financing catastrophe and failed Saudi investment are continuing to have ripple effects in the MMO and multiplayer genres as now, the megacorp is closing a pseudo-MMO from Flying Wild Hog, the Polish studio behind Space Punks. Embracer bought the studio for $135.2M back in 2020, and then it was MMO company Jagex […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/06/embracer-group-is-killing-off-the-jagex-pubbed-space-punks-and-its-studio-flying-wild-hog/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/05/evercore-heroes-shutters-north-american-server-after-cutting-team-and-entering-maintenance-mode/ Tue, 05 Sep 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456468 The shakeups surrounding fusion MMO/MOBA Evercore Heroes continues — and not for the better. This title went into a paid closed beta this past June only to see vastly lower numbers than the developer team anticipated. As a result, the studio announced a couple of weeks ago that it was reducing its team size (read: […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/03/the-daily-grind-when-has-an-mmo-shutdown-notice-truly-shocked-you/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/03/the-daily-grind-when-has-an-mmo-shutdown-notice-truly-shocked-you/#comments Sun, 03 Sep 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=455779 There are a lot of games that we cover that shut down. The majority of those we see coming a mile away, whether or not that’s a particularly happy thought. I’m rarely sitting here stunned when a temport shuts down, for example, and there are a lot of games where the shutdown almost reads as […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/03/the-daily-grind-when-has-an-mmo-shutdown-notice-truly-shocked-you/feed/ 48 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/01/veteran-studio-volition-is-shuttered-as-part-of-embracers-restructuring/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/01/veteran-studio-volition-is-shuttered-as-part-of-embracers-restructuring/#comments Fri, 01 Sep 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456082 It’s not an MMO studio, but it’s still a significant loss for gaming that Volition is being shut down. The studio was owned by Embracer Group, which you may remember embarked on a restructuring process following the collapse of a business deal which turned out to be with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games. And Volition has […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/01/veteran-studio-volition-is-shuttered-as-part-of-embracers-restructuring/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/31/indie-mmo-gloria-victis-and-its-studio-are-shutting-down-on-halloween/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/31/indie-mmo-gloria-victis-and-its-studio-are-shutting-down-on-halloween/#comments Thu, 31 Aug 2023 19:04:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456061 I’m sorry to report this afternoon that the long-running siege PvP MMORPG Gloria Victis is sunsetting. Polish indie studio Black Eye Games made the announcement on Steam, telling players that not only is the game closing but so is the studio itself. “This marks the end of a decade-long history that started in February 2012. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/31/indie-mmo-gloria-victis-and-its-studio-are-shutting-down-on-halloween/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/29/albion-online-is-killing-off-its-crystal-league-championship-pvp-tournaments-in-spite-of-300k-daily-players/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/29/albion-online-is-killing-off-its-crystal-league-championship-pvp-tournaments-in-spite-of-300k-daily-players/#comments Tue, 29 Aug 2023 14:30:38 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=455610 So Albion Online has some bad news this week: Sandbox Interactive is bringing its long-running Crystal League Championship PvP tournaments to an end, with the final event slated for mid-September, although the regular Crystal League will continue. “We’ve seen some fantastic moments in these tournaments, and we truly appreciate the passion and joy with which […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/29/albion-online-is-killing-off-its-crystal-league-championship-pvp-tournaments-in-spite-of-300k-daily-players/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/24/kakao-is-effectively-sunsetting-archeage-unchained-merging-it-into-two-remaining-western-archeage-servers/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/24/kakao-is-effectively-sunsetting-archeage-unchained-merging-it-into-two-remaining-western-archeage-servers/#comments Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:46:29 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=454847 The age of ArcheAge Unchained is over: Kakao and XLGAMES have apparently decided to merge the Unchained servers back into the regular ArcheAge production servers, resulting in one unified server for North America and another for Europe. “We went through many discussions and concluded that we could not provide you a smooth gameplay experience with […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/24/kakao-is-effectively-sunsetting-archeage-unchained-merging-it-into-two-remaining-western-archeage-servers/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/11/electronic-arts-announces-online-server-shutdowns-for-three-more-of-its-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/11/electronic-arts-announces-online-server-shutdowns-for-three-more-of-its-games/#comments Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:00:13 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=452683 It’s really hard to know how many people were using online multiplayer or accessing online servers for Dead Space 2, Crysis 3, or Dante’s Inferno, but just in case those likely few doing so are reading, we’ve got some bad news to report: Electronic Arts has dated server shutdown timing for all three of the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/11/electronic-arts-announces-online-server-shutdowns-for-three-more-of-its-games/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/07/iron-realms-puts-two-of-its-muds-into-maintenance-mode-including-starmourn/ Mon, 07 Aug 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=452155 Those who have dabbled or gone hardcore into the world of multi-user dungeons (MUDs) and text-based MMOs will no doubt recognize the name of Iron Realms. This studio’s built an empire out of running MUDs over the past few decades. Unfortunately, every empire needs pruning now and then, and Iron Realms announced that it’s going […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/26/rumor-archeage-to-sunset-in-the-west-and-elsewhere-following-xlgames-restructure/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/26/rumor-archeage-to-sunset-in-the-west-and-elsewhere-following-xlgames-restructure/#comments Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=450403 [We’re updating at the end with Kakao’s statements.] Korea’s Money Today News has a disturbing scoop on turmoil at XLGAMES that appears to mean layoffs inside the studio – and a closure of ArcheAge in some regions, including ours. The website reports that XLGAMES offered to pay workers to voluntarily retire in order to slash […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/26/rumor-archeage-to-sunset-in-the-west-and-elsewhere-following-xlgames-restructure/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/bandai-namco-will-sunset-gundam-evolution-after-barely-a-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/bandai-namco-will-sunset-gundam-evolution-after-barely-a-year/#comments Fri, 21 Jul 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=449799 We’ve got some bad news for fans of Gundam Evolution: Bandai Namco is already shutting it down, and though the company doesn’t give a particularly compelling reason, as you’ll shortly see it’s likely a simple reason: low player numbers. “It is with great sadness that we are announcing the conclusion of GUNDAM EVOLUTION,” the studio […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/bandai-namco-will-sunset-gundam-evolution-after-barely-a-year/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/the-soapbox-the-day-my-son-lost-his-first-online-video-game-to-a-sunset/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/the-soapbox-the-day-my-son-lost-his-first-online-video-game-to-a-sunset/#comments Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=449089 It was a few weeks back that I walked into our family room and saw my 14-year-old son crouched over the iPad with a watch in hand doing something very meticulous and intentional. I paused and asked, “Heya… whatcha doing there?” He looked up and gave a wry grimace. “I just heard that School of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/21/the-soapbox-the-day-my-son-lost-his-first-online-video-game-to-a-sunset/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/13/niantic-is-sunsetting-marvel-world-of-heroes-after-all-tomorrow-in-fact/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/13/niantic-is-sunsetting-marvel-world-of-heroes-after-all-tomorrow-in-fact/#comments Thu, 13 Jul 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=448690 At the end of June, Pokemon Go company Niantic announced a restructure of its entire business, a closure of its LA studio, the layoff of 230, and the end of multiple games, all owing to the company’s obvious over-extension in new projects post-COVID (and a slump in Pokemon Go driven by mismanagement). Among the games […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/13/niantic-is-sunsetting-marvel-world-of-heroes-after-all-tomorrow-in-fact/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/03/the-realm-onlines-corporate-buyer-surfaces-with-a-bizarre-website-and-studio-partner/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/03/the-realm-onlines-corporate-buyer-surfaces-with-a-bizarre-website-and-studio-partner/#comments Mon, 03 Jul 2023 15:00:18 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=447354 Over the course of June, we learned the sad news that player-led developer Realm Worlds would be shutting down the current version of The Realm Online; the group told players that the game wasn’t making enough money to pay the developers and that Norseman Games, which was still collecting licensing fees, wasn’t communicating about a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/03/the-realm-onlines-corporate-buyer-surfaces-with-a-bizarre-website-and-studio-partner/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/call-of-duty-warzone-1-0-forza-horizon-1-and-forza-horizon-2-all-receive-their-execution-notices/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/call-of-duty-warzone-1-0-forza-horizon-1-and-forza-horizon-2-all-receive-their-execution-notices/#comments Fri, 30 Jun 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=446814 It’s that sad time of year when the herd is rounded up and stragglers are culled and designated for the virtual slaughterhouse. And so it is that we say farewell to three online titles this month that fans have enjoyed for years. Activision announced that it is shutting down Call of Duty’s Warzone Caldera, aka […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/call-of-duty-warzone-1-0-forza-horizon-1-and-forza-horizon-2-all-receive-their-execution-notices/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/so-now-the-realm-online-is-apparently-being-sold-to-an-undisclosed-new-studio/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/so-now-the-realm-online-is-apparently-being-sold-to-an-undisclosed-new-studio/#comments Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:00:36 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=446991 Last week, player-led developer Realm Worlds announced a shutdown for the current version of The Realm Online, owing to the fact that the game wasn’t making enough income to pay the developers and most funding going to the IP holder licensing the game, Norseman Games. Realm Worlds had initially told players that it had tried […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/30/so-now-the-realm-online-is-apparently-being-sold-to-an-undisclosed-new-studio/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/29/niantic-lays-off-230-workers-affecting-pokemon-go-in-cost-slashing-reorganization/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/29/niantic-lays-off-230-workers-affecting-pokemon-go-in-cost-slashing-reorganization/#comments Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:30:11 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=446912 The beleaguered Pokemon Go company Niantic has been under fire all year from unhappy players, and now, the company itself is undergoing a restructure with significant layoffs. Niantic’s John Hanke told staffers today that the reorg will affect employment as well as some games: “Specifically, this means we will be closing our LA studio, reducing […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/29/niantic-lays-off-230-workers-affecting-pokemon-go-in-cost-slashing-reorganization/feed/ 9