July was, quite frankly, an incredible month for MMO games and a pretty darn great month for MMOGames.com. If you’ve been wondering what’s been happening in the MMOs of the world, wonder no longer because each month, MMOGames brings you a rundown of all the most amazing massively multiplayer online gaming news, updates, insights, giveaways, interviews, and articles.
In this month’s “MMO Gaming Highlights”, we reviewed two of the most exciting upcoming MMORPGs in a decade, we conducted a nigh-on inspiring interview with Pantheon's Creative Director Chris "Joppa" Perkins, introduced new content series, explored the crisis at Activision Blizzard, introduced another Indie MMO, and explored all the major updates in your favourite MMOs.
Popular MMO Gaming Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
“There are many reasons to think New World will be a massive success; the hardcore combat, the large-scale battles, the rise and fall of Factions, and the dynamics of the player-led economy leaves us with a lot to be enthused about. A whole new world awaits.” We were lucky enough to be granted access to the preview of one of the most awesome MMORPGs in an age. As well as publishing a New World Q&A, we got a little bit carried away when writing our Ultimate New World Beta Review. Don’t blame us, we had a lot to say! Read me!
“Video games are becoming part of our culture, and traditions are now being formed around how video games are played.” When we heard about the plucky underdogs at Project BetaDwarf we knew that we had to get in touch. Their indie studio has moved from squatting in an abandoned school to creating Project F4E, an MMOBA that aims to combat the loneliness epidemic. They are true heroes in our eyes and we highly recommend you check out the guest post that they wrote for us! Read me!
"Nevertheless, this cup, grail or chalice is filled with some of the most enticing wine I’ve encountered in a long time. No time to worry if its laced with arsenic – bottoms up!" We also had the chance to check out and give a first impressions review of the Alpha for Ashes of Creation - an MMORPG with hype like no other in recent memory. We set our MMORPG expert on the case to work it whether it is the WoW-killer we've been waiting for. Read me!
“Alongside offering up memorable narratives in sprawling game worlds, they offer truly unparalleled options” In case you’re a real noob when it comes to MMOs, here’s a beginner’s introduction to the top 5 MMORPGs to play in 2021. Read me!
“Instead of the slow silent tension of a “whodunnit” thriller, Among Us is transformed into a frantic bloody slasher.” Earlier in the year we wrote a team-review for the deceptive puzzler phenomenon Among Us, well we’re back again for its unofficial (though soon-to-be-official) minigame. We hope you enjoy reading our Among Us Hide and Seek Review as much as we enjoyed writing it. Read me!
EVE Online Interviews
We took a brief intermission from our popular EVE Online interview series this month, but don’t worry we’ll be back with the gang and a bang in August. In the meantime, keep yourselves occupied by browsing the incredible interviews from the last year. Check out the archive!
Featured Game Artist Competition
In a new feature for MMOGames, we’re going to be sharing some of the amazing artwork of game artists, talented fan-artists, and remarkable engineers. Do you know any amazing game artists or fan artists? We’re planning to launch an exceptionally large gaming gear competition containing almost $1000 worth of gaming tech. To ensure they don’t miss their chance to enter, advise them to follow and favourite us on our social channels (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook page, Facebook group) plus our multi-channel hashtag: #ILoveMMOGames.
Our most recent Featured Game Artist was the amazing Darrien Kobayashi Gibson whose stunning cyberpunk and horror reimaginings of classic game characters like Samus, Link, and Raiden really took our breath away. If you know of any talented game artists who would like to be considered, just tell them to contact us. View me!
The Pantheon Series
“That’s the kind of magic that calls to the deep places inside of us, that resonates with what I believe MMORPGs are most uniquely equipped to do – make us want to be adventurers again.”
Over the course of the year, we’ve been growing increasingly excited about the upcoming MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. We’ve produced an array of articles in our popular content segment, “The Pantheon Series” making our case for why we think Pantheon is different from other crowdfunded MMORPGs. If you’re an MMORPG lover looking for a more social, challenging title, we strongly advise you to check it out.
This month The Pantheon Series has reached its dramatic climax. That’s right, it’s the interview you’ve all been waiting for. We were lucky enough to interview the one and only Chris “Joppa” Perkins, Creative Director. His answers were thoughtful, insightful, personal, and poignant. If you're into MMOs (why else are you here?), this interview is unmissable. Read me!
WoW Wednesdays
We brought back a reader-favourite feature on MMOGames - WoW Wednesdays where you can discover all the need-to-know World of Warcraft updates, in-game events, and esports bonanzas.
Normally our WoW Wednesday segments are full of fun gaming news. And we did cover the MDI Shadowlands Cup and the cool new Pandemic boardgame crossover. But we couldn’t ignore the massive elephants in Activision Blizzard’s room. And no, we’re not even talking about their continued player-alienation via hotfixing Echo’s world-first Mythic Sylvanus attempt.
The biggest news in gaming at the moment is the escalating situation at Activision Blizzard following myriad claims of bullying, abuse, racial and gender discrimination. Lawsuits, mass walkouts, giant petitions, and terrible corporate responses have been dominating the headlines. With similar claims arising at Ubisoft, it looks like the gaming industry has a reckoning on its hands. Here’s our summary of events. #ActiBlizzWalkout
With the company currently angering fans, developers, staff, and streamers alike, the future is looking bleak for World of Warcraft without radical change.
If current trends continue, it looks like we’ll be switching WoW Wednesday to Final Fantasy Fridays...
Feelgood Fridays
We know times are dark for a lot of people right now, so we enjoy sharing some feel-good gaming news to give you some pandemic cheer. Our #FeelgoodFriday gaming news section talks about the games industry moves that make us happy: inclusivity, accessibility, sustainability, and diversity.
With gender-based gaming scandals occurring left, right, and centre we’ve focused some of our attention on the organizations trying to right those wrongs this month:
The Women in Games Festival is returning on a galactic scale! Read me!
MSI has launched a new #WomeninGaming series exploring the challenges and experiences of women in the industry. Read me!
And as a bit of lighthearted fun, here’s what some of gaming’s most well-known characters look like with their genders reversed. View me!
We also covered some other Feelgood Gaming News, including:
This Texan woman’s record-breaking collection of retro games that will be donated for educational purposes. Read me!
This adorable Nintendogs speedrun that helped raise $2.9 million for wonderful charities. Read me!
Indie Spotlight
In our Indie Spotlight feature, we shine a light on the lesser-known games that are deserving of more love and attention. If you have an online indie game to recommend, let us know via comment or message. This month, we shone our light on the scenic sandbox Frozen Flame.
In a year where an Indie survival RPG like Valheim can thrive as much as it has, the next title in our Indie Spotlight may be on to a winner. Frozen Flame is an open-world survival action RPG with options to play alone or on locally-hosted or official online realms. Plus, with developers Dreamside Interactive offering out privately rented servers, players also have the ability to run rampant in fully-customised realms. And if our slew of Valheim-based Crafty Creations are anything to go by, that’s something to look forward to. Check it out!
Don’t forget to check out our previous Indie Spotlight features on Palia, Voidspace, Scars of Honor, Infinite Fleet, Key to Heaven, Project: Gorgon, Super Squad, Broken Ranks, and V Rising.
In other news, they say imitation is the finest form of flattery? Or is it great minds think alike?
Crafty Creations
Say hello to Crafty Creations where we highlight the biggest, funniest and most impressive creations from building and crafting games like this amazing Valheim Viking Village.
This month’s top Crafty Creation was also from Valheim - the Studio Ghibli Spirited Away crossover. Say hello to Yubaba’s Viking bathhouse. Check me out!
MMO Gaming Updates, Expansions, DLCs, Patches, and Events
With summer 2021 well underway, July saw the launch of lots of exciting updates to our favourite online games:
Fiesta Online gave players the chance to dance with the divine in their Realm of the Gods expansion. Read me!
Black Desert Online saw a 300% upsurge in players following the release of their seafaring Corsair class. Read me!
Swords of Legends Online (SOLO) has been creating a buzz; here’s a Q&A with their director about P2W concerns. Read me!
Guild Wars 2 saw a classic boss re-emerge, the brilliantly terrifying Twisted Marionette. Read me!
PUBG released their own mini-movie to celebrate the release of their new South Korean map, Taego. Read me!
Star Trek Online is going into worf speed with a whole bunch of Klingon shenanigans, so we wrote up a guide. Read me!
EVE Online has had a massive graphical overhaul and their universe is now looking out of this world. Read me! And they’ve made a real-life $210,000 available for grab in an epic space-bound heist! Read me!
FFXIV has been the talk of the town this month, so much so that their servers were struggling to handle the demand. Fortunately, they’re pretty attentive. Read me!
GTA Online introduced some excellent Easter Eggs, we’ll say no more other than “I’ll be back”. Read me!
Neverwinter (finally) introduced the Bard class giving players the ability to shred loots and foes all at once. Read me!
Runescape introduced the first ever Tier-95 weapon as part of the struggle against Jas in their year-long Elder God Wars storyline. Read me!
MMO Gaming Giveaways
While we only ran one official giveaway this month - the Webzen Summer giveaway for MU Online - we also snuck a few cheeky giveaway keys in our articles and news posts. Firstly, the Project F4E article above contains a key to unlock the game forever. Secondly, yesterday’s news post on F2P RPG Eternal Fury contains a free loot code that works until late August. Aren’t we nice?
As always, be sure to keep checking by our giveaways page to browse our other active freebies.
Some More MMO Games News
The Steam Deck was announced and made available for pre-order allowing players to play their favourite MMOs on the go. Read me!
We’re trialing a new content series, Endless Sagas, where we solve the gaming conundrums and challenges you’re struggling with. Like our Mortal Online 2 Starter Guide, our clay-mining explanation for Stranded Deep, and our Valheim dedicated server walkthrough. Tell us what problem you’d like us to solve next!
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