Listen, I’m not going to pretend 2024 was great. It wasn’t great in the real world, and it wasn’t great in the games industry – especially the MMORPG industry. Thousands of our game developers were laid off. MMORPGs were canceled or – sometimes worse – left to rot in silence. Greed. Lockboxes. Bad court precedents. Even rollbacks. No thank you.
All of these awful things, we round up under our This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things tag as we trudge through the year. And as we do every year, we’ve gathered up all the articles that remind us we’re in the bad place, right here in our final post of 2024, and hold them up to be roasted by a freakin’ flamethrower. We are not messing around with a twee burn note in a bonfire this year. Torch the whole thing.
Have a last look at the worst things that happened in our slice of the genre this year, and then dump them over your shoulder in the past – where they belong.
Following Bobby Kotick’s exit, former ABK devs call out his toxic management and Overwatch 2 sabotage
British police open investigation into an in-game sexual assault in a virtual reality metaverse
ARK: Survival Ascended rolls back official servers over a new duping exploit
Police use a World of Warcraft account to track down and arrest a man allegedly hiding a minor
Study finds social media game ads don’t properly disclose the existence of lockboxes and in-game purchases
Unity sheds another 1800 workers from all of its departments in latest layoff round
Nexon Korea hosts ’emergency livestream’ over recent MapleStory cube manipulation fine
Steam welcomes ‘legally murky’ AI games, voice actors guild forges controversial AI deal
Amazon’s Twitch lays off 500 workers over cost-cutting efforts and executive exits
Discord is shedding 17 percent of its staff as part of the company’s attempt to turn a profit this year
PSA: Cryptocurrency scammers are stealing Solarpunk’s assets for use in NFTs and a supposed metaverse
RuneScape and Old School RuneScape will close their official forums on March 28
Fractured Online’s duping and hard drive downtime turns into 24-hour rollback
APB Reloaded is sunsetting its console versions – in fact, the Xbox server is already permanently offline
Guild Wars 2 studio says no accounts involved in new social engineering claim were compromised by CS
The Daily Grind: How much do you think the whales of your top MMO spend in a year?
Riot Games laid off over 500 people last night, and no we don’t know what it means for the Riot MMO
The Day Before has officially sunsetted, bringing its early access drama to a final ending
The British Army apparently abruptly scuttled its new recruitment game in Fortnite
The Day Before studio claims to be the target of misinformation and a hate campaign
The Final Fantasy XIV live-action TV series is apparently dead in the water
Mad World’s Steam launch is more like Sad World
PSA: Valheim’s Discord and two Iron Gate Discord accounts have apparently been hacked
Former devs of The Day Before recount a workplace of employee fines, shifting whims, and ‘pure megalomaniacal chaos’
Microsoft will require Final Fantasy XIV players to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass in order to play the game
FTC files a complaint against Microsoft following Activision Blizzard layoffs
Korean Court rules man isn’t a conscientious objector because he likes PUBG
Former Overwatch 2 lead vfx artist calls out Blizzard for deceptive promotion and pay behavior
Microsoft insists Activision-Blizzard was planning on mass layoffs before the merger
Genshin Impact takes cheat makers to court for copyright infringement
Magic to Master goes crypto, ties down a publisher, and eyes a nebulous February early access release window
Diablo IV releases its uber unique crafting system, tries selling portal effects for $30
Embracer confirms layoffs of nearly 1400 people were part of efforts to ‘always maximize shareholder value’
Blizzard is laying off over 126 people from its support center in Ireland
Argentinian World of Warcraft players say the game is ‘dead’ after January pricing changes
Microsoft’s layoffs will result in over 800 cut Activision-Blizzard jobs in March
Xbox’s Phil Spencer insists Microsoft’s mass-layoffs position it for future growth, somehow
Axie Infinity co-founder’s personal Ethereum wallets are caught in $9.5M crypto theft
Old School RuneScape elevates its fight against botting, hits back against fake Varlamore leaks
Sony is laying off nearly a thousand workers, 8% of its global workforce, following $1.5B stock buyback
EA lays off nearly 700 workers to ‘deliver the entertainment players want’ and ‘optimize its global real estate footprint’
Star Citizen’s CIG admits to rumored layoffs, blaming restructuring and relocation
Epic Games rebuts ransomware gang’s 189GB data hack claim
Rockstar developers push back against corporate demand to return to physical offices in April
Former Bungie composer announces he doesn’t want to enter politics but is running for Congress anyway
‘Professional fraudsters’ admit the 189GB hack of Epic Games was a hoax supposedly used to get $85K
Apex Legends esports tourney is hacked mid-match, postponing the event and raising security concerns
Former Overwatch 2 devs express concerns that future story missions won’t see the light of day
Ubisoft debuts AI NPC prototypes at GDC, and it went about as well as you’d expect
Playable World’s Raph Koster refutes claim that his book Theory of Fun espouses a regressive agenda
Jeff Strain’s Crop Circle Games studio shuts down abruptly following employee furloughs
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer claims massive layoffs were due in part to gaming’s ‘lack of growth’
Former Prytania CEO blames economic downturn and lack of investor interest for Crop Circle Games closure
Roblox walks back statements that children earning money is a ‘gift’ and not exploitation of labor
Four years after MapleStory 2’s western sunset, the global fans on the Korean version are dwindling
Jeff Strain shuts down Possibility Space studio via email, blaming internal leaks to the press
Ubisoft inists its AI-powered NPC tech will be used only if valuable to creatives
Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra thinks players should be able to tip developers for their work
Ubisoft pulls The Crew 1 from player libraries, encourages them to ‘check the store to pursue your adventures’
Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive lays off 600 employees and axes game projects
Entropia Universe announces plans to have an ‘AI president’ manage its MMO
Overwatch 2 ties its mythic skin shop to monetization as it focuses on the impact of ‘unapproved peripherals’
Pokemon Go players are not happy with their new avatars
Sony shuts down LittleBigPlanet 3 for good, along with all its online player-created levels
Elite Dangerous plans to sell ship bundles – including its upcoming new ship – in the cash shop
Steam is altering the early access refund deal – pray it does not alter it any further
Kickstarted MMORPG-turned-TCG Genfanad gives up, will sunset April 30
As Warcraft turns 30, Blizzard has preemptively canceled BlizzCon for 2024
Escape from Tarkov causes firestorm by locking PvE mode behind $250 special edition
Escape from Tarkov cedes PvE mode to earlier special edition buyers, but only ‘in waves’ and after full release server updates
Ubisoft resolves to launch two Web3 games this year but admits five years of work have yielded nothing
It’s 2024 and the ESA is still fighting game preservation, forecasting a depraved ‘online arcade’
Pokemon Go co-developer Very Very Spaceship has been hit with layoffs as the avatar rebellion continues
Helldivers 2 PC players are furious over returning hard requirement to link to a PSN account by June 4
Helldivers 2 delists from Steam in non-PSN countries as studio boss admits fault in debacle
Microsoft shutters multiple studios, abandons Redfall, bolsters Elder Scrolls Online staffing
Microsoft continues shrinking ZeniMax and Xbox with voluntary severance deals
EA wants to try in-game advertising again, but promises a ‘thoughtful’ approach this time
Helldivers 2 is delisted in three more countries on Steam because of an ‘administrative error correction’
Palia studio Singularity 6 has been slammed with yet another layoff round
Marvel Rivals will revise content creator contract after streamers blast non-disparagement clause
Dauntless and Fae Farm dev Phoenix Labs has laid off another 100+ people in latest restructure
Redfall’s final update brings offline mode and revamps neighborhood and nest mechanics
Escape from Tarkov studio offers special edition compensation in the form of a single-use $50 coupon
Overwatch 2 is killing its Hero Mastery Gauntlet PvE mode at the end of season 10
Lawsuit accuses Activision and Facebook of partial blame in deadly 2022 school mass shooting
Portions of Destiny 2’s Final Shape expansion accidentally become playable to PS5 fans ahead of schedule
Twitch eliminates its safety advisory council after just four years of operation
Legends of Aria’s crypto version, Britaria, goes bust over ‘financial constraints’
Ikea wants to pay people to sell furniture and serve meatballs inside of its digital Roblox store
Awake: Afterdark Apocalypse is a ridiculous gen-AI Kickstarter game that purports to be ‘the spiritual successor to the MMO’
‘I have to run a sustainable business’ – Microsoft’s Phil Spencer addresses layoffs and studio shutdowns
The Daily Grind: Can you give (another) example of MMO developers failing to read the room?
Riders of Icarus is shutting down its Southeast Asian servers without any sort of character transfer
Embracer Group talks up aspirations for AI tool integration with a ‘human-centric approach’
Trove warns players to ditch exploited items before they ‘lead to irreversible damage’
Blue Protocol’s fate up in the air after Bandai Namco Online declares insolvency
Sigh, yes, a man tried to bludgeon another man with a hammer IRL over ArcheAge
War Thunder apologizes for accidentally using imagery of the Challenger shuttle disaster for its keyart
Pokemon Go’s Meteorite bait-and-switch isn’t helping Go Fest hype
Chinese Star Citizen fan attempts to sound an alarm over a resolved Bar Citizen ticket price fiasco
Layoffs have once again impacted workers at Ubisoft and Microsoft
GTA Online players raise ruckus after Rockstar stuffs convenience features behind GTA+ sub
Overwatch 2 x TRANSFORMERS collaboration event starts today
Microsoft prepares price hikes for Xbox Game Pass this fall
WoW Classic players petition Blizzard to revert the server to its original state without any changes
War Thunder nerds once again use classified military documents in a forum discussion
Genshin Impact fans and voice actors accuse Hoyoverse of whitewashing Natlan region’s characters
Microsoft calls FTC’s Game Pass filing ‘misleading’ owing to multiplayer functionality and Call of Duty availability
Apex Legends slightly reels back battle pass changes after players revolt on Steam
For Science: Research study identifies money laundering patterns in the Steam Marketplace
PSA: Hackers hit World of Warcraft emulator TurtleWoW’s account database
Destiny 2 studio Bungie lays off another 220 workers, ending work on multiple games
Insiders say Bungie’s latest layoffs were an inevitable result of over-promising execs
Old School RuneScape will take a hard stance against ‘deathmatching’ in its rules August 15
Laniatus-owned Idea Fabrik claims The Repopulation is back online, renews assault on former contractor
Once Human players are reportedly being erroneously banned thanks to a premium currency bug
World of Warcraft officially joins in on the War Within spoiler party with major story cutscenes
Tarisland temp-bans players caught cheating in the Blight Dragon speed race event
Tarisland turns one-month bans into 10-year bans for cheaters following player ‘feedback’
Once Human’s latest update is plagued by new bugs, old bugs, and monetization woes
Fractured Online becomes the victim of its very first DDoS attack
Bungie reportedly fired Marathon’s former director over internal misconduct allegations
Former Sony exec suggests breadless game devs eat cake, Ubisoft investor demands more layoffs
Microsoft is laying off yet another batch of games division workers – 650 this time
A year after vaporizing industry trust, Unity abandons runtime fees, raising subscriptions instead
Star Citizen’s latest purchasable vehicle ignites a firestorm among players
Star Citizen’s Pirate Week returns with Blockade Runner event, a treasure hunt, and monetized cargo containers
Ubisoft broadens return-to-office mandate in spite of last year’s blowback over Ubisoft Montreal’s implementation
Microsoft inflates its stock price through a $60B buyback of shares in the shadow of 650 layoffs
World of Warcraft data loss fiasco deletes items out of guild banks – and Blizzard can’t fully restore them
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s Max Battles’ rollout shows Niantic is stuck in 2019
PlanetSide 2 studio Toadman was hit with some nasty layoffs and studio closures this month
DC Universe Online launches new Harley Quinn episode – and controversial paid currency
The Day Before studio Fntastic is back on Kickstarter to try to fund a multiplayer obstacle course platformer
Jason Schreier’s new book blames Activision – and the Titan MMO’s cancelation – for Blizzard’s degradation
Microsoft’s latest game division layoffs affect nearly 400 Activision-Blizzard employees
Prices and probabilities for Once Human’s latest lockbox ‘event’ prompt calls for a player boycott
Hi-Rez hit with layoffs as it reduces teams on Paladins and Classic SMITE in favor of SMITE 2
Nexon America lays off an unspecified ‘small number’ of employees as part of a ‘hyperlocalization’ strategy
Star Citizen devs are being forced into mandatory unpaid overtime in order to make CitizenCon happen
Bungie faces copyright infringement lawsuit from an author over Destiny 2’s Red War story beats
Embracer-owned Cryptic Studios will suffer devastating layoffs at the end of October
Roblox Corp denies short-seller’s report that it lies to investors and hosts ‘a pedophile hellscape’
Class action complaint alleges Ubisoft unlawfully shares personal information with Facebook
Three-year-old New World is labeling new non-Aeternum PC player reviews as ‘pre-release’
Star Citizen devs report drying funds, micromanagement, overspending, and episodic release for Squadron 42
So now we know: Dauntless dev Phoenix Labs was bought out by a blockchain company last year
World of Warcraft is selling a $90 dino mount to ‘celebrate’ its 20th birthday
Star Citizen players raise the alarm over internet spaceship nerfs that conveniently favor newer options
US Copyright Office rules libraries can’t access old games remotely because of ‘market harm’ and recreational use ‘risk’
Embers Adrift says Digital River has been stiffing it since June, so it’s going temp F2P and heading to Steam
Sony didn’t just sunset Concord – now it’s closing Concord’s studio, Firewalk
Star Citizen player reports CIG is making him sign an NDA before getting a refund
RIP Harry Potter Magic Awakened – NetEase officially killed it off last night
Fntastic is hosting a map-making contest for its revised prop hunting game, and no, players won’t get paid
New World Aeternum says multiplayer PvE and PvP let you ‘continue your solo experience alone in a crowd’
Ubisoft stealth-launches its NFT figurine PvP tactical battler Champions Tactics
Dev studio ProbablyMonsters cancels its Battle Barge project and lays off 50 workers
Nintendo’s patent lawsuit against Palworld studio is hunting for an injunction and $66K
GeForce NOW will impose 100-hour monthly play limits to all users, but you can buy more time
Nintendo is suing an influencer who streamed multiple unreleased games and taunted the company
Nexon vows to add jiggle physics to The First Descendant, preps S2 for December
Minecraft and War Thunder military leaker is sentenced to 15 years in prison
Unity’s CEO says he flew around the world to understand why devs didn’t like runtime fees
Tarisland’s new legendary weapon system is being roasted by players as grindy and predatory
Ashes of Creation wipes away assets and eliminates over 100 characters over duping incident
Niantic admits to using Pokemon Go player data to train an AI-powered 3-D map tool
Star Citizen reportedly let go of more staff shortly after CitizenCon wrapped up
Pokemon Go is testing a monthly reward program that caps out at $500 a month
Ubisoft is shuttering XDefiant already, along with multiple studios – around 277 workers affected
Final Fantasy XIV community institutes new world first rules after players use add-ons to cheat (again)
Elder Scrolls Online’s 10th anniversary fizzles as ZeniMax cancels its North American meetup
Dauntless players express frustration over Awakening update’s mechanics and monetization
Riot’s Project K is a League of Legends physical trading card game
Helldivers 2 makes fans mad with pricing for its limited-time Killzone collab cash shop offerings
Once Human’s new achievements are powered by cash shop currency – obviously, players aren’t happy
War Thunder nerds have once again posted classified hardware docs to argue for game vehicle balance
