November played host to BlizzCon, the first in-person show for Blizzard in years, and while overall it wasn’t spectacular, World of Warcraft fans were in for a special treat, as the studio announced not one but three expansions for the beleaguered MMORPG.
We also witnessed dark times for Destiny 2, the reveal of Ghostcrawler’s new MMO, brutal layoffs at Cryptic, a surprisingly strong Tarisland beta, delays for ArcheAge 2, the jettisoning of Wayfinder from Digital Extremes, the apparent death of Overwatch League, and the release of major updates for WoW, Guild Wars 2, Lord of the Rings Online, and Neverwinter.
Here’s the whole recap from November of this past year, from our top news stories of the month to our best editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF NOVEMBER 2023
Bungie bosses admit Destiny 2 revenues missed expectations this year by 45%
The Day Before just delayed to December with its post-trademark-dispute early access
Nitrado CEO claims ARK Survival Ascended ‘would never have existed’ without its $4M loan
Greg Street announces his new MMORPG, dubbed Ghost and funded by NetEase
NCsoft’s MMORPG Throne and Liberty launches December 7 – in Korea
PvP MMO Gloria Victis has officially sunsetted as Siege Survival Gloria Victis marches on
Cryptic confirms layoffs, claiming Star Trek Online and Neverwinter aren’t ‘affected’
Tarisland starts second closed beta November 15, teases a new class, and talks design and influences in video digest
ARK Survival Ascended’s launch sees rapid patching, multiple server openings, and mixed reviews
BlizzCon 2023: WoW, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and more at the Opening Ceremony
BlizzCon 2023: Diablo IV announces its first expansion, Vessel of Hatred
BlizzCon 2023: WoW Classic is getting Cataclysm in 2024 and Season of Discovery in Vanilla
BlizzCon 2023: World of Warcraft’s next expansion is The War Within, first in the Worldsoul Saga expansion trilogy
BlizzCon 2023: Overwatch 2’s new hero, Mauga, has goofy guns that were at one point bigger than Tracer
BlizzCon 2023: Everything we learned about The War Within in World of Warcraft’s What’s Next panel
BlizzCon 2023: WoW Classic panel reveals Cataclysm, Hardcore, and Season of Discovery
BlizzCon 2023: Hearthstone expansion Showdown in the Badlands launches November 14
BlizzCon 2023: Warcraft Rumble deploys pocket-sized fun
BlizzCon 2023: World of Warcraft’s War Within systems deep dive
BlizzCon 2023: Diablo IV compares its Vessel of Hatred expansion to a bacon BBQ burger
BlizzCon 2023: Overwatch 2 previews competitive updates, Clash game mode, and upcoming heroes
WoW Classic won’t be keeping Wrath Classic realms, debates what to do with Season of Discovery characters
World of Warcraft will develop ‘Saga’ expansions in parallel, addresses War Within’s headstart controversy
Blizzard suggests World of Warcraft is ‘pretty well positioned’ for a console port
Flameseeker Chronicles: Hands-on with Guild Wars 2 Through the Veil’s Inner Nayos and convergences
Neverwinter’s Spelljammer module sends players into Wildspace with today’s launch
World of Warcraft’s Guardians of the Dream launches today (albeit with delays)
Lord of the Rings Online releases its ninth expansion, Corsairs of Umbar, today
Kickstarted MMORPG sandbox Fractured Online relaunches early access on Steam today
Albion Online is switching to a seasonal quarterly content cadence with smaller, faster updates
ArcheAge 2 confirms another delay and a focus from large-scale factional PvP to small group PvE and guild PvP
Xbox announces plans for AI-based gamedev tools that generate game dialogue and quests ‘at scale’
The Epic Games Store is apparently still not profitable for Epic Games
The Overwatch League appears to be dead after six seasons
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s The War Within actually sounds promising on paper
Pearl Abyss Q3 2023: Black Desert’s Land of the Morning Light pulled PA out of its slump
NCsoft Q3 2023: Mobile MMOs, not the classic PC titles, are dragging NCsoft down
Nexon Q3 2023: Nexon’s getting a new CEO as its PC MMOs like MapleStory drive absurd revenue growth
Wayfinder suffers layoffs as Digital Extremes transfers the game fully to Airship Syndicate
PSA: Star Trek Online is slashing the price of its lifetime subscription deal through December 14
Raph Koster has been warning about the death of games innovation longer than most MMOs have been alive
‘We’re out of money’: Project Gorgon moves to part-time development to keep its server lights on
Blizzard’s art savant Samwise Didier is retiring after more than three decades at the studio
Fractured Online’s return to early access sees bug fixing, a small server rollback, and mixed player reaction
EVE Online’s Havoc expansion is live, making players’ space pirate dreams a reality
Soulframe talks about animation and hints at a ‘very very closed’ pre-alpha in December
Jeffrey Butler’s metaverse MMO Avalon reveals trailer and AI-driven player content tools
Perfect World’s Perfect New World has launched its ‘equilibrious’ beta test today
Battle of the betas: Tarisland enters second closed beta as Pax Dei kicks off Home Valley test
Cinderstone Online has apparently sunsetted after just two months as devs plan F2P relaunch
Star Wars The Old Republic is finally launching an Australia-based server – tomorrow
Interview: Wayfinder pauses seasons as it hunts for a publisher and rebuilds roadmap
Throne and Liberty’s new trailer envisions an action-packed boss fight
EG7 Q3 2023: Daybreak’s MMO revenues dip ahead of Q4 expansion deluge
G-STAR 2023: NCsoft previews not just Throne & Liberty but Battle Crush, LLL, Project BSS, Project G, and Project M
Don’t look now but Blizzard has been quietly patching up Heroes of the Storm
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen talks about the return of 24-hour MMO testing and a shift of dev mindset
Tarisland devs address the decision to avoid P2W cash shop kit – but not Vigor energy gating
DC Universe Online adds new difficulties, a new tutorial, and new character creation in GU 139
Old School RuneScape nears 200K concurrent players thanks to Trailblazer Reloaded
Fractured Online suffers a nasty admin hack that sees every player city in the game wiped out
Destiny 2 peak player concurrency hits a new all-time low on Steam
Smilegate unveiled a playable version of Lost Ark Mobile at G-Star 2023
Pirate 101 has a surprise mobile spinoff called Pirate101 Plunder Hunt
World of Warcraft’s Ion Hazzikostas claims War Within early access won’t grant long-term advantages
Kickstarted superhero MMORPG City of Titans releases new test build with massively expanded map
New World is merging nine servers into seven others as the Rise of the Angry Earth population boom is over
Throne & Liberty unloads seven (!) new class videos at G-Star
Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore loses 17,000 player accounts in ransomware hack
The Realm Online returns yet again with a ‘reimagined’ version of this classic MMO
Fractured Online sold 5000 copies, devs post short-term update roadmap and more stats
Lost Ark’s Korean class balance updates won’t land in the west until January 2024
Bungie finally admits it’s delaying Destiny 2’s The Final Shape to June 4
New World completes server merges, teases PUG finder, and addresses roadmap delays
NCsoft’s Blade & Soul unveils ‘Neo Classic’ servers with enhanced visuals and gameplay
Project Gorgon dev says it’s catering to older players who remember the golden age of MMOs
Quantic Foundry’s survey examines the motivations of gamers drawn to sci-fi settings
Sony Interactive Entertainment and NCsoft announce a ‘strategic’ partnership
Mortal Online 2 releases its big Unreal Engine 5 upgrade and gameplay adjusting patch
19-year-old EverQuest II’s 20th expansion, Ballads of Zimara, launches today
World of Warcraft Classic’s Season of Discovery officially launches today
Hi-Rez’s Tribes 3 Rivals aims to resurrect the classic capture-the-flag franchise next year
Baldur’s Gate 3 will add a new epilogue and two new game modes in today’s Patch 5 update
Destiny 2 swiftly stops sales of a baffling Starter Pack after players drag Bungie for the bundle
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF NOVEMBER 2023
Vague Patch Notes: So what are MMORPGs meant to be?
WoW Factor: What I’m hoping to see in the next World of Warcraft expansion
Massively Overthinking: The ‘elements’ of MMOs
Design Mockument: Can an open PvP full-loot system for MMOs be designed fairly?
The Game Archaeologist: Firefall, an MMO tragedy about more than just a bus
Wisdom of Nym: Illuminating Final Fantasy XIV’s 6.51 patch
Casually Classic: BlizzCon took WoW Classic into the ‘plus’ era
Vitae Aeternum: Five MMO tips for New World Rise of the Angry Earth newbies
Choose My Adventure: Swamps, spicy fights, story, and technical issues in New World
Perfect Ten: The single best expansion from 10 MMOs
The Soapbox: Will Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred be a sufficient answer for Path of Exile 2?
Massively Overthinking: Did BlizzCon do what it needed to do?
Vague Patch Notes: BlizzCon 2023 wasn’t a disaster, but it needed to be better
LOTRO Legendarium: Corsairs of Umbar and the three ways we consume expansions
Wisdom of Nym: The best stuff from Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 that’s already in the game
Flameseeker Chronicles: Five Guild Wars 2 event farms to combat your labyrinth letdown
Choose My Adventure: Levels and confusion come fast and thick in Tree of Savior
Perfect Ten: Classic video games that would make terrible MMORPGs
WoW Factor: Just by existing, the Worldsoul Saga delivers something World of Warcraft desperately needed
Fight or Kite: Netmarble’s Paragon The Overprime resurrects Epic’s lost MOBA Paragon (again)
Massively Overthinking: Pervasive old MMO ideas that aren’t really true
First Impressions: Perfect New World is an unbalanced mess right now with its ‘equilibrious’ test
First Impressions: Warcraft Rumble is a slick but shambolic multiplayer romp
Vague Patch Notes: How does an MMORPG studio rebuild trust it shattered?
Global Chat: Reactions to BlizzCon’s World of Warcraft announcements
First Impressions: Tarisland has some rickety bones but some solid muscle
Wisdom of Nym: When will Final Fantasy XIV head back to the Void?
Some Assembly Required: Grand Theft Online roleplay is a tough nut to crack
Not So Massively: Eternal Card Game’s gauntlet problem
Choose My Adventure: Character and comfort levels continue flowing in Tree of Savior
Perfect Ten: Why I’m grateful to be an MMO gamer in 2023
Massively Overthinking: The MMOs we’re happy still exist – even if we don’t play them
Massively Uplifting: MMO gratitude, goodness, and giving, from Elder Scrolls Online to Guild Wars 2
WoW Factor: Fine, let’s talk about Blizzard being dumb with early access
LOTRO Legendarium: Six very tiny LOTRO details that I love
Global Chat: Tarisland is the real deal, folks
Wisdom of Nym: Why Final Fantasy XIV’s next limited job is (probably) not Pictomancer or Green Mage
Vague Patch Notes: The myth of the ‘first’ MMORPG
Warframe of Mind: Reflections on TennoCon 2023 and Warframe’s 10 years of Tenno
Choose My Adventure: I still don’t know if I like Tree of Savior even after hitting triple-digit levels
Fight or Kite: SMITE has the right vibes but the wrong gameplay for this PvP fan
End-of-Year Eleven: The biggest MMO surprises of 2023
Casually Classic: Which version of WoW Classic is right for you?
WoW Factor: The story issues World of Warcraft must address going into The War Within
Wandering Wraeclast: Introducing Path of Exile 2’s Mercenary crossbow class and WASD
Massively Overthinking: Penalties for failure in MMORPGs (beyond death)
THE FULL 2023 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
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