MMO Development Roundup (May 2021) | Game Rant
Passionate gamers around the world have devoted billions of hours to different massively multiplayer online worlds. MMOs generally offer tons of content that players can experience on their own or with friends. Community interaction is often a huge component in many MMOs that keeps player invested in their online worlds. There are numerous MMOs that have come and gone, plenty that are still around today, and several more on the way.
However, with so many MMO games in development, some information can get lost in the mix whenever a developer makes any new announcements or updates. Sometimes, an MMO might get hit with a delay, like earlier this year when Amazon Games' New World delayed into Summer 2021. Other times, an MMO might have announced an upcoming beta period, or a lift on an NDA. Here are several in-development and live MMOs that have received some updates during the month of May, ranging from Ashes of Creation to New World to Final Fantasy 14.
Often among many gamers' list of highly anticipated games, Ashes of Creation from Intrepid Studios is an upcoming fantasy MMO that hopes to build a truly player-driven world. Intrepid has been hosting pre-Alpha tests recently, but pushed back some of its full Alpha One schedule further into the summer. The Alpha One test and full NDA pull-back was planned for this June, but will now take place in July. On the bright side, Intrepid has decided to remove the verbal NDA for Ashes of Creation, so some players can now openly talk about their experiences, without sharing any images or videos.
More recently, the Lead Game Designer for Ashes of Creation, Jeff Bard, has left the team. After helping drive much of the MMO's development, he will go on to work on some projects in the VR space. The Content Creator Program for Ashes of Creation has also been reintroduced, and is accepting new applicants. In the monthly developer update from Intrepid Studios, players can take a look at some Alpha footage of a giant boss battle with the Elder Dragon of Tundra, in addition to some early Siege gameplay.
For those that are looking for an anime-stylized MMO, Blue Protocol is one to watch. A lengthy developer update from Bandai Namco was livestreamed this month, though it was in Japanese. Bandai Namco updated fans about development, and revealed some new footage. There are also new character creation options being added, as well as whole new regions, and a new Heavy Smasher class. A short new animation was released as well, with some moments of gameplay footage.
Developed by Fntastic and published by MYTONA, The Day Before is an open-world survival MMO set in apost-pandemic America overrun by zombies. There are already a few trailers for The Day Before, but development has mostly been quiet this month. This morning, Fntastic teased some upcoming news about the game, but fans will have to wait to see how much the developers actually plan to reveal.
The MMO Elyon, previously called Ascent: Infinite Realm, from Kakao Games has entered into its beta period for western audiences. Players that have had a chance to try out the new MMO have been able to give their opinions on everything from the game's character customization to its initial combat. Read Game Rant's preview of Elyon here.
At the end of 2020, Riot Games confirmed a League of Legends MMO was in development, though in its most early stages. Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, who has previous MMO credits on World of Warcraft, is Executive Producer on the planned MMO set in Runeterra, and penned a general disclaimer to fans on Twitter. Fans can expect the upcoming MMO to have its own identity, even if certain gameplay decisions won't appeal to all fans.
Amazon Games' foray into MMO development comes in the form of New World, and director Scot Lane gave a developer update about the planned schedule for the next few months. Anyone that pre-orders the game can participate in the closed beta on July 20 ahead of its official launch on August 31, 2021. More information was revealed about Expeditions and combat in New World as well.
Information also came out that New World will feature paid cosmetics and other micro transactions such as XP Boosters. While the developers see this as a way for newer players to catch up, some players weren't happy about the concept. The developers clarified that only cosmetic items, not XP Boosters, would be available to purchase anytime before 2022, which would only be a few months after launch.
Since New Genesis is a larger overhaul for the base game, there are several changes that will be coming to players. Sega detailed some of these anticipated changes to some games systems as players were able to participate in a closed beta test. Plus, a character creator tool is now live in anticipation of the New Genesis release next month.
The developers also revealed an upcoming road map for the next half-year:
- June sees New Genesis launch with the Aelio Region, 6 classes, and a level cap of 20.
- July sees a special 9th Anniversary Event for PSO2.
- August sees a new class called "Braver."
- Fall 2021 sees the new "Bouncer" class, a title system, and "trigger quests."
- Winter 2021/2022 sees the 1st major update for New Genesis that will include a new region, a level cap increase to 35, and new class skills and techniques.
Development continues on the massive sci-fi MMO Star Citizen as the game keeps hitting crowdfunding milestones, even when it is already one of the most expensive games ever made. The development team continues to detail progress made on the game, including videos about different spaceships and game systems. A free week for players to try out the game began on May 22 and will continue to June 1. Players will have access to the Avenger Titan ship to try out and see what the game has to offer.
Sword of Legends Online is an upcoming MMO with a unique storyline based in Chinese mythology. Ahead of its anticipated release in summer 2021, Sword of Legends Online released its first beta phase from May 21-25. A special livestream today went over some feedback gathered from the first beta, and some anticipated changes coming to the second beta phase happening from June 1-8. In addition to improving server stability for the next beta, the developers will be adding a new zone for each of the game's two factions to explore. Both Mysticism and Heaven's Children players will have access to the new area, Valley of Echoing Blades.
Twin Drums' The Wagadu Chronicles is an isometric, Afrofantasy MMO that got backed on Kickstarter last fall. The game will have a heavy emphasis on roleplay, and there will also be a table-top RPG version of The Wagadu Chronicles. The May Kickstarter update from Twin Drums shows off some footage of the game's forest and desert biomes, plus some ideas for in-dialogue character animations. Additionally, Twin Drums announced the hiring of Harrison Yinfaowei, a Nigeria-based artist, to help with some of The Wagadu Chronicles' architecture design.
ZeniMax Online revealed information earlier this month about how the Companion System would work in the Blackwood expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online. This new mechanic will provide players that complete a certain quest with a Companion, an NPC that can fight alongside the player. Companions can act as a quick replacement for other players in areas like dungeons, and can be almost fully customized with abilities, gear, and playstyles.
The Final Fantasy 14 Digital Fan Festival earlier this month revealed a ton of information about the new Endwalker expansion coming in fall 2021. Not only are male Viera being added to Final Fantasy 14, but female Hrothgar will be as well. The Endwalker expansion will see the addition of the Reaper job, giving players another DPS role to play. Footage of new areas, towns, and mounts was also shown off.
Ahead of the major Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons expansion reveal coming later this summer, ArenaNet is finding ways to engage players with the game. Starting from May 25, players that log in to the game are able to unlock "story tokens" in order to play through the "Living World" Season 2 story for free.
Wrapping up this list is Runescape, as development continues on Jagex's mobile port of its ever-popular MMO. In an interview with Game Rant, developers on Runescape talked about the mobile version's accessibility. Developers are in the fine-tuning phase, making sure that the game functions on different screens, that all the text is legible, and that the mobile version has customizable menus that fans have come to expect. Some accessibility concerns discovered and addressed when developing the mobile version of the game can now get transferred to the desktop versions, too, according to the developers.
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May 31, 2021
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