While I've drifted away from Guild Wars over the years, it's secured a place in my heart, with the proud title of "Only MMO I've Ever Liked". I like to think it wears a sash that says this. The announcement of Guild Wars 3 has since piqued my interest all the way back up again, particularly as it looks like an MMO that actually respects your time. This was highlighted by ArenaNet's studio head, Collin Johanson, who said in an interview with IGN Live that it would be playable "as much or as little" as the players want.

God above, that's pleasant to hear. Look, I'm all for games that you can immerse yourself in, but I'm also in my early 30s and I don't necessarily want games to be all-consuming entities that, like some eldritch abomination, get their hooks in you and siphon time away with repetitive tasks. Sometimes I just want to be able to jump in, play for a while, then come back a week or so later, without feeling like I've lost out on something.

Rise and grind

Gamers are perennially fascinated with MMOs. When you're first getting into online gaming, the idea that you can share a living, breathing world with thousands of other players is intoxicating. But far too often, MMOs don't live up to their promise.

Take World of Warcraft, one of the biggest games of all time, but one that I bounced off like a rubber ball. I've been around the MMO block a fair few times, from The Secret World to Dune Awakening, but I can't seem to stick with one for very long. Even Eve Online, which has produced so many incredible stories, just doesn't offer gameplay that I personally find entertaining. There is one exception: Guild Wars 2.

I first entered the world of Tyria back in 2013, and fell in love with its structure. The mix of ongoing, large-scale quests, snack-sized daily objectives and larger monthly ones, immediately gave me the structure that I felt MMOs were lacking. I now knew what I had to do, day in, day out, making hopping on for an hour feel less like a chore and more like an opportunity to see what was new in the world of cat men and plant people. Crucially, it was also free, which was great!

For all of its grindiness, that's something that I feel Warframe does really well. When I hop on with a friend, it's easy to spend a couple hours slicing up Grineer then leave it until a week or so later when we're next free. I don't feel that I miss out on anything significant by doing this, and that's fantastic. Games aren't meant to be a second job, and whether that involves filling out a Battlepass or harvesting endless quantities of vampire gallbladders, that's something that MMOs are often guilty, with malice of forethought, of doing.

It's a choice for, say, World of Warcraft, to be oriented around small dopamine hits that keep you grinding away for dopamine. I don't mean to yuck anyone's yums, but it's not for me.

Get the guild back together

With Guild Wars 3, ArenaNet plans to avoid "keeping people hostage", as Johanson says, adding that "the MMO genre is ready for something new". That's the handle, right there.

MMOs have barely changed over the decades, and with live-service games, we can see MMO mechanics spreading like wildfire. Consider something like Call of Duty, which has decided that weapon progression and cosmetics aren't enough to keep people playing, and has implemented a battlepass, which introduces FOMO to keep you playing. If you haven't completed a battlepass, can you truly say that the money you spent to get the premium unlocks was worth it? Probably not, right? So keep playing!

Games across all genres can be deeply predatory. Games that I love, even. Yet the best games don't do this. You play those not to unlock content that you've technically already paid for, but because you're interested in what they do, what they have to say, or enjoy the process. I've recently been playing 1000xResist (it's a banger), and I wouldn't have felt more of a draw to complete it if I'd been offered a new Watcher skin for successfully completing 5 communions. Conversely, I played Assassin's Creed Valhalla a few years ago, had completed a ton of the game, then saw a yawning chasm of 50 more hours stretching ahead of me if I wanted to actually finish it, and felt insulted.

We've all got a limited amount of time on this Earth. I don't have the time anymore to sink endless hours into an MMO, and, as more and more people keep playing video games well into their adult lives, that's true for an ever-increasing number of us. If Guild Wars 3 is capable of staying captivating, without chaining you to your desk in pursuit of that next dopamine hit, it may well be a game that I come to love. Maybe Guild Wars 2 needs to get ready to share that sash.

Here are the best MMOs and MMORPGs to play right now in 2026!

Blizzard is pursuing legal action against private World of Warcraft server Project Ascension – a server that isn't the first to face a lawsuit from the company.

In case you missed the news earlier this year, Blizzard cracked down on private server Turtle WoW with a cease-and-desist order – only to then do the same to Stormforge, another server run by the MMO's players. There was no clear connection at the time, but Blizzard didn't stop with just the two. Most recently, it's gone on to target Project Ascension, a separate private server, with a lengthy lawsuit (thanks, Wowhead).

Project Ascension boasts a classless, free-to-play take on the usual World of Warcraft formula, with various game modes, custom raiding, and much more. It's been around for a good few years, undeniably catching the eye of Blizzard.

The company hadn't taken action against the private server for using its intellectual property until now, dubbing it an "egregious" violation on June 12.

"The defendants … have built an entire business on large-scale, egregious, and ongoing infringement of Blizzard's intellectual property," its initial complaint from earlier this month reads, outlining how Project Ascension stands "among the largest private WoW servers available today" with its million or so players.

A few days ago, Blizzard followed up on this with a summons request – and now, the clock is ticking.

As per the new request, the creators behind Project Ascension have three weeks to respond. "A lawsuit has been filed against you. Within 21 days after service of this summons on you (not counting the day you received it)… you must serve on the plaintiff an answer to the attached complaint or a motion…"

It concludes, "If you fail to respond, judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint."

That's not a lot of time, considering the private server's years of service – and, uh, also the fact that its developers are still adding to their project. Heck, 20 hours ago, the official YouTube channel announced a whopping 21 new classes.

All of this begs the question: What's next for Project Ascension, really? Will it face the same fate as Turtle WoW and Stormforge… or somehow dodge it?

Honestly, I can't see the server dodging Blizzard's legal wrath here, no matter how I spin it in my head – but I suppose only time will truly tell.

World of Warcraft Camelot discovery gives the MMO's community its most compelling evidence yet that Blizzard might actually turn a myth into a long-hoped-for reality.

Final Fantasy 14 expansion Evercold is on its way, so it's a great time to take a step back and look at what might just be one of the best raid tiers the MMO has seen to date: the Arcadion.

It's no secret that Dawntrail, as an expansion, left many of us a bit disappointed – I mean, they can't all be Shadowbringers, am I right? It has dipped in and out of a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam (now sitting at "Mixed" reviews overall). But, still, it didn't go wrong in every delivery.

In fact, its raid series, the Arcadion, is widely regarded as one of the greatest… both for casual players and hardcore fans tackling the Savages.

As a dedicated raider myself, I'm interested to see what Evercold's own raids might bring – and what Square Enix learned from the Arcadion's solid reception. So I ask assistant director Tsuyoshi Yokozawa during a recent interview what the developers are considering carrying over into the next tier.

"Our experience with the Arcadion has served as a firm guideline for our future battle content development," he tells me… which, yeah, makes a lot of sense.

"We would like to strongly carry over the following three points in particular into the next raid series." The first is the "pursuit of unique experiences without fear of risk" – something I'm certainly a fan of.

"What this series has reaffirmed for me is that surprise and novelty are at the very heart of what makes content truly entertaining," Yokozawa explains. This means risk-taking while battle planning and "'prioritizing unprecedented experiences.'"

This might cost more resources, but it's clearly worked with the Arcadion. I don't think I'll soon forget the fight designs from Dawntrail's high-tier raiding, and I'm ready for more of that. I'm also ready for more of the lead's next point – the "creation of boss characters that players can genuinely connect with."

Is he low-key talking about Honey B. Lovely here and how she became a community icon? I'd like to think so.

"Instead of having them exist purely as enemies to defeat, we want to further emphasize portraying their individuality, background, and personality through the battles themselves," continues Yokozawa on raid bosses, "so that they can be appreciated and loved as characters over the long term." This approach is something Square Enix plans "to place even greater importance on" in Evercold.

The third point the assistant director brings up might have a greater effect on us hardcore raiders than anyone else: "designing gameplay that allows for flexible problem-solving."

According to Yokozawa, "Rather than forcing players to utilize a specific strategy, we value leaving in room for players to approach situations in their own way, using their creativity and judgment to overcome challenges." Comparing different statics' clears proves his point, honestly.

Square Enix "will continue to include mechanics where mistakes can lead directly to a full wipe," but the devs "want to be more deliberate about where those moments occur."

They'll do this "by expanding the opportunities for recovery" – think limit breaks, healing, and rezzes. It's all about the feeling "overcoming difficult situations through players' own resourcefulness" gives us as raiders, and I get it.

Just think about how much better a kill feels when you think you've truly contributed to the static's overall ability to get it – it's a feeling I know well as a healer main. It's nice to see devs acknowledge its power.

As Yokozawa concludes, they "always take our players' voices seriously" and are "committed to creating battles that deliver both excitement and a strong sense of accomplishment." The Arcadion serves as proof.

"Of course, we have much to learn from missteps and areas where we reflect and improve – but we take all of that forward as motivation to keep delivering experiences that can only be found in FF14," he admits, before signing off with a heartfelt message: "I look forward to seeing you all on the battlefield in the next challenge. We hope you will continue to look forward to FF14's battle content in the future!"

I know I already am – my fellow static members definitely are, too. All of these points, along with the upcoming job changes, have me at the edge of my seat.

Final Fantasy 14 fans make their own in-game Tinder, with gil-hungry bunny boys and modded cat girls galore.

As the wait for new Final Fantasy 14 expansion Evercold drags on, the MMO's community is finding fresh ways to spice its time in Eorzea up… including via a Tinder-like add-on.

Yes, you read that correctly. We can all try and score our very own Limsa baddies in-game (a girl can dream, right?) thanks to AetherLove – a Dalamud plug-in that adds matchmaking to Final Fantasy 14.

I'm not promoting third-party tools or anything here, but should you be intrigued by the concept, AetherLove apparently functions much like Tinder does… albeit in-game, of course. It's all contained within a convenient mobile (tomestone) window.

All you need to do is set up your profile – you know, include all of the essentials like your favorite music and Final Fantasy character – and et voilà! You can swipe left or right on fellow Warriors of Light, depending on how you feel about their Miqo'tes and what have you.

Do be warned, you'll see a lot of modded outfits (and perhaps more NSFW gpose pictures than you've bargained for). In other words, AetherLove is exactly what it sounds like.

As one might expect, fans are already going wild over the unofficial Final Fantasy 14 Tinder equivalent. It's Lovebringer all over again, except now as a handy add-on – and I can't get enough of the chatter online (and admittedly, in my own Free Company chat) about it.

Heck, just take a peek over at X for AetherLove profile screenshots, ratings, and, of course, drama. It wouldn't be Final Fantasy 14 without some drama, eh?

From the bunny boys looking for sugar mommas to the cat girls seeking their one true love, it's all certainly something to behold. Just how long will it last before Square Enix cracks down on it, Mare Synchronos-style, though?

I do hope it stays up at least a bit longer so that I can continue browsing through the chaos on social media, if I'm honest… but I'm not brave enough to dip my toes into AetherLove's digital dating myself.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have amusing screenshots to share among my FC pals – and various new AetherLove profiles to judge.

Final Fantasy 14 boss Yoshi-P has "many game ideas" tucked away that he'd like to do something with, one being a "game design that combines AI and servers"

A newly discovered version of World of Warcraft, called "World of Warcraft Camelot," once again has the MMO community hoping and theorizing that an enhanced version of WoW Classic is on the way.

This week, a dataminer over at Wowhead came across something called 'World of Warcraft Camelot.' Rather than a new expansion for the retail version of the MMO, though, things are pointing to something else. That's because the new discovery is attached to patch 1.60, which was initially released in July 2006.

And that's not all. The dataminer also uncovered Epic and Heroic versions of World of Warcraft Camelot, which does point to something substantial, but probably not something related to the current trilogy that the main version of World of Warcraft is going through.

That's about it for the latest discovery so far, though it's worth mentioning that it's the latest in a string of circumstances that everyone thinks lead to WoW Classic+. Plenty of eyebrows were raised in the community when several content creators revealed they visited Blizzard to see something, though other teases are even starker. One being executive producer Holly Longdale gearing up to announce what's next for WoW Classic before being comically cut off.

Regardless of what's happening, it's something Blizzard appears happy to tease. Just last year, in fact, the developers released a yearbook that mentioned developers "cooking on the long-term future of WoW Classic."

So what is WoW Classic+? It hasn't actually been confirmed by Blizzard yet, so there's no one way to explain it. Broadly, though, fans are hoping for a new version of World of Warcraft that branches off from the main MMO and resembles something like Old School RuneScape. Naturally, the original WoW Classic was Blizzard's initial take on something new based on something old, but we have been slowly catching up with retail WoW with the release of new expansions, so it's clearly time for something fresh in that space.

Out of everything we've seen so far, the datamine is certainly substantial. It remains to be seen if World of Warcraft Camelot is the WoW Classic+ fans have been hoping for, though it wouldn't be surprising if it is, as Blizzard's future plans for the MMO in its various forms have often been spied early thanks to the efforts of dataminers. With BlizzCon set to take place later this year, we should hopefully find out before too long.

"They will hopefully p*** off": As World of Warcraft players take on the Casino Bots themselves, lead confirms Blizzard has "a few folks looking into ideas" to get rid of them.

If you've been wandering around Azeroth of late, especially in any of the bigger cities, you've likely spotted casino bots – automated advertising for local gambling. They're meant to be against the rules in World of Warcraft, but real-money traders – RMTs – have been using them to get richer, quicker, and as players blow them up, Blizzard's looking into further preventative measures.

These nuisances can be found standing on wooden boxes, dancing away to pull you in for a gamble or give a winner a moment in the limelight. Users have gotten weary of the distraction, and in lieu of developers patching in more constraints for them, they've taken to taking them out.

A compilation on Reddit by user sozbro_ shows several being quite literally exploded. "I can't be online 24/7, and I certainly can't drop infernals on every casino bot myself," they say in the caption of the video. "Fortunately, this isn't a one-warlock problem."

As this is happening, Blizzard is on the case. "The casino thing that's vogue right now. Just to confirm we're aware, it's still against policy to advertise a casino so keep reporting them (or dropping infernals on them)," Tom Ellis, senior game producer on World of Warcraft, says on Twitter (thanks, Wowhead).

After some "digging in," he pins it on RMTs, because it's "an easy way to make gold quickly and cheaply." A blockade is being constructed, but don't expect much fanfare when it happens.

"We have a few folks looking into ideas on how we can make getting these people out of the game much faster so the activity is less lucrative and in turn, they will hopefully piss off," he explains. "Don't expect any sort of big fanfare 'Mission Accomplished!' banner for this one, this is one of the ones that you hopefully don't even notice stopped happening if we get it right."

As one Reddit commenter points out, gambling can be incredibly difficult and problematic for people. The allure of such activities could be triggering, especially if unexpected. Hopefully Blizzard's able to clamp down on this problem sooner rather than later.

"It has been an honor": World of Warcraft fans gather in popular private server Turtle WoW to say goodbye as it ends 8-year run following Blizzard lawsuit.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for gamers as Summer Game Fest rolls around, with plenty of big reveals and sneak peeks at upcoming titles – including the long-awaited Guild Wars threequel... Guild Wars 3.

Yes, the rumors were true – Guild Wars 3 is actually happening, and it looks incredible. ArenaNet unveiled its new MMO during tonight's Summer Game Fest showcase, surprising fans of the iconic 2012 gem that's dominated the genre alongside other greats like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14 since.

It's been a long 14 years, after all, and the community has grown restless.

Thankfully, fans won't have to wait long to dive into Guild Wars 3. ArenaNet has further surprised us with a beta announcement – one that's set to open in the fall of 2027. You can already sign up if you're interested, in fact, over on the game's official website.

Guild Wars 3 sounds like it'll be quite the entry to ArenaNet's MMO lineup, too – the devs say their goal with it "is to push MMORPGs forward, to create an online game world that feels believable, rewarding, responsive, and innovative while at the same time respecting players' time and providing a positive, supportive space to build community and enjoy new stories in our universe."

As for the story, the game is set over a thousand years before the OG Guild Wars, making it a prequel of sorts. Set in the Tyrian region of Orr, there are – unsurprisingly – various guilds fighting over the verdant landscape's resources.

ArenaNet teases "deep character customization" and "skill-building gameplay," too, which I'm personally very excited to hear. I want to look good while dealing damage – who doesn't?

More information will come later this year and in 2027 before Guild Wars 3 enters its beta period – but for now, I'm content just knowing it's actually real.

Searching for something else to wishlist? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to look forward to.

Oh, the rumor mill is spinning when it comes to Guild Wars 3. Various reports and false flags for the latent follow-up to Guild Wars 2 have sprung up in recent years, but a domain update spotted by fans may indicate movement on the MMORPG.

A dot-com domain for Guild Wars 3 has been registered since June 2004, presumably as a precaution by NCSoft when the original came out, in case the original game became a successful series. 22 years later, that turned out to be a smart move.

But after over two decades, the site got an update on June 5, 2026, according to online directories for URL information. That's today, at time of writing. Now, there's nothing public - the URL isn't live or anything - but something stirred on the backend somewhere.

The site is tied to Amazon Web Services, a popular contemporary hosting platform, providing another sign of movement, however meager. Assuming this is leading toward a reveal, the timing becomes yet more conspicuous because Summer Game Fest is happening at the moment, and developer ArenaNet's got something to unveil during the main showcase.

A glance through the Summer Game Fest 2026 schedule doesn't yield many other places where Guild Wars 3 may appear, until you get toward the end. The PC Gaming Show, on June 7. Could we see it there, either? Possible, if it's not part of the central event.

Players are taking this all in stride. "Cautiously optimistic. I'll be happy if it happens but I'm not settling myself up for disappointment if it does," says one fan on Reddit. "Are we finally getting a new triple A MMORPG? WE WAITED 10,000 YEARS!" another says.

The latest expansion for Guild Wars 2, Visions of Eternity, arrived in July last year. The central narrative of the RPG actually finished back in 2023, as part of the End of Dragons expansion, setting the stage for another installment. Keep all expectations in check, but we might be learning more soon.

Persona 6 to be announced at Xbox Games Showcase, prominent Switch 2 leaker claims as rumored images circulate

One of the most difficult fights in Final Fantasy 14, an Ultimate raid from Shadowbringers, has just met its match in a static comprised entirely of casters and healers.

If you've ever done The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate) yourself, then you probably know how challenging it can be. I still have nightmares about the wormhole phase to this day, and it's been literal years since my group took on the revamped Heavensward bosses.

That raid – the one that took me a whopping three months or so to finally clear – is apparently easier to some of than others, though… A static has just managed to clear it with no tanks, after all.

Not only did the group clear with no tanks, however – it's a group made up of three healers (in this case, White Mages) and five casters (Black Mages, to be precise). That tank Limit Break during Perfect Alexander? Psh, they evidently don't need it.

You can watch the static tackle TEA over on YouTube, with each member juggling aggro back and forth as there's no Dark Knight, Gunbreaker, Paladin, or Warrior to take it themselves.

It's quite a moment to behold, honestly. This is a nearly 20-minute fight that groups with normal compositions struggle to do… and unsurprisingly, the community is impressed.

"I love when people just clear old content with really silly combos, and here I am, unable to even find a group to start doing it," reads one comment. Another jokes that "tank LB3 is a suggestion, not a requirement." It would seem so, anon. It would seem so.

One person jests that "the BLM parties from FFXI are coming to XIV, I see," referencing Square Enix's previous (and still active) MMO: Final Fantasy 11. My favorite response comes from a tank, though. "As a tank main, I can barely survive the tank buster, and here you are BLM take it like a champ."

I'm a healer myself, but this resonates with me so much. I hate feeling like I'm overhealing in raids, but TEA genuinely felt so tight sometimes.

I suppose that speaks to this group's skill… and I'm sure that as the new Kefka Ultimate – Dancing Mad – becomes "contemporary," we'll see more impressive clears like this.

Final Fantasy 14 legend spends 3 years soloing the MMO's Free Trial in the worst way possible, and now the finish line is in sight after suffering Shadowbringers' last big boss for 3 days straight

Dune: Awakening may be lifting off from PC-only territory and arriving on consoles soon, but you won't be able to explore Arrakis with just anyone. According to developer Funcom, crossplay won't be supported because its focus is on finishing the ports and releasing the single-player mode.

Funcom acknowledged that players might be disappointed to hear it won't have crossplay at launch, but suggested that it might be added in the future in a statement to Eurogamer.

The studio said it will "address it more in an upcoming livestream," but that it's "technically and operationally complex to implement crossplay in Dune: Awakening and would require us to put resources on it that are currently focused on making the console port and the September update the best it can be."

That means PS5 players will be stuck playing with people on the same platform. Xbox Series X players will too, although they will be able to play with anyone on PC who owns the game through the Windows Store.

Ironically, the big September update will add a single-player mode to the early access game. Maybe that's why its director recently said he doesn't consider it an MMO. Dune: Awakening is about to lean into being a survival game first and an MMO second, which sounds a lot like Final Fantasy 14 players describing that game as an RPG with MMO mechanics. It's really up to you to decide how you want to play it.

The update will drop on September 22, giving console players the opportunity to play through the entirety of the game's book one story. New players will see a single-player option before they jump in, but will need to decide if they want to cut themselves off from ever seeing other players, including PvP in the Deep Desert.

Dune: Awakening fans "so disappointed" by no Polar Cap in 1.4, Funcom says it's "a huge amount of work" but the devs "are still very much actively working on the new map"

Emerging from an identity crisis, Dune: Awakening developer Funcom concluded last month that the game is "not an MMO" but rather a "complicated" survival game with online play. The big announcement out of Tuesday's PlayStation State of Play show – not God of War Laufey, the Dune news – leans into this not-an-MMO future, with a single-player mode coming to the game in September.

On September 22, Dune: Awakening will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X, with single-player coming the same day, and the final act of the book one story dropping as well.

"This will be the best version of Dune: Awakening yet," Funcom insists in a Steam post. "Not just a great Open World Survival game, but the ultimate gateway into one of science fiction’s most iconic worlds." I like to think "Open World Survival" game is in title case to deepen the line in the sand. This ain't no MMO, buddy. This is an OWS.

Single-player will be an option when you first start Dune: Awakening, the devs explain, letting you "finally experience the entire game in single-player mode, across all platforms, and play it entirely at your own pace."

This solo mode will offer three preset difficulty settings as well as "full manual customization" for things like XP, enemy strength, and harvest speed. "All the NPCs are here, but no other players," Funcom adds.

"The Deep Desert is fully available with all its content and challenges, but the map never resets and your buildings are never wiped," the devs say, and I know that will be music to some players' ears. "The Coriolis Storm remains as a weather event but is less destructive. The Landsraad endgame simulates other players engaging with the faction conflict, keeping it competitive and engaging."

How does this new mode fit into the updated Dune ecosystem? "We're putting characters – not servers – at the center of the experience," Funcom says. Single-player characters will "remain exclusive to the single-player mode," but private and self-hosted server characters "can be played on any of these and can even go between private and self-hosted servers."

Characters made on official servers will be able to go between any official server, and can move to private or self-hosted servers, but can't then go back to official servers "to ensure the integrity of official servers."

A lot of true-blue MMOs are playable solo in some capacity, with the clearest example probably being Ironman accounts in Old School RuneScape, which, by design, can't trade or really interact with other players. You can also put your head down and just focus on story quests almost entirely solo in the likes of Final Fantasy 14, which has even made solo play easier by beefing up NPC allies who can streamline multiplayer dungeons and the like.

But the clue's in the name: MMOs aren't single-player experiences, so adding a single-player mode is about as loud a declaration as Dune: Awakening could make. This ain't no MMO, buddy, etc, etc.

"Single-player is one of the most-requested features since launch," Funcom says. "We’re also adding the final chapter of Dune: Awakening’s Book One story, so whether you want to play entirely by yourself, with friends on a private server, or with strangers on a larger multiplayer server, you will now be able to play the story from the start to its dramatic conclusion."

The demand for solo play is interesting on its own. It reflects the muddier definition of what Dune: Awakening really is, and the audience it attracted. People generally don't come to an MMO to play alone, but survival games – that is, the more conventional ones – do have a huge single-player audience. Multiplayer is also baked into a lot of survival games – from Rust to Palworld to Valheim, with the likes of Don't Starve Together and now Subnautica 2 explicitly emphasizing it – but it's not as essential to the genre.

Everything announced at the PlayStation State of Play June 2026.

Final Fantasy 14's most hardcore players have spent the last day or so grappling with patch 7.51 and its newly introduced Kefka-themed Ultimate raid – a raid that takes everything folks know about the MMO's mechanics and throws it into the wind.

In case you weren't around for Stormblood and its Sigmascape line of Savage raids (or Final Fantasy 6, from where the boss originates), Kefka terrorized Final Fantasy 14 fans with his chaotic mechanics and confusing puzzles for quite some time back in 2018 with patch 4.2.

Now, he's back for more clownin' around in the Dancing Mad Ultimate – a fight that fans are amusingly dubbing UMAD thanks to the sheer amount of trolling Kefka does.

The top raiding groups around the globe are currently competing to take down the mad mage, with Chinese static NO CCHH currently in the lead as per FFLogs – although the leaderboard is constantly changing right now as players progress through the fight.

It seems that many of them, however, hit a wall at the end of the second phase… when Kefka tricks them into thinking they've finished the entire fight with a fake chest and "Complete" cutscene.

As one clip over on X shows it as it played out live, Kefka "dies" while in his godlike form, with a small cutscene playing that reads "Complete" – not the game's usual "Duty Complete" message, notably. Then, a massive chest spawns beside the instance exit as it would upon a real completion… only to *poof* and vanish once opened.

The only option a group is left with is to leave and restart the entire fight after trying the chest.

Honestly, it's absolutely hilarious, and it seems to be what fans see should they not resolve all of Kefka's mechanics properly… which, you know, isn't exactly easy to tell, seeing as the whole raid is topsy-turvy when it comes to debuffs and whatnot. Viewers are loving it, though (myself included), judging by the chatter online.

One person comments that it's "absolute cinema," while another chimes in, 'This is the greatest fight ever!"

Others make jokes about the whole "UMAD" title given to the fight – one that, if it had followed the usual acronym standards, would actually be known as "DMU."

As one fan says, "This is why UMAD has to be the name." Agreed – "Kefka is the ultimate troll," after all. He's managing to trick the most elite Final Fantasy 14 players, spurring the greatest memes I think I've ever seen from the community during a world's first race.

My static will be taking Kefka on, too, soon, and honestly… I'm not so sure how I feel about it anymore. Nonetheless, I'll be sure to prepare my Warrior of Light with a clown nose and plenty of Swiftcast saving for quick resurrections.

Final Fantasy 14 legend spends 3 years soloing the MMO's Free Trial in the worst way possible, and now the finish line is in sight after suffering Shadowbringers' last big boss for 3 days straight

Final Fantasy 14 fans, the moment has arrived – Patch 7.51 is here, and with it, we've got a brand-new Kefka-themed Ultimate raid… and a, um, taco-eating emote?

That's right. While we wait for Evercold to arrive in January 2027, our Warriors of Light can enjoy some fresh, hot tacos in-game, much like G'raha Tia did in the ever-iconic Dawntrail trailer back in 2024.

As per the official patch notes from Square Enix, 7.51 brings some new emotes to the MMO – and one of those involves your WoL happily eating a taco, because how else would one eat a taco? It's brilliant, honestly.

In case you're out of the loop on the connection between Final Fantasy 14 and tacos, there's the iconic G'raha Tia moment to look to, and also the amusing misheard lyrics from Ultima.

Ultima is a song you'll know very well if you're a Main Scenario roulette frequenter, or someone who spent far too long farming the Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond Weapon trials – one that sounds as though its singers are chanting "BIG FAT TACOS" over and over again.

7.51 Patch Notes | FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone from r/ffxiv

Heck, folks have even mashed the two moments together, with G'raha Tia eating his taco to the tune. It's unsurprising, then, that Patch 7.51 and its addition of the taco-eating emote stand out… even amid all of the, you know, arguably more significant changes to come with the update.

Just have a peek over at Reddit, where a post on the patch sees various comments roll in regarding the emote. The top response is literally "taco time."

One fan jokes, "/devourtaco autotranslate is gonna be in so many people's search info" – and, yeah, I think they're right. People are also noting that the emote loops, which means endless taco monching. Sign me up.

Plus, it'll pair nicely with my Warrior of Light's tea-drinking and whatnot. As another commenter puts it, "Ooo taco emote. I have a whole lunch set now in my emotes." What more could a food-loving Au'ra ask for?

It's not the only silly feature to come out of Patch 7.51 that has the community excited, either – just look at the new shovel accessory… and this is why I love Final Fantasy 14.

Final Fantasy 14 fans celebrate a huge win: finally, we can kick Lalafells in the face and send them flying into the void

As the Final Fantasy 14 community prepares for patch 7.51 tomorrow and, of course, the new expansion Evercold arriving in January, Square Enix is updating the Mog Station with emotes – including one that has folks roleplaying all sorts of cartoonish violence.

The Mog Station, home to the MMO's paid online store (in which I have spent far too much money), recently saw the arrival of two new emotes: Blown Away and Overreact. Although both are admittedly silly – and perfect for those of us obsessed with gpose – the former is making for some very humorous RP moments and clips on social media.
What do these show, you may be wondering… and the answer is lots of Lalafell violence.

"Lala, run over and killed," one post so eloquently describes its attached footage. In it, we see Lalafells slapped to the ground dramatically thanks to the Blown Away emote, and, perhaps more literally, blown away by another Lalafell's chonky landing. "What a shockwave," the player behind the clips jokes.

There's more, too. Another fan jokes, "The potential of the new emote is insane," highlighting just how in their own video. We watch an Au'ra casually kick a little Lalafell down to the ground, with 0 regrets in sight.

Elsewhere, a separate thread shows more Lala-on-Lala action, with one popoto-shaped Warrior of Light slapping another silly. Both feature the Blown Away emote as the receiving party's movement of choice, which acts as the cherry on top of the amusing (and violent) cake.

Lalafells aren't the only characters being Blown Away, though.

A different compilation of clips proves as much, with its creator – a Miqo'te – being run over by mounts, fanned off into the wind, and zipped away by parasols… all thanks to the Blown Away emote.

In the best way possible, this is all too reminiscent of the recent obsession with Chort – we can always count on the Final Fantasy 14 community to eat up the most chaotic, hilarious parts of the MMO… and I'm so here for it, personally.

Running Final Fantasy 14 for 16 years means Square Enix knows live service, former exec says, but it's "used to being slow" and has "failed to bring its IP to a new generation

As one of the oldest, biggest, and best-understood MMOs around, Old School RuneScape has long been plagued by bot accounts using scripted actions to generate ill-gotten gold to sell on a gray market. This has led to congestion at popular areas in-game, with real players fighting bots for space and resources, and huge fluctuations in a trade market battered by absurd spikes in supply. But for the first time in a very long time, an extinction-class meteor seems to have hit the bot armies.

Two OSRS experts, SirPugger and FlippingOldSchool, both weighed in this week and came to the same conclusion: bots have been annihilated. This follows several periods of record-high OSRS botting in the past few years.

More pertinently, it comes on the heels of a renewed crackdown on botting and real-world trading by developer Jagex under new CEO Jon Bellamy. Jagex has obviously had anti-bot measures for ages – like every game with cheaters and anti-cheat, it's a never-ending battle – but for a while it seemed to be pretty clearly losing to botters. That's changed dramatically in 2026 thanks to harsher punishments and improved detection tools, seemingly with far more resources put behind them internally.

SirPugger, who has investigated and reported shockingly large bot farms for years, reckons "RuneScape No Longer Has a Bot Problem." Common bot hotspots in OSRS are completely vacant today. "I've never seen the caves so empty and I don't think I found a single bot," he says of one popular area in the Wilderness PvP zone.

Several professional botters have spoken to SirPugger over the years, and a current large botter reportedly believes that the current climate in OSRS is untenable. There are other games to bot, and OSRS is a less appealing target when it's harder to escape account action long enough to reliably generate and transfer gold, especially when you have to spend real money, or gold that you'd rather sell for real money, to get those bots into more lucrative membership areas.

"He told me that, all of the sudden, in January this year, bots in members [worlds] started getting banned in a matter of hours, not days or weeks," SirPugger relays. This trend has seemingly continued through the spring, with another recent blow sparking this discussion around the absence of bots. Updated account security numbers from Jagex show that over 8 trillion gold, roughly two-thirds of the 2026 total, was removed from OSRS in April alone as a result of bans and other account action.

"From what I've seen, the ones who claim they know how to avoid bans right now are the ones selling bot clients and scripts," SirPugger adds.

This is generally good news for the health of the game, but as FlippingOldSchool points out, there is a flipside. On one hand, the value of several heavily botted items – typically, resources that can be passively farmed in large quantities – has skyrocketed, giving players access to more profitable money makers (even if they also have to pay more for those items themselves). It's also a lot easier to find an available world for multiple activities, which is especially good for Ironman players who don't care about the trade economy because they have to get everything themselves anyway.

However, a lack of bots ironically makes botting more appealing because it makes it more profitable. Those higher prices can also benefit the few bots who slip through the net. Whoever can crack the current climate first and establish a reliable bot farm stands to earn considerably more gold and money than they would have even six months ago. And a lot of botters will have entire stables of accounts ready to go if and when the dust clears.

I don't think we'll ever see a true end to the bot wars in RuneScape, but this is by far the biggest blow dealt to botters in recent memory. I've seen countless videos and posts from players lamenting the scourge of bots in recent years, with some major content updates seriously sabotaged by locust-like botters, but the game's really bounced back. A comment on FlippingOldSchool's video sums it up for me: "When green drags are empty, you know things are getting better."

Illegal MMO gold seller earns nearly $500,000, becomes a tax issue, and days later devs announce plans to curb real-world trading.

Games have always been able to make players feel emotions, even make them cry, but subjecting them to such feelings hasn't usually been the medium's goal. Twenty years ago, though, one developer made it their explicit mission to make video games about feelings and emotions, and from that, we got thatgamecompany, the developers behind Flow, Flower, and Journey, a frontrunner and winner of several "Game of the Year" awards when it was released in 2012.

In an interview with Edge Magazine, thatgamecompany's president and creative director, Jenova Chen, recently reflected on the legacy of the studio and how well it has been able to realize these ambitions. According to Chen, the run between Flow and Journey notably changed things in the world of games and built momentum for a larger shift that we're still seeing play out.

He says, "After three games, we thought we had influenced the industry to some extent. We saw triple-A games like God of War and The Last of Us, which started to pick serious, emotional subjects, very personal subjects."

Chen continues, "I think that's a positive influence we had on the industry. And I was feeling pretty happy for the growth of the industry, because that's what the players asked us to do."

Of course, each of the games Chen mentioned went on to garner critical acclaim in the years of their release, especially for their mature and emotional narratives. The reputation of each also now transcends mediums; The Last of Us has an award-winning TV adaptation on HBO that's going into its third season, while Amazon is officially on the hook for at least two seasons of an upcoming show based on 2018's God of War and its sequel Ragnarok.

According to Chen, this outsized and apparent impact was part of the motivating force behind thatgamecompany's next game, the mobile-first and pacifistic MMO Sky: Children of the Light. Just as the studio had done for the console space, it wanted to "do something in the mobile industry to change people's view on games [at a broader scale]."

This meant wrestling with monetization options for about two years, which added up onto Sky's lengthier development time. Journey took thatgamecompany three years to make, while Sky (which featured a bigger team) ultimately took the studio seven years to realize and get out the door.

Even now, as Sky continues into its seventh year of operation as a live-service game, Chen still views the role of thatgamecompany as curators of experiences that center emotions. He says, "But ever since Journey, and continuing with Sky, we're playing with a new dimension. If you compare cinema and games, games have everything cinemas has, but they also have interaction with input and output. With Sky, I'm playing with a second instrument, which is social dynamics."

From the sounds of it, playing that second instrument not only saved thatgamecompany, which has been able to weather much of the games industry's turmoil over the last several years, but allowed Chen and his team to continue defying expectations and charting more emotional paths for games to follow.

World of Warcraft was a "savior" for the creator of Journey, and "beautiful moments" between Horde and Alliance players inspired his own games

Pour one out for our long-suffering Guardians, because Destiny 2 is officially dead. Or at least, that's how it feels; with "active development" ending in June for the nine year-old shooter, we won't be jetting off on any new adventures. And honestly, I'm gutted that it's going out like this. As someone who's been there since day one and has watched the game slowly yet steadily fall apart, it's heartbreaking to watch.

My Guardian – a dapper-looking Exo Warlock that I've used from day one – took their first steps back in 2014 with OG Destiny. I was there for the pre-release beta. I was there for the infamous 'Loot Cave.' I was there for the short-lived Dinklebot, before Nolan North took over from Peter Dinklage as our Ghost companion. With Marathon becoming the only active game developer Bungie has on the docket, and no Destiny 3 on the horizon, I have a horrible feeling I'll soon be saying goodbye to a character I've used for well over a decade.

Final Shapes

On the one hand, I get it. As our own Austin Wood noted when the news broke, "the vibe was that Bungie didn't know what to do with the game anymore, and perhaps it truly didn't." I agree, and think it's clear that Bungie is done with Destiny for the time being. On the other, though, part of the reason this stings so much is because of mismanagement. I don't doubt that the team has tried to do right by this series (no-one sets out to make a bad product), but the promise of Destiny feels squandered. Austin says it best by pointing out that "unpopular systemic changes, wobbling epilogue narratives, and a severe content drought brought Destiny 2 to a crawl in the past year and change."

Looking back at how tantalizing those early days were doesn't help. I didn't just fall in love with Destiny because of its gunplay; that's obviously fabulous, but for me, it pales in comparison to the impossibly rich world Bungie created in 2014. I appreciate that Destiny's dense worldbuilding has become a subject of (sometimes justified) mockery thanks to how near-obnoxiously unintelligible it could be unless you were knee-deep in backstory, but such complexity made it feel real if you were within its nebula. I don't think scoured another game's lore so heavily, piecing together the narrative or coming up with theories on the wider world. There was something deeply chilling about franchise baddie the Darkness when we knew nothing about it, and tracing its path through our enemy's history only added to that menace.

Similarly, the setting was a fascinating blend we hadn't really seen before. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure with overtones of D&D and Saturday morning cartoons is a hell of a mix, one we should have been exploring for years to come. It was a rare beast that repositioned tropes into something familiar yet entirely alien. Destiny 2 built on that foundation: it did the unthinkable by destroying our home, the Last City, and forcing us to start over. It opened up new avenues and questions regarding our patron, the Traveller, and how benevolent it really was. It broadened those horizons.

Sure, I have quibbles about where the story went. I think some questions are best left unanswered to maintain an air of mystery, and much like Stranger Things' final season, Destiny may have tried to fill too many gaps. Not everything needs to be explained – your audience coming to their own conclusions keeps it alive. Yet even that doesn't dampen how thrilling those early years were, or how much potential the series still has.

For me, that's what I miss most - those open horizons, and the intoxicating sense of possibility. I don't know if we'll ever see something like that again… and if we do, it looks as though I'll be leaving my beloved Guardian behind.

Want to drown your sorrows in something new? Here are the best FPS games you can play in 2026.

The original Final Fantasy MMO – none other than Final Fantasy 11 – continues to go from strength to strength, and not even director and producer Yoji Fujito expected to be here.

Over the past year or so, Final Fantasy 11 has had to stop accepting new players to some of its most popular worlds because the servers clearly aren't currently built to handle that level of popularity. A nice problem to have, though not one the developers expected.

Speaking to Famitsu, Fujito reckons the surge in popularity is due to a Final Fantasy 14 crossover, free prize events, and a welcome-back campaign. I'd also float that Final Fantasy 14's less-than-popular Danwalker run might have sent a few grumpy Warriors of Light their way, but I digress.

Still, despite the surge in popularity, Fujito expected it all to calm down eventually. Expect it hasn't.

“Overall, the player count remained stable at a high level, and we never saw the kind of sharp decline we had anticipated, so honestly, the outcome exceeded our expectations and came as a surprise,” Fujito says, as translated by Automaton.

It's all rather nice, isn't it? As we previously reported, Square Enix considered winding down Final Fantasy 11 in 2024, but it's still drawing enough players to convince the powers that be to keep the good times rollin' on.

As for the future, Fujito says Final Fantasy 11 will live on. Major developments like a new world or story expansion, though, will prove tricky. There are technical limitations to overcome, and the team remains short-staffed.

Still, there's a desire on the team to overcome all of that, so Fujito would like you to think of the current moment as a preparatory phase where "we’re continuing to lay the groundwork for that sort of future development."

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold is the MMO's next big expansion, and it's coming early next year.

It's been a wild month for us Final Fantasy 14 stans, with the massive Fan Fest 2026 reveal of expansion Evercold and all of the changes coming with it – including two new jobs. Fast forward to today, and after enough sluething, plenty of fans reckon they've just about figured out what direction the new jobs are going in.

Every Fan Fest, it seems, director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida dons a new shirt that teases the jobs Square Enix has in store for its next expansion. The recent event in Anaheim, California, offers no exception, as Yoshi-P drew attention to his top as usual.

After confirming that the two jobs coming with Evercold would be completely new to Final Fantasy 14 – "originals, as opposed to legacy Final Fantasy jobs" – he set the community ablaze with theories. The two new jobs – one tank and one DPS – could be anything, after all.

So, what exactly was on the director's shirt? None other than Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, an antagonist introduced with ye olde A Realm Reborn. The words above him were more curious, though, reading, "Guess who's back?" Presumably, the shirt hints at whatever tank class is underway, and fans have many thoughts.

Over on Reddit, the conversation has been ongoing for weeks.

One fan asks, "The obvious line of thinking is that this new tank will be a gunshield user of some kind, right?" They then go on to theorize it'll actually be the return of 1.0 classes: the Sentinel and the Musketeer. To them, "original" isn't a word we are supposed to take literally.

Comments see folks agreeing with the Sentinel presumption, with one pointing toward the Evercold trailer seemingly utilizing the word "sentinel" as another reason.

That's just one theory, however. A separate thread dives even deeper into Yoshi-P's tee, even tapping into the Norse themes that Evercold is rooted in.

"Yoshi-P wore a shirt featuring Ritahtyn sas Arvina," reads a reply. "You fight him in Cape Westwind. Capes are a garment worn on your back normally, BUT Mr. Ritahtyn has armor shaped to make him look like a Minotaur. And Minotaurs have a bull's head. Now, who fights Bulls and uses a Cape?"

Their conclusion? "New job is Matador." Another – which honestly has me convinced – is the one that touches on the Norse mythology specifically: "Mjolnir. That hammer is what's coming back. That's my random take."

Responses support this idea, with a fan bringing up the fact that Ritahtyn sas Arvina's name supposedly translates to "judge" in the Roegadyn language. "Judges have hammers. Norse expansion. It's coming back."

New Job Speculation from r/ffxivdiscussion

"Hammer has been a popular request," adds another player. "It could definitely happen." An older post regarding the new Evercold jobs and Yoshi-P's shirt features similar theories – the hammer is a popular one, it seems.

"'Ahtyn' is Roegadyn for 'Judge,'" exclaims a fan. "Judges have hammers. The new tank is going to wield a hammer." Phew, all this talk of hammers and tanks… but what of the new DPS job?

"Dumb theory for the DPS job that can go a few ways," somebody ponders. "'Guess who's back?' What comes back when you throw it? Yo-yos. Dude with two shields as a weapon? So, a shield-based weapon that comes back when you throw it?"

That certainly would be interesting – although I'm still personally holding out for a ranged whip class of sorts. I was in the crowd when Yoshi-P was showing off his shirt, so I know I'm not alone there.

As people screamed "whip" and "hammer" and other guesses, Yoshi-P confirmed that there were already correct theories shouted his way – so, who really knows?

Final Fantasy 14 players demand minion of chonky patch 7.5 dungeon boss "immediately," and there's hope as Square Enix joins in: "Chort"

One of your biggest breaks could come from the most unexpected of places. As is the case of a tenured developer at BioWare, who found himself leading the development of successful MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic despite disliking the genre wholesale.

For a number years, James Ohlen was a prominent designer at BioWare, working on the likes of Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, and the first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Then, he had a fateful meeting with studio co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk about venturing further into a galaxy far, far away, and directing The Old Republic in Austin.

"And I was like, 'I hate massive multiplayer games. But all right, I'll do it,'" Ohlen explains to PCGamer. "It took me a day, I talked to my wife and said, 'It'll be an adventure, we'll only be there for a year.' I'm still here. Maybe I should have known better."

The project was on a scale different to what Ohlen was used to, to say the least. Though exact figures are uncertain, reports place The Old Republic's overall budget at over $200 million, making it one of the priciest games ever made.

Ohlen describes his role on the game as something of a cat wrangler who had to guide the "big ego designers" and make sure they "didn't kill each other." In 2018, seven years after the MMO from a long, long time ago launched, he departed BioWare. By the end, Ohlen says, he was just absorbing a nice salary, describing himself as a "highly paid, completely useless person."

Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running, though now it's supported by Broadsword Online Games. Ohlen was recently working on upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus at Archetype Entertainment before stepping away from the team in late 2025.

Mass Effect hasn't been great in "a long time," but "D&D in space" RPG Exodus can fill the gap according to Hasbro's CEO.

It's a sad day for the World of Warcraft community, as players say goodbye to a longstanding fan server, Turtle WoW. Following a legal battle against Blizzard itself, the lights are being totally switched off on the custom homestead, prompting players to host their own special goodbye as they await the end.

If you're unaware, Turtle WoW is a collection of custom servers for World of Warcraft that host an old-school version of the beloved MMORPG. The idea is, or was, to provide a way for people to continue playing WoW as if it never evolved much beyond its early years. That means less cosmic battles and grandiose ideas, more fantastical questing. The version is dubbed 'Vanilla+', and the whole platform is a hotbed for modified approaches to Azeroth.

A fan-made expansion eventually emerged, Mysteries of Azeroth, that delved deeper into the mythology through this lens. But after eight years, the whole venture is closing down after Blizzard managed to serve a cease-and-desist order to the group behind it.

"Working on Turtle WoW has been the highlight of our lives," Torta, a member of the Turtle WoW team, says in a forum post. "It has been an honor to build with you and for you. Whether you were exploring new stories, leveling, raiding, PvPing, roleplaying, or just enjoying a quiet moment in the world, seeing how much this game means to you has been our greatest privilege."

This spectre has been looming for some time. There was a legal tussle for the server's existence, and an open letter to Blizzard sits on the Turtle WoW homepage. "Unlike other studios, Blizzard does not yet have a framework that allows projects like ours to operate without risking legal conflict," the team wrote. "With that in mind, we respectfully ask that Blizzard consider establishing a formal ecosystem for licensing fan‑run community servers."

Several points are raised, including how popular games such as GTA 5 and Skyrim have vastly expanded their fanbase thanks to mods. Turtle WoW had a thriving fanbase, and many of them will probably hang around in the game, but this is the kind of thing that pushes players away. Never underestimate the damage resentment can do.

The YouTuber Pespline uploaded a clip of Turtle WoW diehards huddling together on a riverbank for the end of days. Honestly, it's enough to bring a lump to your throat. Godspeed, one and all - I hope you all find each other elsewhere.

World of Warcraft streamers attend top-secret Blizzard event, leaving fans hoping for the version of the MMO they've tried to manifest for years

Amazon might have reportedly killed its second attempt at a The Lord of the Rings MMO, but the publisher says it's still "working closely" with Middle-earth Enterprises on other games set in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy universe.

Eurogamer reports that The Lord of the Rings MMO is no longer in development at Amazon Game Studios and the developer behind New World, citing sources familiar with the project, as part of an investigation into the publisher's use of generative-AI in games. RPS reported as much last year, too, though Amazon never actually commented on the news.

Amazon's head of games Jeff Grattis didn't exactly confirm the game's cancelation in a new statement made to Eurogamer, but he didn't deny it either, which would be easy to do if The Lord of the Rings MMO was actually being worked on, you'd imagine.

Grattis instead draws attention to how the company "continues to explore a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien's world" and is "working closely with Middle-earth and remain excited about the IP."

Amazon's first stab at a Middle-earth MMO was a collaboration with a Tencent subsidiary that fell into the pools of Mordor back in 2021. This latest project was instead a joint effort with Middle-earth's newest owners, Embracer Group, and Amazon's internal game dev team.

More than 1,000 developers at the studio were reportedly being transitioned off of projects like New World, which is being shut down next year, and onto The Lord of the Rings right before Amazon went through company-wide layoffs that hit its gaming division hard - a factor that likely contributed to the MMO's demise.

Making matter worse, Eurogamer's source claims Amazon announced the project almost as soon as it got a hold of the license and before it had given its developers a heads up. The Lord of the Rings MMO also only had "one or two people working on it as a side project" for several years, it's claimed.

As for what that mysterious new LOTR game might be, recent rumors and reports suggested the developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance might be leading a new RPG set in Middle-earth since both were swallowed up by the maws of Embracer Group at around the same time.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 devs won't confirm or deny making a Lord of the Rings game, but are definitely making an "immersive RPG rich with details" that's "hopefully not so buggy"

The World of Warcraft community has always had Classic, a vanilla experience in which fans can enjoy the MMO as it was before all of its expansions, but what about Classic Plus?

If you've not heard of it yourself, World of Warcraft Classic Plus doesn't actually exist – yet, anyway – but has circulated the web for years now as players yearn for a cleaner, modern take on the base Classic release… a version with more modern updates and quality-of-life features, basically. Think Old School RuneScape and the like.

A quick search on Reddit alone shows all of the Classic Plus discussions that have unfolded over time. In other words, it's a very popular idea without any actual grounding in reality – until now, that is… or, well, we'd like to think, anyway.

As per Wowhead, Blizzard recently invited a bunch of WoW Classic content creators – like Xaryu, Esfand, Guzu, Savix, and sodapoppin – to a secret event. Unfortunately, they're all under an NDA, so we've got no idea what was actually happening over at the Blizzard campus in California, where they attended.

The fact that they're all specifically Classic streamers, however, has unsurprisingly left folks excited over a potential Plus release. Just have a peek at Xaryu's recent stream, in which he reveals he's visiting Blizzard's headquarters.

His chat goes wild with "Classic+ confirmed" messages and the like. And, amusingly, one person had to comment about a new mobile game. Here's hoping it's the former rather than the latter, though.

I'd say it's not too far outside of the realm of possibility. Xaryu's little smile feels like a hint in itself when fans start spamming their theories about Classic Plus, along with the fact that players have wanted it to come to fruition for literal years now. Heck, there's even a community-led project to make it happen – so it's evidently on the wishlist of many a hopeful WoW enjoyer. It does all beg the question, when will the NDA lift?

I suppose only time will tell, but I'm sure we'll find out what Blizzard has up its sleeve for Classic players soon enough – fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later.

World of Warcraft "will continue to decline" unless the MMO gets a "reset," says former Blizzard boss.

Old School RuneScape is no stranger to bizarre, self-imposed player challenges or unusual but beneficial bugs, yet the latest intersection of these two has sparked an ugly discussion in the MMO's community, and it all started with a YouTuber whose account was reset by developer Jagex shortly after he finished the kind of grind that I wouldn't wish on people doomed to at least the shallower circles of Hell.

On May 5, OSRS YouTuber Rendi, known for years for finding strange ways to complete content and challenges at perilously low combat levels, celebrated reaching level 99 Slayer on his level 3 skiller account. Slayer is, by design, a skill where you fight monsters and thus train your combat skills, so leveling it, let alone maxing it, on a combat-free level 3 account is arduous and requires unorthodox methods.

Rendi hinted, but had notably not yet fully explained, that he used loopholes in the game's Slayer Partner system, which lets multiple people complete shared Slayer tasks simultaneously, in combination with multi-logging on "many accounts" in order to boost his account's Slayer experience rates to an impressive level – a purported "average" of 45,000 XP per hour.

I would like to have seen more up front about how Rendi managed to pull this off, but depending on stats and gear, normal accounts could definitely get more hourly Slayer XP than this. Though for such a low-level account, it is oddly high.

Apparently, Rendi wasn't the only person involved in this Slayer Partner grind, nor was he the only one to lose an ankle when developer Jagex swung the hammer. On May 6, after three months of grinding and less than one day of glory, Rendi shared that his account had been rolled back to just 78 Slayer – a massive chunk of XP lost due to the way level thresholds scale in OSRS (92 is famously halfway to 99).

What really put this story on my desk was a Twitter response to Rendi from associate OSRS community director Mod Ayiza. Explaining the account rollback, Ayiza says, "During routine checks at the start of this week a number of accounts were flagged for having obtained abnormal amounts of XP. It was investigated further, and today the bug was fixed to prevent it being possible again. Any accounts found to have abused this had their XP removed - not just you."

Ayiza attributed the account action to "decisions on game health," reiterating bug abuse in this method. Pressed on how this allegedly abusive method differs from standard level 3 training approaches which are only moderately slower, Ayiza says, "I think it's mostly down to how the level 3 account interacts with the content, and in this case, the team deemed it as bug abuse, but this isn't the place for me to go into further details on it to be honest."

I was also struck by the OSRS community's reaction to this whole thing. It's far from rare for fans of YouTuber or Twitch content creators to rush to their defense online, nor is the 2007scape subreddit known as an unbreakable bastion of seriousness, but the turnout here really is approaching the level of the riots that this game spawns every so often (frequently over membership price hikes).

The brutal timing of Jagex's harsh response, coupled with the visibility provided by Rendi's posts about it, stoked roughly a zillion critical posts and replies online. It's essentially become an excuse to dig up old grievances about the game, with many players wondering why this warranted such a response when other, more severe and game-impacting issues have not been addressed in the same way.

This is another evergreen problem with living games like MMOs – different priorities between devs and players, and differing understandings of how problems get resolved with what resources – but I can't resist nodding along with some of the complaints. One less level 3 account with 99 Slayer running around has not, you will find, really affected anyone else's experience.

"So with Jagex’s recent stance on unintended bugs being used for skilling methods that clearly weren’t designed, I think it’s great we’re finally taking integrity seriously," argues one player, suggesting many years-old training methods must also warrant account action and rule changes.

"It's funny that they draw the line here but there are so many loophole mechanics in this game that it's impossible to determine whether something is intended or not," reckons a top reply to the main subreddit post about this.

To wit, another player writes, "I have to confess, [I've] been abusing a bug for years upon years," again referring to a staple, Jagex-approved way of exploiting game mechanics – in this case, by way of "prayer flicking" to negate an intended resource loss.

"Your meme is now under review for a routine check," replies one joking player.

Like me after losing a Slay the Spire 2 run to a misclick, this has spiraled a fair bit. But then the Jagex hammer swung again. Today, Ayiza posted a lengthy write-up on the OSRS subreddit explaining the bug and Jagex's response.

"Partner Slayer has a check that requires the player to have killed at least some of the assigned creatures to get the rewards from the task," he explains. "In this instance, this was not working effectively for small tasks, more specifically boss tasks. This allowed players to get rewards without ever interacting with or slaying the creature. Slayer should entail at least some slaying."

The problem is that the bug Jagex was able to reproduce would give Slayer Partners credit for low-quantity Slayer tasks. If you selected a task to kill a boss just three times, you could do nothing but still net a 5,000 XP payout because the 20% contribution rule from Partner Slayer would round to 0.6, "effectively granting them Slayer XP for watching their partner kill bosses and doing no actual Slayer or interaction whatsoever on their own."

Ayiza says "we noticed a Level-3 character had broken into the top 10 for ‘Daily Slayer XP Gains’ across all account types," with the same character not only "averaging around 55,000 XP/hr" but even "breaking the 90,000 XP/hr mark, which is drastically higher than what we’ve seen in the past for limited builds like this, and at times even competing with main player rates." In total, 12 accounts were flagged.

"From there we spotted that the majority of the gains being made were in increments of 5,000 XP at a time, so we began exploring the Boss Task completion bonus as the likely culprit to investigate for reproduction steps," he adds.

After isolating players who'd received XP this way multiple times, a targeted rollback was deployed. However, Ayiza admits that "our approach to actioning against bug-abuse has, as you’ve rightly pointed out, been inconsistent."

With this in mind, the affected accounts will have a "portion" of their lost XP restored "based on expected rates that similar account builds would get if they were interacting with the content based on established metas."

In other words, Rendi et al will get the XP they would have earned without help from this bug, which is perhaps the best resolution anyone could expect. The whole thing is arguably not blameless, but it does feel like it got out of hand due to a lack of information. And we are ultimately talking about 12 people on a corner-case grind in a 500-year-old MMO. But I do love a good rabbit hole.

Jagex concludes: "Looking forward, we want to provide better clarity on what behaviour might result in action being taken against your account, and how we make it clearer to you what we consider bug abuse vs emergent gameplay, or fun ways to push the boundaries of the game."

Old School RuneScape is so old and so big that the devs are about "to run out of" a key tech resource and have to do "a bunch of work to stop the game exploding soon."

Old School RuneScape developer Jagex is fast approaching the kind of technical obstacle that, in some ways, many MMO creators would kill for: the game's apparently been around for so long, and has added so much new content, that it's about to run out of an essential technical resource that risks, in one developer's words, "the game exploding."

This revelation began, as many interesting OSRS facts do, with a joke on the 2007scape subreddit. A fake social media post attributed to beloved developer Mod Ash reads, "I'm afraid the engine has finally reached its limit. We've decided the only way to fix the spaghetti code is to delete the game entirely. We're wiping the servers at midnight. It's been a pleasure, but it's time to go outside."

OSRS is notorious for two things. Well, at least two. Firstly, the game's aforementioned spaghetti code can cause inexplicable and occasionally devastating bugs even in seemingly unrelated updates. More than once, the entire economy has been destroyed out of nowhere. Secondly, "engine work" is semi-regularly used to explain why certain changes or features aren't possible or will take a long time to implement. This Mod Ash joke lampoons both, and it could've ended with that, but Jagex developer Mod Nin replied to the Reddit post with some interesting trivia.

"You joke, but we are imminently going to run out of IDs to assign to models and scenery so we need to do a bunch of work to stop the game exploding soon," Mod Nin says.

It gets better. Apparently this has happened before, and the last time it did, Jagex just sort of kicked it under the bed to deal with it later. And now, well, later has come.

"Yep, around May 2018," Nin adds in a reply. "Either the developer at the time was in a bit of a hurry (likely) or didn't have much faith in the longevity of the game (who knows), as they only doubled the available capacity."

Thousands upon thousands of object and model IDs are logged in resources like the sterling OSRS Wiki and OSRSBox, from lamps to statues to stones. Whenever Jagex adds new stuff to the game, new IDs get used up. And apparently, Jagex's pile of spare IDs is getting low.

The easiest way to check this is to look for newly added items – like objects related to the Sailing skill, the first all-new skill added to OSRS since its release (or resurrection) over a decade ago. Sailing items like the Camphor cargo hold have IDs in the 60000 range. Another new entry, November 2025's Grimstone cave entrance, is 60117. I'm blindly assuming, just going off standard number patterns in code and OSRS history, that 64000 is the brick wall here.

I don't know exactly how you would remedy this – maybe, as some players half-jokingly proposed, you double the ID stash again and kick it back under the bed – but I can see why it would be a problem. If Jagex can't assign IDs, the game and its orbiting tools presumably can't keep up with where and what things are, assuming they can be placed at all. Which sounds like a bad thing, especially for an MMO running so many checks between players and servers. It doesn't sound like it's a big or unexpected issue. Rather, it seems like an interesting side effect of a game this old going on for this long. Maybe it really is engine work sometimes.

RuneScape creators asked their mom to help design the MMO's first enemies: "Only much later did they even consider actually hiring people."

ZeniMax Online Studios founder and former The Elder Scrolls Online director Matt Firor left the company after parent studio Microsoft canceled his MMO Project Blackbird in 2025, but even a year later, he takes it personally when people compare ESO to World of Warcraft.

It "still gets under my skin," Firor tells MinnMax host Ben Hanson in a new interview, when anyone refers to ESO as "a WoW clone" – partly because he flat-out disagrees, and partly because approaching Elder Scrolls Online that way makes the game experience worse for anyone expecting World of Warcraft in Tamriel.

"All of the feedback that we got was, 'This game isn't like WoW enough,'" Firor continues, "and it's like, 'No, it's not a WoW clone. Yes, it's multiplayer fantasy game. So is Dark Age of Camelot, right? Is WoW a Dark Age of Camelot clone? No.'"

Firor is an expert on what MMO is or isn't like another. He served as Dark Age of Camelot's producer in 2001, he has nearly 30 years of credits on some of the most influential massively multiplayer online games in history, including 1997 MMO Silent Death Online, 1998 MMORPG Aliens Online, and more. So when it comes to a relatively more modern game like ESO, he can say confidently, "Every game takes things that the games before them did and mixes them together in a different soup, and it's awesome."

"We had Elder Scrolls, and so we were fantasy," Firor continues, "built to be a multiplayer game – like that was the mandate when I got hired, was make the Elder Scrolls MMO, and I did. But, systems-wise, it is so different from WoW."

It does, at least, seem like most people who still play both games agree. In one popular Reddit thread comparing the two, the top comment summarizes what seems to be the general consensus: play ESO for the story, and WoW for the power progression. Another comment says the mere act of pitting the two against each other is as useless as contrasting "tea and coffee" to "absinthe and Mt. Dew."

Firor expresses similar indifference. "WoW's a fantastic game," he says. "It's probably my second-most played game of all time." It just makes no substantial impact on The Elder Scrolls Online, he insists.

"If you sit down and play it like it's a WoW clone, you're not going to have fun at all," he warns. "If you sit down and play it like an Elder Scrolls game, like Elder Scrolls Online, it's a fantastic game."

Elder Scrolls Online director still secretly plays the MMO, even after he left the studio when Microsoft killed his dream game: "I'm in guilds, and they don't know who I am."

Elder Scrolls Online director Matt Firor has made no secret of the reason he left Zenimax Online Studios, the developer he founded way back in 2007: he wasn't going to stick around if he couldn't keep making his dream MMO, Project Blackbird. He's convinced it could've been a hit, but he understands Microsoft's reasons for cancelling it.

"I think it's a missed opportunity for me, for [Zenimax Online Studios], for Bethesda, for Xbox. I think it would have been a fantastic game," Firor says in an interview with MinnMax. "But I understand the reasoning that went into it. This is why making games is always a heartbreaking business. No matter what happens, you'd be at the best studio in the world, and decisions happen that impact people. I didn't agree with what happened, but I understood the reasoning behind it."

Host Ben Hanson then asks if the decision was influenced by Microsoft's market tests. "I don't even know if it was that deep," Firor responds. "It's more, we're a number on a ledger and if that number is large, it is ripe for 'analysis,' shall we say. That number was always large, and over the years we always explained why we were frontloading a lot of cost and what they were going to get for it."

In other words, Project Blackbird's cancellation wasn't really about the game – it simply didn't look good on a balance sheet to the higher-ups at Microsoft. "Eventually, the industry just got to a point where it looked to the people there, and elsewhere in the industry, that that was just a very large bet and they needed to hedge their large bets," Firor explains. "I think that's what happened."

Project Blackbird was technically in development for seven years, but Firor emphasizes that it was not in full production that entire time. There were initially a handful of developers trying to shake out the game's backbone – what engine it should use, for example – and "then COVID happened" right as the hiring push for the MMO was supposed to get underway, Firor says, suggesting that it wasn't as if seven years of full-scale production had gone by with nothing to show for it.

Around the time that Project Blackbird was cancelled, a report from Bloomberg suggested that then-Xbox boss Phil Spencer loved the game, which made its cancellation all the more incongruous. In this interview, Firor simply acknowledges, with a smile, "Bloomberg did say that." Either way, he doesn't have any hard feelings towards Xbox at large – clearly, since he's still playing ESO in secret these days.

"In general, the people at Xbox were awesome," Firor says. "It's not a personal vendetta or anything. Everyone there was mostly good to interact with on a human level. It's just, big business is big business. It's like Microsoft is Microsoft, right? A giant successful video game on the Microsoft level was frankly not that stimulating to them. They want a business that they can look at that has numbers that go up, reliably, every year by a certain amount. This isn't Xbox – this is all public companies. They want reliable, forecastable business. Entertainment like the video game industry just doesn't work that way sometimes."

Firor compares the Xbox of today to the EA of 2008 or the Activision of 2004 – eras when each publisher had gone on acquisition sprees, only to ultimately turn around and shut down many of the studios and game projects which they'd acquired. "It's a business and it's terrible sometimes," Firor says. "I don't agree with some of the decisions, obviously, but the reasoning behind them makes sense on a ledger somewhere."

"A single-player MMO is almost like cheating": Crimson Desert is "awesome," former Elder Scrolls Online director says, even if "I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

Tragedy follows joy in the Final Fantasy 14 community after Square Enix accidentally gave out a pile of completely free and utterly adorable otter backpacks to players. Unfortunately, the impromptu giveaway was a bug, and the devs will soon be snatching those little accessories away – but hey, you will at least have the chance to acquire them again in the future.

With the release of patch 7.5 earlier this week, many players suddenly found the Senor Otter Pack among their fashion accessories. The apparent gift was a bit weird, but hey, free stuff, right? Unfortunately, Square Enix quickly confirmed that the distribution of the Senor Otter Pack was a bug.

"The internal ID for the Senor Otter Pack was incorrectly configured to the same internal ID as the Black Embroidered Parasol fashion accessory," the studio explains in a list of tracked bugs. "As a result, unlocking the Black Embroidered Parasol currently unlocks the Senor Otter Pack."

So yes, your Senor Otter Pack will be taken away "in an upcoming hotfix," but the adorable little backpack will be released for real "as a future reward." It'll likely be part of the annual Make It Rain event, which should kick off next month. "We hope you will acquire the Senor Otter Pack again when it is released through the intended method," Square Enix says.

I will never forgive SE for this! from r/ffxiv

In the meantime, players are heading to the meme mines to mourn the little guy, evoking Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's gommage, the Thanos snap, and that Brooklyn Nine-Nine quote – you know the one – as they say goodbye to their inanimate otter pal.

Nobody actually seems too broken up about losing their Senor Otter Pack in the comments, but the profiteers are already all over it. The Black Embroidered Parasol, which currently grants bugged access to the new item, previously sold for around 100,000 gil, according to online auction house trackers. That same item now sells for several million gil, depending on what server you're on.

You can, of course, spend your in-game money however you like, but you might wanna hold off on panic-buying anything right now. Yes, the otter is cute, but you're probably gonna be able to get him as a very basic quest reward in just a few weeks' time.

Yoshi-P hoped we wouldn't notice, but Final Fantasy 14 Evercold is indeed inspired by Norse mythology.

Zenimax Online founder and Elder Scrolls Online director Matt Firor left the studio in 2025, confirming months later that his departure was a direct result of Microsoft's cancelling his dream MMO, Project Blackbird. You might think that colors his feelings about ESO, but no – it's apparently still one of his favorite games, and he's continuing to play it to this day, even as his guildmates have no idea who he is.

"I did take two or three months off just to get away mentally, but I started playing again," Firor says in a new interview with MinnMax. He says he's quite enjoying experiencing the game purely as a player rather than a developer, since he no longer needs to jump into Slack to report every bug he sees when playing on live servers.

"I don't have that anymore," Firor says. "and not having that is actually very freeing, because I can actually just concentrate on the game and not on the problems. It's such a different mindset just to jump in. I'm in guilds, and they don't know who I am. So I just play and it's a lot of fun. I'm having the best time since probably 2017 or 2018 in the game right now."

Firor is perfectly willing to acknowledge the irony of hyping up his own game even when he's no longer responsible for it. "I was on a podcast last year where they wanted me to name my five favorite games," Firor says, "and I named ESO. I actually semi-apologized for it in the podcast because it's such a loser move nominating your own game for your favorite game. But it is. It's a really, really good game. And I've spent so much of my life building it and living in it that I appreciate it for what it is even today."

He admits that he still texts the devs who remain at the ESO studio about the game on occasion, "but I do it a lot less than I used to." Even now, he's still seeing some of the fruits of his own labours, since it takes "probably up to 12 to 16 months to make content in ESO. So they're still shipping stuff that I knew about, that I knew was coming and I was involved in the planning with. But they've changed it in subtle ways that I think is fantastic and really smart."

It's easy to understand why Firor feels so strongly about Elder Scrolls Online – after all, he founded Zenimax Online way back in 2007 and spent 18 years with the company, shepherding ESO through its early development and a rocky launch as it eventually became one of the most successful modern MMOs. That's a substantial chunk of a lifetime to devote to one game, and it's clear Firor takes pride in that game's success.

It's also pretty obvious why somebody who takes so much pride in their work might be so distressed about having their dream project killed. "Project Blackbird was the game I had waited my entire career to create," Firor said at the time, "and having it canceled led to my resignation." At least he still has ESO.

Elder Scrolls Online is still one of the best MMOs you can play today.

In case you were in any doubt, Final Fantasy 14 director and producer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida has confirmed that the upcoming Evercold expansion does indeed take inspiration from Norse mythology.

As part of the latest Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest – held in Anaheim, California – a rather impressed Yoshida touches on the fact after being asked about it as part of a question and answer session attended by GamesRadar+.

Yoshida says that the developers "actually tried to obscure that it was Norse-inspired" in the teaser trailer, when asked whether the architecture and a mysterious figure give away what Square Enix is taking notes from.

"That's one of the reasons why we did not list any sort of names or proper nouns in the keynote presentation," he says. "And I think you'll start to realize that as we reveal more information. But yeah, if you would like to look into some of the cultures and the mythologies surrounding this sort of [thing], you might get a better understanding, or, like, enjoy it even deeper."

A quick glance at the Evercold trailer might not reveal all its Norse influences, but upon deeper inspection, it does sort of become obvious. From the serpent-adorned architecture to the decorated armor and frosty settings, it's hard not to notice after spotting everything once – and is that a suspiciously gray-haired, bearded, one-eyed Au'ra three minutes in?

Of course, Final Fantasy 14 Evercold isn't the first slice of the MMO to look toward Norse mythology – Odin is a primal you can fight in the game, and there's plenty of goodness to be found in Heavensward. Looking ahead, though, it's thought-provoking to wonder how Square Enix will use it to give Evercold's world some of its color.

Over the years, Final Fantasy 14 has drawn on various cultures and mythologies to give the MMO a sense of vibrancy and diversity – Stormblood looks to Asian influences, for example, while the more recent Dawntrail draws on Latin America.

Now, if you excuse me, I have some very Norse-looking cat people to study.

After 13 years, Final Fantasy 14 is finally letting healers be healers by removing cast times for attack spells and changing GCD heals: "We want healing to be a healer's main priority."

Final Fantasy 14 had quite the past weekend, between director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida's big Evercold reveal and everything that's set to come with 8.0 – but I'd argue that one of the most significant announcements is the change to the MMO's two-minute meta.

In case you're out of the loop, Final Fantasy 14 – especially the game's more high-end content like Extremes, Savages, and Ultimates – sees fans often utilizing a two-minute window while executing their job's rotation. Basically, everyone applies their buffs at the same time so that they all align properly.

It's a system of synergy, but it's one that we apparently won't have to worry about anymore come Evercold in January 2027.

Yoshi-P announced as much during Fan Fest 2026 in Anaheim, California, over the weekend, alongside job tweaks and changes to tomestones, roulettes, and item levels.

While discussing the new class modes – Reborn and Evolved – he said, "We want to have something that's unique, and when we try to experiment, then we start running into problems about synergy." You know, like when your two-minute window pops but the boss isn't there?

"That's frustrating. We don't want that happening, so we really wanted to have players have that freedom and make it a very fun fight. After a lot of deliberating, that's when we came to the decision that we should get rid of the synergy actions."

Unsurprisingly, the crowd went wild (me included) at this statement. Square Enix – and the community – wants "something that is more than just the 120-second cycles of attacking and then nothing."

I'll toast to that – and I'm not the only one. Reactions over on Reddit show similarly pleased fans, with one exclaiming, "Two min meta is now officially dead! And nobody will miss it."

Another comments, "Good riddance! Finally. Yoshi-P has it right – the two-min meta not only limits job design, as in everything needs to revolve around two-min timers, but also… limits their [developers'] designing freedom." I certainly agree.

2 Min meta is now officially dead ! from r/ffxivdiscussion

They add that while the Evolved job mode is a "positive," the real thing that has them "truly excited to return" to Final Fantasy 14 is Square Enix axing the two-minute meta in favor of a more player-focused system.

Heck, even folks who don't mind the current window are happy to see the devs spice things up. As one Warrior of Light replies, "I was never a two-min hater, but I'm always down to change things up." Valid, anon. Very valid.

I personally can't wait for 8.0 and all its changes myself, especially as a healer. Final Fantasy 14 is finally letting healers be healers by removing cast times for attack spells and changing GCD heals, so Evercold is going to be massive for me as an Astrologian, y'all.

Yoshi-P teases new Final Fantasy 14 Evercold jobs, says fans have already guessed the weapon for one

Final Fantasy 14 boss Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida is working hard to tease the new jobs for Evercold without actually revealing what they are. We know we're getting a new tank and ranged physical DPS – beyond that, there's little to go on except whatever vague hints exist on Yoshi-P's latest T-shirt. But apparently, the MMO's players have already guessed what one of the new weapons is right in front of Yoshi-P himself, no less.

During a stage Q&A at this past weekend's FF14 Fan Festival, Yoshida turned the tables to ask fans what new weapons they'd like to see added with future jobs. Among the answers shouted out were crossbows, hammers, punches (never mind that we already have the Monk), and morning stars, as well as more exotic options like a dual-wielded gun and sword. Two options drew direct responses from Yoshida: a yo-yo, which would apparently "be easy to make," and a whip, which would be "really challenging to animate."

Amid all the chaotic shouts in the crowd, however, somebody apparently had a bit of foresight. "We heard a lot of different ideas come up" from the crowd, Yoshida teases, "and, you know, we actually heard one that pertains to the new job. But I will not say which one it is."

Personally? My money's on the whip. It'd make sense for a ranged physical DPS job, and it'd be quite a flex for Yoshi-P to say it'd been too hard to animate when, in fact, the team was already doing it. But that's just a wild guess from a lapsed FF14 player, and we won't get real answers until the Berlin edition of the Fan Festival arrives on July 25.

Yoshida also offered some insight into how the team selects new jobs for each expansion. It starts not with the job itself, but rather the roles. "Of course, when we look at the player data and information that we have on hand, we do see that the DPS role typically has the most players in terms of what they main," Yoshida explains. "As such, recently whenever we think about a new expansion and introducing the two jobs, we would like for one to be accepted or well-received and enjoyed by as many players as possible."

That's why we keep getting at least one new DPS job pretty much every go around – though that "might change down the line" – but deciding the other is a much more abstract process of looking at how the current tanks and healers are being used and deciding if a new one needs to be introduced. Or whether, as the case may be, the team wants to add multiple DPSes.

Once the roles are set, the battle system team holds an internal contest where they pitch ideas for each job. "With Evercold, we had five ideas for the tank role and then I believe we narrowed it down to three ideas for a ranged DPS," Yoshida says. "Then I joined the discussion to kind of refine the idea even further. Looking at the gameplay, or how the job feels when you control it, was different than that of what we had in our Final Fantasy series thus far, so we decided it's going to be a 14-original job. So I guess the process of selecting jobs depends on what kind of experience we want to deliver. How do we make it fun and interesting? But if I keep talking, I might spill something about the new job. So, I'm going to stop there."

"Butt slider?": Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P promises to pester devs about the highly-requested feature, but warns fans of the dangers of a big booty.

As a hardened Final Fantasy 14 stan and a shameful (no, not shameless) hardcore raider, I've accumulated thousands of hours worth of healing in various forms of content, but the actual amount of healing I've done is probably not all that high.

That's because I've primarily been concerned with, you know, dealing damage… as just about every role in Final Fantasy 14 must be so as to keep up with DPS checks.

This has rung true for me in everything from Savage raids to Ultimates (I'm looking at you, TEA), and I'm so pleased to say the burden of balancing necessary heals with constant damage output is going to be lifted come 8.0 expansion Evercold in January of 2027.

Alongside the very nice changes to tomestones, roulettes, and item levels, Square Enix is tweaking jobs with two new modes: Reborn and Evolved. The latter – albeit seemingly simple in theory – makes things a bit more streamlined for all classes while still maintaining a good skill ceiling.

All these adjustments to jobs in 8.0 especially impact healers, though, as they transform us into… well, real healers.

Instead of having to grapple with the long global cooldown drag that healing abilities are while trying to deal as much damage as possible, we'll get to insta-cast our DPS-aligned spells.

Battle system planner Hikaru Tamaki – now lovingly known as "Mr. Prime" – confirms as much during Fan Fest 2026 in Anaheim, California, saying that "by casting a global cooldown heal, you will still be able to attack" come Evercold.

"We've removed casting times for attack spells." Why? "We want healing to be a healer's main priority." Tamaki notes that we're usually asked to avoid using healing spells as it is currently, so as to do more damage.

Evidently, Square Enix wants to remedy this, and the 8.0 changes are the best way – in my opinion, anyway – that developers can do so. "It's kind of like a heal plus [you] have DPS, and that's how we'll have it for the Evolved mode."

I think my jaw literally dropped when Tamaki announced all this, honestly. I mean, healers have spent over a decade now trying to act as a strange pseudo-DPS while relying on quick OGCD heals.

This, coupled with what seems to be the death of the two-minute meta, is pretty dang game-changing, and I personally can't wait to see how it affects me as Astrologian and my static as a whole. Healers aren't alone in having an exciting Evolved mode to anticipate.

I'm genuinely thrilled to see the long-promised job changes coming to fruition – it's been a long time coming. Part of me is worried about what this all might mean for my cards as an AST, but I have a good feeling Evolved mode might tweak 'em for the better.

Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P has considered a single-player version of the MMO because some fans think "an online Final Fantasy is not a Final Fantasy"

Final Fantasy 14's battle system planner, Hikaru Tamaki, has revealed the unconventional method he used to get his job at Square Enix.

Taking the stage during Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival in Anaheim, California today, Tamaki introduces himself as a Square Enix developer of 13 years, having started at the company in September 2013, "four days after the launch of A Realm Reborn." Before that, Tamaki says he was "a writer and editor for a game magazine," which gave him a unique perspective on game development. "Before long, I had developed an interest in making games myself," says Tamaki.

So, what did the aspiring game developer do next? Obviously, he went to Square Enix's careers page, picked out a job he felt he was qualified for, and sent an application... No, actually, he rather cunningly used his position as a games journalist to his advantage. Instead of having to jump through the usual HR loops and job interview circuit, he gained direct access to the man in charge, Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida when he was asked to interview the veteran games developer.

"I had already played a lot of Final Fantasy 11 and Final Fantasy 14 1.0, and I thought I could use that to get my foot in the door. So, when I was assigned by the magazine to do an interview with Yoshi-P, I used the opportunity to ask him for a job," Hamaki says.

"Of course, I didn't want Yoshi-P thinking I was kind sketchy, so I asked my boss ahead of time if he could call up Yoshi-P and let him know what I was about to do," he adds.

Yoshi-P, who is sitting next to Hamaki in this conversation, chimes in with his own insights, explaining that Hamaki's lack of experience at the time meant he would have to start "from the bottom" in a "part-time" capacity. Hamaki was apparently fine with this, telling Yoshi-P, "'I can do anything that you ask.'

"He was really serious about this. He really wanted to be a part of the Final Fantasy 14 team. He's a really good gamer too. He's pro-gamer level," adds Yoshi-P to a visibly flattered Hamaki.

Hear that, kids? The key to getting the job of your dreams is to get a different job that gives you access to the person in charge of the job of your dreams, and then just ask them for a job. I know I'll be looking out for any opportunities to interview whoever's in charge of Disneyland.

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold is the MMO's next big expansion, and it's coming early next year

The reveal of Final Fantasy 14: Evercold promised some big shake-ups for the MMO, but one thing remains the same. A new expansion means new jobs. We're getting a new tank and DPS option this time around, and – also true to tradition – director and producer Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida is daring you to stare at his T-shirt for further information.

"Of course, a new expansion means new jobs, and just like 7.0, we're planning to introduce two new jobs with 8.0," Yoshida says via translator at today's Fan Festival keynote in Anaheim, California. We're getting a new tank and physical ranged DPS, and "both of these new jobs are FF14 originals, as opposed to legacy FF jobs."

It's at this point that Yoshi-P took off his jacket to reveal his T-shirt, emblazoned with the words "guess who's back?" and an image of the infamous Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, a boss who appears near the end of the A Realm Reborn story. The original boss fight against him became such a joke as players' power level increased that the devs were eventually forced to revamp the battle entirely, but he still has a memetic place in the community's lore.

He also wields two shields across his bulky arms, which seems like a pretty natural concept for a new tank. But, equally, it's possible that the shirt offers some more esoteric clue. Yoshida did, after all, once use a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt to tease the addition of Pictomancer. You know, because the turtles are named after painters, signalling a painting-based class. Obvious stuff, right?

Ultimately, your guess is as good as mine for what the two new jobs will actually be, but we'll know for sure in a few months' time. The proper job reveal is set for the next Fan Festival, which kicks off in Berlin on July 25.

For now, though, there's plenty of more concrete information to pore over. For long-time FF14 players, arguably the biggest news is the death of daily roulettes and the tomestone grind, but the fact that the long-teased Switch 2 port is real isn't far behind in terms of importance. But maybe I'm downplaying just how wild the impending Evangelion raid series is – and man, it is pretty wild.

These are the best MMOs you can play today.

Square Enix has finally revealed its brand-new Final Fantasy 14 expansion, Evercold, with plenty of exciting content to come – but something even bigger is dropping prior to 8.0, it turns out.

Those rumors of a Switch 2 version – you know, the ones reportedly teased by director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida himself in the past – have turned out to be true. That's right, during today's big keynote showcase at Fan Fast 2026, Square Enix unveiled that it's got a Switch 2 edition of Final Fantasy 14 cooking as work on Evercold presses on, and it's set to launch this August. That's a mere four months away from now.

Not only is it coming so soon, though, but it's also going to be preceded by a free trial that lasts one month. Yep, that means we'll all get to explore how Final Fantasy 14 runs on Nintendo's new handheld system before we fully commit to it. It's a pretty significant trial period, too, if you ask me... especially seeing as we'll have to pay an extra subscription fee if we like it on Switch 2.

Sadly, yes, Square Enix reports that it decided alongside Nintendo that another sub fee felt right for the Switch 2. As it stands now, if you have a subscription on PC, you can share it through to other consoles and play on them – which, you know, feels pretty fair, all things considered. It'll be a different story on Nintendo's platform, however.

We'll have to pay another subscription – albeit one that's 50% off, should we have an active sub elsewhere – but we won't need to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership. I'm not too sure how I feel about that, as I do use that membership for pretty much every other Switch game I play, but I suppose it makes things a little better.

I'll decide how I truly feel about it come the Final Fantasy 14 Switch 2 release late this summer, after I've explored every facet of the free trial version. Until then, I need to learn how to play Astrologian on controller.

Final Fantasy 14 is getting an Evangelion raid series, and shamelessly I'm even more excited for it than anything else in the MMO's Evercold expansion

Now that Square Enix has lifted the veil on its brand-new Final Fantasy 14 expansion, Evercold, with a release date set for January 2027, everyone is understandably excited for all its new content – especially the Evangelion crossover raids.

Or, well, maybe I'm just especially excited for them, but still. As director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida revealed during today's big keynote showcase at Fan Fest 2026 in Anaheim, California, Final Fantasy 14 is indeed getting a new Evangelion raid series – one that apparently will "span all multiple tiers" – and I can't wait.

It feels like the big NieR Automata raid set – the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse series – from Shadowbringers, but somehow even better. There's no telling what wild mech boss encounters we might see yet, but it's huge news nonetheless for those of us still avidly into the anime, which is one of the most influential of all time, from the '90s.

Although Yoshi-P doesn't give us a solid release date for the alliance raid, it's likely to drop either with Evercold or as part of an 8.0x patch later down the line. For reference, the NieR crossover first commenced with 5.1 – so not exactly with the Shadowbringers launch, but a few months on, beginning with The Copied Factory (I'm so sorry to all who experienced this with me fresh).

Again, when it comes to the Evangelion raid series, we don't know too much yet. I've got my fingers crossed that Square Enix will go all out with it, though. I mean, it does appear to be fully themed – just listen to that reveal music. I'm also remaining hopeful about some fresh Evangelion-esque glams, like those from the NieR raids.

Only time will truly tell what we get, I suppose. Thankfully, January isn't all that far off as it's just at the turn of the next year, and the Final Fantasy 14 Evangelion raids should (I'd like to think, at least) arrive with Evercold or shortly after.

Final Fantasy 14 "can't afford another failed expansion," fans say, as unofficial census reports significant player drop ahead of the MMO's big 8.0 reveal

The next Final Fantasy 14 expansion is called Evercold, with a release date from Square Enix for the MMO's upcoming chapter set for January 2027.

Final Fantasy 14 director – and legend, if I do say so myself – Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida has unveiled 8.0, the exciting next era of the MMO to follow Dawntrail and its own series of subsequent patches, at Fan Fest 2026 during his hotly anticipated keynote... A keynote that, according to Yoshi-P, is "probably the longest one we've ever done before."

The new story – one that apparently marks the beginning of "The Godless Realms Saga" – looks like it's going to be absolutely massive, taking all our Warriors of Light on a trip through Evercold early next year. I'm not too surprised, honestly, especially after the previous expansion's shenanigans.

It's no secret, after all, that Dawntrail hasn't exactly proven to be the most popular expansion – heck, it's sitting on Steam with "Mixed" reviews again after slowly rising back up from a "Mostly Negative" rating that it suffered from even some two years on.

Folks have yearned for a better, more gripping story, improvements to jobs – which, to be fair, Yoshi-P sort of teased a while back – quality of life changes, and, well, much more.

Warriors of Light will be visiting the reflection of The Fourth – a reflection of Hydaelyn that has fallen into ruin, slowly succumbing to the ever-spreading ice – in Evercold. Not only that, but patch 7.5, which drops next Tuesday, is setting the foundation for the new expansion. That means that, not only is 8.0 arriving in January next year, but developers are laying the roots of The Godless Realms Saga now.

Design-wise, it appears to be downright stunning, too. Unique Aetherytes, jaw-dropping city settings, dragon-adorned castles... As Yoshi-P says, "designers have put their best foot forward this time" – and I'd say that's very apparent. "Development is in full swing," as well.

I mean, there's so much, "It's hard to tell what type of world this is going to be." Yoshi-P notes that even though the expansion is icy in name, there's so much more to 8.0 than just wintery landscapes... and that's obvious, judging by what he's showcasing of the areas to come. Plus, there's a literal "kitty town," y'all. Step aside, Monster Hunter Wilds Palicoes.

There are various revolutionary changes, in my opinion anyway, also in the works. Take Tomestones, for example – a system I've dreaded for nearly a decade now myself. It's out with 8.0, with a weekly mission system coming to replace the daily roulette system. Yoshi-P does warn that it's "extremely likely to change" throughout development, however.

We can expect "Seasons" as well – but, no, we don't need to worry about pesky season passes (I'm looking at you, Fortnite). Basically, a Season is a set of two patches. So, think 7.1 and 7.2. And, gaps between patches will be less significant, making them "closer together." Thank the Twelve.

The good news doesn't end there, either. Item levels can be reflected come 8.0, which gives us "more freedom to choose how and what you play." That means, should you want to join a raid on another job, you can reflect your main class's item level onto the one you desire and then play that role instead.

Customization queens, there's even more for us: a color picker for eye, hair, and skin tone; improved customization of eyes and lips; the addition of eye shadow; and face paint layering. Plus, we'll get to toggle certain parts and accessories of clothing pieces on or off – no more ugly straps or overdone flowers where you don't appreciate them.

There'll also be a focus on "ever-evolving content" to make public fields less lonely. Square Enix will be updating existing areas with new "exciting, dynamic" content, it sounds like. And, furthermore, another difficulty level between Normal and Savage is coming to even things out a bit.

The raid changes also span even wider, with a same-region player matching system underway – and, yes, Party Finer is included! All worlds in a region will be up and open for visits and content clearing together. This is coming before 8.0, too, dropping sometime in a 7.5x patch.

Perhaps appearing as the most hotly anticipated news, though, is the coming addition of two jobs – a tank and a DPS (healers, we stay losing, I suppose). There are two job modes in the works: Reborn and Evolved, albeit only for the "main" 21 jobs (sorry, BLU stans).

Reborn mode, which is called as much "because it's been around since A Realm Reborn," is cool and all... but Evolved mode comes with "all new action rotations" and – let's go – fewer inputs. But Yoshi-P stresses it's not a "simplified" version. Both modes will have their strengths, but Evolved will be the only one available for any new jobs.

Although Evercold might not be a whole "rebirth," as Yoshi-P himself admitted, it certainly looks as though it'll be a turning point for the MMO – one that's arguably needed now more than ever, as we all collectively foam at the mouth for 8.0 (okay, maybe it's just me, I guess). Between the Evangelion raid series and everything else, however, I do feel hopeful.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an experience that's just as amazing as I (and I'll die on this hill) found Shadowbringers and Endwalker to be.

Here's hoping Final Fantasy 14 sees a strong comeback when Evercold releases – I know that I'll certainly be a part of it come the big 8.0 launch.

Final Fantasy 14 Switch 2 officially confirmed for August after free 1-month trial to show us how the MMO runs on Nintendo's new handheld

One of Blizzard's former leaders has some strong words for the team behind World of Warcraft following a bug-filled patch that led to the developers apologizing and promising to "do better."

Over on Twitter, former Blizzard Entertainment boss and Xbox corporate vice president at Microsoft, Mike Ybarra, weighs in on a story doing the rounds – one we covered ourselves, in fact – covering the buggy state of World of Warcraft following patch 12.0.5.

"Unfortunate," he says. "WoW has to reset and the commitment has to be clear and firm or it will continue to decline."

Ouch.

The patch itself added a few activities to offer the MMO's many denizens something new to do – from fishing activities and a prop hunt mode to new PvE activities suited to gearing your main and alt accounts. Unfortunately, though, players haven't been able to enjoy much of the new content due to various bugs.

We've already reported on the buggy Prop Hunt mode that lets some players use their minimap to find anyone, though fans have logged other issues. As a result, the World of Warcraft team released a statement promising to work "around the clock" to fix the MMO and to take the moment as an opportunity to learn from.

It's not World of Warcraft's best moment, though I'm not sure I'd say the MMO is in decline. The Shadowlands expansion wasn't a highlight for many, sure, though the following Dragonflight and the Worldsoul saga we're currently in have largely gone over well. The content is flowing at a solid cadence, and folks mostly have something fun to do. There are challenges to face, sure, though it feels like a time to fine-tune the balance between content volume and frequency rather than hitting the big reset button.

World of Warcraft's current storyline is "like a Saturday morning cartoon," former Blizzard quest designer says: "Where are the stakes?"

Blizzard has apologized for the current state of World of Warcraft following a patch that introduced a range of bugs, from the amusing to the bizarre, leaving fans frustrated and concerned for the MMO's welfare.

In a post on Reddit, the World of Warcraft team offers a candid response to WoW's latest update. "The 12.0.5 patch launch was not up to our standards," the team says, "and we know this disrupted your time and caused justified frustration."

To remedy the situation, Blizzard promises that the WoW team has been "working around the clock" to fix the biggest issues facing the MMO since the patch's launch. If you're keen to see the hotfix notes as they roll out, you can do so here.

So, what's happened exactly? World of Warcraft's 12.0.5 patch includes a range of content to give people more and better ways to engage with the MMO – you've got a new mode that's effectively Prop Hunt, new fishing activities, and new PvE offerings to help you catch up on gearing your mains and any other alternate characters.

All good stuff – expect it introduced plenty of bugs. We've already reported that the new Prop Hunt mode isn't quite working, as Blizzard forgot to disable a player's ability to find someone else using a minimap. Rubbing salt in the wound, players are also reporting that those who are too good at hiding will be marked as not participating and, as such, won't get any rewards. Feels like Hide-and-Seek, but the rules have been aggressively rigged.

There are other loot-related issues, too. One activity known as The Voidforge started handing out duplicate items, which it isn't supposed to do. That has since been fixed, though you can see why it might irk fans when a big part of the MMO grind is sweet loot.

Those aren't the only issues, either. Player housing went down across multiple regions, some classes aren't working as they should, and Delves haven't escaped unscathed either. If you're curious to read more, one World of Warcraft player has been putting together a log of all the issues, though Blizzard is currently working through 'em, so hopefully that list will whittle swiftly.

"The team is taking lessons learned from this launch to help ensure this doesn't happen again," Blizzard says. "We will also work harder to communicate openly, early, and often when a launch doesn't go as expected: the known issues we're working on, fixes as they roll out, and any other information that would be useful to our community as problems are worked on and solved.

"We care deeply about this game, and we play it right alongside you. We will do better."

The bugs facing World of Warcraft seem like an unfortunate knock-on effect of trying to strike a balance of giving people plenty of stuff to do and making sure the MMO, you know, works. Blizzard has earned plenty of praise with WoW over the past year or two because fans are eating well, by and large. A big part of MMO gaming is feeling like your subscription is worth the cost, and a big contributor to that feeling is having stuff to do.

The other side, unfortunately, is keeping the game running smoothly. It's the sort of thing we've reported on in other games, such as Helldivers 2. You've got to keep the content flowing to keep players engaged, paying, and your studio running. Lean into the new content grind too hard, though, and the foundations start to crack.

It's an interesting moment for World of Warcraft, then. I'm sure anyone is happy to enjoy some new content – except when they can't because bugs are running rampant. As Blizzard alludes to, it looks like a learning moment for the developers, and we'll only need to wait and see how well they strike the balance moving forward.

Blizzard lawsuit kills huge private World of Warcraft server as a cease and desist ends another.

There's a fun new minigame in World of Warcraft that's essentially hide-and-seek, where you try and evade the seekers by hiding as a random object. The only problem is, Blizzard managed to leave on a mechanic that highlights other players on your map. Whoops.

The special mode is Decor Duels, a spin on Prop Hunt from Garry's Mod where the hiders transform themselves into furniture or other innocuous parts of the world, and those seeking them have to track them down using other magic. It's in Silvermoon City, and there are special rewards for competing.

That's all fine and dandy, but, as noticed by Wowhead, the devs accidentally forgot to lock out the Track Humanoids ability, putting other players on the minimap. Hunters have it inherently, and using a Blackened Worg Steak gives it to everyone else.

Decor Duels is now less about skulking about or trying to suss whether that candle over there is moving, and more a glorified game of tag. Still somewhat fun, on paper, just a very different kind of entertainment to what was intended, and a situation where there's definitely some embarrassment going around whatever team of devs allowed this to happen.

To be clear, it's an easy mistake, just a quite funny one that undermines the original intent. Meanwhile, players have also found out they can hide out of bounds relatively easily. This is less egregious, because it comes with the territory of pushing people to make use of their surroundings, and World of Warcraft has some famously dodgy seams.

At the very least, people seem to be having fun, and the patch has only been live for a short time. This can all be tightened up. That said, I think it'd be more fun if Blizzard embraced Decor Duel as more of a game of chase, but that might be just me.

Blizzard lawsuit kills huge private World of Warcraft server as a cease and desist ends another.

Delta Force has a huge update this month to celebrate the game's first anniversary on mobile, and it's bringing players a whole host of new features - and a special collaboration too.

Let's start with the collaboration, which sees Delta Force partnering with Tomb Raider for an awesome Luna Collaboration Bundle. You'll be able to pick up the Lara Croft outfit from Thursday, April 30, 2026, and the collaboration also comes with a free Legendary AKM skin and an exclusive figurine.

The April update will add a new free Recon Operator known as Morse, who, as his name suggests, is all about listening. He's capable of capturing even the faintest sounds on the battlefield, from enemy footsteps and reloads, and even their breathing, into acoustic imaging, meaning there's really nowhere to hide from Morse.

You might need Morse for the new Warfare map, too. Akh Canal is a new dynamic map with a massive capsized cargo ship at its centre, forcing players to engage in bizarre infantry and vehicle combat. If you trigger the "Port Explosion" major event, the terrain will be permanently altered by a huge explosion capable of revealing hidden secrets and new battle fronts.

Over on Operations, the Zero Dam map is getting an optimization upgrade, with the addition of reed marsh terrain and a reworked elevator extract with the intention to increase opportunities for strategic gameplay.

There are plenty more upgrades for Operations, including Treasure Hunt, which lets you bury valuable loot and leave a message for other operators to discover as a gift, a really lovely community booster; another addition to the Operations side of the game is the parkour challenge that players will be able to find and engage on various maps, and a leaderboard to prove their prowess.

And then we've got new weapons. The M82 Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle is all about power, with one-shot-kill capabilities and sustained semi-auto fire, and the AR57 Assault Rifle boasts a large-capacity magazine and high rate of fire for maximum impact.

The update is live now in Delta Force across PC, console, and mobile, so get involved!

Final Fantasy 14 hasn't exactly been in the best shape since Dawntrail – you know, with its "Mostly Negative" reviews nearly two years post-launch and all – and active player counts show as much, with numbers reportedly dropping.

We can find these numbers in the unofficial census that Lucky Bancho, a fan who gathers all sorts of data from The Lodestone regularly, has put together on his online blog.

Just two months ago, he noted a nice increase of 110,000 players, which brought the number of active folks from 820,000 to 930,000. It seemed like good news, potentially marking a turning point from the poor reputation Dawntrail still holds and the dwindling community.

Now, though, Lucky Bancho reports that the number of active characters has "significantly" decreased by approximately 160,000 from that previous count of 930,000 to around 770,000.

It's important to note that there are some caveats to this figure, of course, as it's very much an unofficial census, and one that Lucky Bancho gathers via public Lodestone information like achievements, newly registered minions and mounts, as well as alterations in characters' HP.

Q1 2026 FFXIV Census from r/ffxivdiscussion

In other words, it's not entirely accurate – I mean, you could play for months without gaining new achievements or minions, theoretically, of course – but it's certainly the best we've got, and the 160,000 drop is pretty big no matter how you frame it… especially when considering past figures from Lucky Bancho, like the ones from February.

I'm not the only one who finds it all concerning, either, as fellow worried fans are now discussing the census on Reddit and beyond.

"Looking at the graph, FF14 can't afford another failed expansion," one player points out, saying Dawntrail "already lost 2/3's of its playerbase peak Endwalker." Another person states, "Now all depends on the 8.0 trailer and announcement. Even if they do decent 8.0, it can undersell… All in the hands of players' perception of the game."

I mean, they're not wrong. The next expansion could mark a massive change for the MMO – good or bad.

Over on Facebook, the community is sharing similar thoughts. "The new expansion is being announced THIS week," comments one fan. "Player count is going to come back up for 8.0." Another chimes in, "I mean, end of expansion (and not popular with everyone). In one week, there will be more people because of the patch for a few weeks. Already a lot of new people or returning just for the 7.5."

They conclude, "We will see what comes for the 8.0; I hope early next year or maybe at the end of this year."

Discussions on Steam see concerns over the Final Fantasy 14 playerbase as well, with one confused player asking, "Is this game dead?" A response reads, "I'm sure the 'OMG CONTENT' people will flock black with a vengeance" come 7.5 and 8.0.

The 8.0 reveal is near, too, set to drop this week during Square Enix's big Fan Fest event – so we don't have long to wait until we learn what's coming after Dawntrail, whether that be a return to the Void or otherwise… and for now, there's patch 7.5 to anticipate, too.

Square Enix slaps Final Fantasy 14 content creator with lawsuit over alleged harassment, continuing its crackdown on the MMO's bullies

Last week, reports began to circulate that Blizzard had scored a legal victory against the popular World of Warcraft private server Turtle WoW, and the owners of the server have now confirmed that it will soon be shutting down. It seems Blizzard has been prolific with the cease and desist orders, too, as Stormforge is also scheduled to shut down next month.

"After almost 8 years online, Turtle WoW is heading towards shutdown," the devs say in their announcement. "The final day of operation will be May 14, 2026, and the servers will go offline at 12:00 AM on May 15th. Working on Turtle WoW has been the highlight of our lives. It has been an honor to build with you and for you. Whether you were exploring new stories, leveling, raiding, PvPing, roleplaying, or just enjoying a quiet moment in the world, seeing how much this game means to you has been our greatest privilege."

Stormforge's announcement is pretty similar in tone: "It is with a heavy heart we share the news of the project's shutdown. Following a Cease & Desist request and subsequent positive discussions with a legal entity representing Blizzard Entertainment, we have agreed to cease all operations, development and distribution of content related to World of Warcraft by May 14th, 2026. Our realms will remain online and fully accessible until that date, but it will no longer be possible to register a new account and no further content updates will be released. We will also shut down the Stormforge Discord server and website. We would like to thank Blizzard for being understanding in regards to our closure process and the transition period."

It's unclear whether the two server shutdowns are connected, but the timing can't be ignored. Blizzard sued the people behind Turtle WoW last year, and earlier this month court documents revealed that the two parties had reached a settlement. Clearly, the terms of that settlement have included Turtle WoW's shutdown, and Blizzard couldn't abide Stormforge's continued existence, either.

There are numerous private, fan-run servers for World of Warcraft, each of them offering some particular advantage over Blizzard's official servers. Often, that advantage is simply "play for free," but there are benefits beyond pure piracy. Some servers offer all-new content, and players often appreciate the fact that there are usually fewer bots and gold sellers on these platforms.

But judging by the comments I've seen around the respective shutdowns of Turtle WoW and Stormforge, the fandom always figured their days were numbered because of their real-money cash shops. Maybe – maybe – Blizzard is willing to turn a blind eye to the private server devs who are doing it for the pure love of the game, but once you're trying to turn a profit? That's a lot more difficult for an MMO's legal team to ignore.

Blizzard famously took action in 2016 against a private server called Nostlarius, which offered an experience hearkening back to WoW as it originally released in 2004. A year later, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic, which offered the same sort of experience on official servers. At a minimum, it seems Blizzard is at least willing to learn which features from private servers are most worth stealing back for official WoW.

World of Warcraft is still one of the best MMORPGs out there.

RuneScape entered development when brothers Andrew and Paul Gower wanted a game they could easily play on the computers they had access to at school. It was an extremely indie project – so small-scale, in fact, that they initially asked friends and family members, including their own mom, to help with designing the MMO's first enemies.

"The first requirement for the game was that it needed to be quickly accessible from computers with pretty lightweight hardware and internet speeds," as former RuneScape design director Mark Ogilvie said in an interview for the October 2014 issue of GamesTM. "The founders were frustrated that at university, they would use different computers in libraries all over campus and have to install their current favourite game from a physical disk. That process would cut into precious gaming time, so they decided to make something themselves based around their early RPG and tabletop experiences, which they could play with other people at the same time. One of the founders loved making systems and engines, the other loved making quests and designing worlds, so it all fell together rather nicely.”

Ultimately, that focus on being available to a wide variety of players who were stuck on underpowered hardware would go a long way to ensuring RuneScape's eventual and enduring popularity. But at the time, there weren't any ambitions of creating an MMO that would shake the industry – the Gowers were simply building a game at their parents' home, and asking anybody they could for help.

"Everybody turned their hand to art," explains Ogilvie. "They got a few sketches from a friend for some ideas of what a goblin or a dragon might look like; the whole family got involved – [the Gower brothers'] mum created bears, their little brother made a bat… all sorts. Only much later did they even consider actually hiring people to create assets! In the beginning it was still very much a bedroom project for fun and for them, not for an audience with expectations on quality."

The Gowers wouldn't form Jagex until 2001, when the game had already started to develop an audience. From there, of course, it would become one of the biggest MMORPGs of all, so entrenched in its success that even Blizzard's World of Warcraft couldn't scare the devs. I just hope the Gowers' mom's bear still lives somewhere in there.

Old School RuneScape is still one of the best MMORPGs you can play today.

No, Final Fantasy 14 8.0 – the MMO's hotly anticipated next expansion – won't be quite as game-changing as A Realm Reborn was back in 2013.

At least, that's why director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida says in a new interview with Famitsu (as machine-translated via DeepL and Google). According to the legendary lead, calling the upcoming expansion a "rebirth" of Final Fantasy 14 – or implying that the game will be "reborn" come its arrival – isn't exactly accurate, because Square Enix isn't rebuilding things from the ground up as it did for A Realm Reborn.

That's why, as Yoshi-P explains, it doesn't feel right to dub 8.0 a "second" Realm Reborn of sorts. Not everything from the client onward is changing, after all – but that doesn't mean the expansion will be small. No, not by any means.

According to the director, it's quite the DLC to look forward to, and we'll find out more come next week's Fan Fest, where Square Enix will officially lift the veil on whatever's set to launch after Dawntrail for good.

We don't know much about 8.0 at the moment, although patch 7.5 teasers seem to hint toward a potential return to the Void in the expansion, with a raid foe that's said to be "wielding the boundless power of the Void" to a dungeon boss that looks to be a literal Voidsent underway.

It's something that I'd love to see come to fruition myself, especially as the last bit of solid Void content came in 2023 with 6.5, but there's truly no telling just yet.

Yoshi-P presents 7.5 as an update that'll allow us to enjoy the present while anticipating the future – and while I'm not sure exactly what that means, it does fill me with hope for what's to come.

He also admits that developers have prepared plenty of content for the new patch and future releases, which is even more exciting to read. With Void-y features and the limited Beastmaster job coming, I'm sure he's not understating things here.

Honestly, I'll take anything at this point after the disappointment that was Dawntrail. Seeing as it's got "Mixed" reviews still, I'm probably not the only Warrior of Light who feels this way. I've had my fill of Wuk Lamat for an eternity, I think.

Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.5 will lock limited jobs out of even more content, fans of the MMO unhappy Square Enix is "putting the 'limited' in 'limited job'"

All sorts of revelations are being uncovered about Ashes of Creation, the fantasy MMO that finally went into early access last year after a successful Kickstarter in 2017 only to crash and burn shortly after. One of the biggest is that Riot Games apparently considered forking over a nine-figure sum for the project, and the company has now confirmed that much.

"We looked at making an investment or even acquiring Intrepid a few years ago, but Riot decided not to move forward with discussions," Marc Merill, co-founder, co-chair and CPO of Riot Games, said on Twitter.

"The team there shared our goal of making the next great MMO — something we’re more committed to than ever — but combining efforts ultimately didn’t make sense for us," he adds. He's referencing Riot's ongoing attempts to make a League of Legends MMO, an embattled effort that's been underway for years behind the scenes.

According to an email from Riot in 2022, the company was looking at picking up Intrepid and Ashes of Creation for a hefty $250 million, with plans to support the game through launch and for decades to come. What this would've looked like isn't explained; a possible strategic outline is redacted.

But it would've been big, for both Riot and Ashes of Creation. I have to imagine, if the plan wasn't to turn Ashes of Creation into the Runeterra MMORPG, that supporting two MMOs, both offering broadly similar experiences, probably seemed like a lot of needless work and competition.

Likewise, given how things went for Intrepid, perhaps Riot could see some aspects of the business that didn't seem on the level. There have since been allegations of misappropriated funds from the Kickstarter, all denied by Intrepid co-founder Steven Sharif. Whatever the case, in another timeline, maybe we're all playing this game and it's a WoW killer. We'll just never know.

WoW Classic kills dungeon-boosting in Burning Crusade expansion because, oh no, the economy

Apparently, the $ 3,270,000+ the now-defunct MMO Ashes of Creation raised on Kickstarter was chump change compared to the money on the table from outside investors. Namely, Riot Games, which reportedly offered a huge sum for the game, according to its director, Steven Sharif.

The information comes from a court document posted on the Ashes of Creation subreddit. It contains a copy of an email from Riot to Sharif, who was co-founder and CEO of Intrepid Studios, and John Moore, the company's CFO. The outfit behind League of Legends was humoring an acquisition of Intrepid and the fantasy MMORPG, for a total sum of between $250-and-$500 million.

No, seriously, it's there in black and white. It's written that the plan was to "scale post-launch" as more features and concepts were added to Ashes of Creation. It's probably worth reminding you that at this point, the game was five years out from the Kickstarter, but hadn't actually become publicly playable yet.

Court Document confirming Riot were looking into purchasing/investing into Intrepid/Ashes for "$250m-$500m" from r/AshesofCreation

Clearly, Sharif and Moore were very good at pitching their vision to investors, given the amount of money that was on the table. Mark Sottosanti, the chief financial officer of Riot, sent the offer, and it's unclear how much more in-depth this discussion ran.

Riot's had a League-themed MMO in the works for years, and perhaps the intention was to just buy this and turn it into something Runeterra-themed? Who knows. Ultimately, of course, it never went through.

It's mentioned that the plan was to support Ashes of Creation for "decades," just to further compound the optimism surrounding this project. Sharif provided a statement on the ongoing litigation surrounding Intrepid's alleged misappropriation of funds.

"I know the public discourse around me, Intrepid, and Ashes of Creation has been flooded with knives-out narratives driven by a coordinated defamation campaign orchestrated by the opposing parties in my lawsuit," he says. "Do not mistake noise for truth."

WoW Classic kills dungeon-boosting in Burning Crusade expansion because, oh no, the economy

Classic World of Warcraft got another dose of nostalgia this past February, as Burning Crusade was re-introduced into the experience. First released almost 20 years ago, players have been jumping right back into the old school slab of MMORPG, though with the caveat they can't powerlevel like they used to any more thanks to a post-release patch.

Back in the day, dungeon-boosting, whereby you'd benefit from a more experienced player doing all the hard work in a raid, allowed people to level up alt characters much more efficiently. Sadly, on the back of Burning Crusade Classic: Anniversary, Blizzard's picked up on these tricks being trotted out, and the devs have put a stop to them.

"We've observed a significant number of Burning Crusade players entering dungeons and then participating in no meaningful gameplay," Kaivax, a community manager, states on the official WoW forums, "often while only one party member plays through the instance. When this is prominent, it can lead to detrimental economic effects, among other concerns, so we're implementing a series of hotfixes to address it."

These changes come in two salient forms. "Players must participate in combat to receive experience from dungeons," says the first, and second: "The amount of loot dropped by non-boss enemies in high-level dungeons is now determined by how many players participate in the kill."

Combined, they put an end to dungeon-boosting and powerleveling, forcing people to grind out their numbers as they're meant to. Of course, beyond simply wanting players to play as intended, there are the simple facts that these resources and exploits are more widespread than ever, putting a real strain on World of Warcraft's infrastructure.

Conversely, it's also much less tedious to do things by the rulebook to begin with. As Kaivax points out, "The vast majority of players who participate in dungeon groups as usual should see no difference after these updates." Chances are, you won't notice anything, so long as you were being honest to start with.

World of Warcraft lead asks how players would feel about playing the MMO on controller with a dedicated UI, but fans "fear that the PC experience will get worse"

The saga of Ashes of Creation, a fantasy MMO with a successful Kickstarter campaign that's no longer available, continues. Accusations of misappropriated funds and general mismanagement have been shot down by the founder of Intrepid Studios, the studio behind the project, Steven Sharif.

This chapter starts with YouTuber NefasQS, who claims to have acquired all of the accounting of Intrepid Studios between 2015 and 2026. This comes on back of mass layoffs within the company in February, leading to finger-pointing at Sharif of millions intended for the game being spent elsewhere.

Per the numbers gleaned by NefasQS, a swath of considerable personal expenses have been made using dollars meant for Ashes of Creation, ranging from hobbyist trading card sites to cigars, antiques, and a private chef.

According to a spreadsheet of these findings that's now available publicly, the cigars were over $420, the chef cost a nice round $21,000, and $25967.75 was spent on antiquities of some variety or another. Not exactly spare change you can easily write off as part of company expenses.

Sharif has since put out a statement denying all wrongdoing. "NefasQS has been fed false and defamatory information by individuals with an axe to grind, in an effort to litigate this dispute in the public domain alongside our lawsuit already pending in federal court," Sharif says. "Rather than verify those claims, he has chosen to repeat them, acting as a mouthpiece to advance a narrative that drives clicks and views, with disregard for basic journalistic standards."

He makes the following direct challenges to the evidence provided. "There was no misappropriation of Kickstarter funds whatsoever," the statement reads, per PCGamer. "The project has been funded over many years through a combination of sources, including substantial personal capital. Assertions regarding 'lavish lifestyle' or personal misuse of company funds are categorically false."

Sharif ends by saying this is all being taken up as part of an ongoing "legal process." Expect more dirty laundry in the coming weeks.

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