Guild Wars 2 and New World proved they have something in common this week beyond just, you know, being MMORPGs: Both are setting fresh content expectations. First, New World laid out its roadmap for the next few seasons and nixed its season server plan, and Guild Wars 2 – which is due to reveal its next expansion this week – is smooshing around its big map and story drops so that they happen later in the expansion cycle – but there will be more of it.

Meanwhile, World of Warcraft teased its impending housing neighborhoods, Krafton decided Subnautica 2 should be the scene of the industry’s new legal drama, and then we told you to read a(n MMO) book.

Become a PatronRead on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday (since 2010!) in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!

THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES

MMO Hype Train: Does ArenaNet have the gas to make Guild Wars 3? - Like many of you, I've been watching with interest Guild Wars 2's many recent hints about an upcoming expansion announcement. And while I haven't played the fantasy MMO for a… New World outlines its next two seasons with PvP and PvE content – and no new season servers - It seems wild to me that New World is already up to its ninth season, but here we are: Season of the Divide is winding down now, and Season 9,… Guild Wars 2 will shift around story and maps in its next expansion, due for reveal next week - We're a week away from what we now know will be the reveal of Guild Wars 2's next expansion - and the fresh platter of elite specs that we now… Working As Intended: Read a book, any book, but preferably an MMO history book - Hello and welcome to our long-running Working As Intended column! I'm Bree, and I've been working on Massively/MOP for over 15 years. I'm actually a historian. I care a lot… World of Warcraft previews its housing system’s neighborhoods, charters, and community quests - Blizzard has released the fourth of its preview blogs on World of Warcraft's upcoming housing system, this one designed to finally make you fall in love with your HOA. OK, just… Perfect Ten: Why The Secret World was one of the most unique MMOs ever made - While The Secret World (and its ill-fated Secret Legends reboot) still exist and can be played today, they've been moved into the retirement home well before their time due to… Krafton delays Subnautica 2 into 2026 and axes its management, avoiding a $250M payout [Updated] - Update: As of this afternoon, Krafton has made second and much longer statement than before, and it's a doozy. It's tucked down at the end of this post; the original… Vague Patch Notes: No, splitting your MMO into two halves, one with P2E blockchain integration, does not fix the problem - There was no scenario in which I was the target audience for Reaper Actual, but I would never assume that it could have never had an audience. Sure, I might… ‘This needs to be made right’: The Subnautica 2 leads are now suing Krafton - Yesterday, we covered the unfolding drama over in the Subnautica 2 world, as Krafton, which bought Subnautica dev studio Unknown Worlds in 2021, fired the three studio leads and unilaterally delayed… Gachapwned: How to interact with gacha MMOs without letting their vices destroy you - When I initially conceived of Gachapwned, I did so as a limited experiment, and that experiment has now run its course. I did so because as I noted in the… Casually Classic: Should WoW Classic get player housing? - In the previous Casually Classic column, I mulled over Blizzard's survey of proposed Classic Plus ideas, tagging several that I thought would be the most beneficial to an improved version… New World will be ‘free’ for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subbers starting July 15 - The New World news just keeps coming this week: First, we get a hell of a preview of the next two seasons (minus new season servers, which are dead and… Dune Awakening has begun the restoration of player items lost to the Deep Desert zone switcharoo bug - Funcom shocked even us this week when the Dune Awakening team responded to players who'd lost everything in the PvE/PvP zone switcharoo bug by promising them compensation. Now, that compensation… Sea of Thieves details its updated seasonal content cadence and custom server subscriptions - With the impact of Microsoft's latest layoff round and the cancellation of Rare Ltd's Everwild, there was likely a lot of trepidation and concern for what's next in the Sea… Blaugust 2025 is gearing up once again for the MMO blogging community - It's just about time for Blaugust 2025, a time for the MMO blogging community - and people who want to join or rejoin the MMO blogging community - to come… EVE Online FedExes delivery jobs to players with its latest Legion patch - The common wisdom is that you shouldn't make MMORPGs your second job. Don't tell that to EVE Online, however, because "second job" is practically its working title, especially with the… Massively Overthinking: Should MMO players get a vote on the direction of their MMO? - I admit I haven't been paying much attention to Marvel Rivals as it's progressed, largely because I don't care about shooters and I don't care about Marvel all that much… Throne and Liberty opens a new four-star trial, adds more raid shinies, and adjusts guild boss portals - If you like dipping your character's little toesies into the various instances of Throne and Liberty, then you're going to be delighted by the MMORPG's latest patch, which has brought… Elder Scrolls Online celebrates last April’s birthday by selling you a $10 anniversary pack - It's tradition in MMORPGs for developers to grant players gifts on the occasion of its birthday, but Elder Scrolls Online would prefer you give it some money to kit yourself… WoW Classic is hyping up Mists of Pandaria’s zones prior to this month’s launch - I can't be the only one who finds it strangely funny how Blizzard keeps presenting these expansions for WoW Classic as if they're debuting for the very first time and… Escape from Tarkov’s hardcore wipe stuns players with gutted quests, forced transit, and stingy balancing - Apparently there is indeed a line where "hardcore" is a bit too hardcore for even the hardcore fans of multiplayer extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov. The most recent patch to… Rumor: Grand Theft Auto VI devs are indeed working on a multiplayer GTAO-esque version - While there is considerable interest in the very long-in-coming Grand Theft Auto VI, what many fans have long wondered is whether Rockstar is working on two versions of the game… Huh, Funcom is actually addressing the Dune Awakening PvP zone bungle with reimbursements - All week, we've been covering the fallout from Dune Awakening's latest update, which had a not insignificant portion of the playerbase up in arms owing to the fact that it… Diablo IV’s new $5 microtransaction bundles are getting the cold shoulder from the community - We already knew that Diablo IV was making a killing on cash shop purchases, with over $150 million in revenue generated by September of last year, but until recently, these… Monster Hunter Wilds cancels industry panel about PC optimization after confirmed harassment of devs - It's no secret that the performance for the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds has been a hot button issue for gamers, particularly if one continues to take Steam reviews… Choose My Adventure: Putting together a sample platter of Pantheon’s classes - So it's been a little while since I peeked in on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen in general. You might recall that back when I first tried to play this… Once Human releases its 2.0 Dreamveil update, sets RaidZone PvP mode for July 30 release - Once Human is continuing its big summer rollout: During its showcase stream last week just ahead of the holiday, NetEase's Starry Studio unveiled the entirety of its annual version update… Dune Awakening players wiped out by yesterday’s PvE/PvP zone switcharoo call for a rollback - Stop me if you've heard this one: Dune Awakening players are super mad again. But actually, they kinda have a point. Yesterday, Funcom patched in more adjustments for the Deep… World of Warcraft slots The War Within’s last big patch, Ghosts of K’aresh, for August 5 - Just in case you thought that you'd be able to catch your breath from World of Warcraft's breakneck releases this summer, we're here to tell you that, nope, it really… Heroes of the Storm knocks out a patch about knockback - While Heroes of the Storm long ago got knocked back into maintenance mode because it was not knocking open enough wallets to knock on the door of further staffing, the people… Warframe launches its new line of hot sauces teaming up with Jade City Hot Sauce - Oh, transmedia synergy, you are truly the gift that keeps giving. In this particular case, what it is giving is five new flavors of Warframe-themed hot sauces from Jade City Hot… Wisdom of Nym: Does Final Fantasy XIV have a content problem with its Triple Triad cards? - There were some pretty good suggestions in response to last week's Final Fantasy XIV column asking for people to suggest topics, but Ghost Shark's suggestion got the nod in part because… Nightingale is ‘at a crossroads’ as devs answer questions about gameplay and multiplayer updates - Last week, Nightingale developer Inflexion Games invited players to participate in a Discord AMA to talk about what's next for the gaslamp survivalbox. That Q&A session did indeed happen, and… Chrono Odyssey addresses combat and performance, says CBT2 may not happen this year - By many players' accounts - including our own - the MMORPG Chrono Odyssey has got a lot of work to do before it's in a satisfying launch state. Kakao's Chrono… Reaper Actual confirms extraction shooter gameplay as John Smedley defends the blockchain - Ever since its reveal last week, Distinct Possibility Studios has been more than eager to call attention to Reaper Actual, the persistent war MMO or persistent PvPvE shooter, depending on… Another blockchain MMO named Avalon arrives on Steam with a high fantasy focus - Editor's note: The earlier version of this article unintentionally conflated the crypto MMO named Avalon with the other crypto MMO named Avalon. We've corrected that error, and now we're wondering… Overwatch 2 is actually hinting at a return to storytelling after its long string of PvE debacles - The rationale for why heroes are shooting each other all over the place in Overwatch 2 can nowadays be summarized by "stop thinking about it, enjoy the new seasonal shinies,…

THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS

Massively OP Podcast Episode 525: Microsoftpocalypse The Stream Team: Taking a first peek into the beat-em-up MMO Towerborne The Stream Team: Seeking help from DDO’s Lord of Stone The Stream Team: Backseat Streaming’s explosion therapy session with stompy robots in Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries The Stream Team: Turning internet spaceships into profitable explosions in Elite Dangerous The Stream Team: Tracking down the wizard’s tome of travel in Guild Wars 2 The Stream Team: Ogling Warframe’s spider queen Oraxia The Stream Team: Peeking at PEAK The Stream Team: Sunday huntday with the family in Monster Hunter Wilds Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.