MMORPG News: Black Desert Free to Play Deal, Dragon Hound Shut Down, Path of Exile 2 & More

MMORPG News: Black Desert Free to Play Deal, Dragon Hound Shut Down, Path of Exile 2 & More

Man this month has been crazy so far.
We’ve had announcements for so many MMOs – some new, some old, and some.. a little weird.
It’s been an incredibly interesting few weeks, I’ll give it that. I hope you’re all excited, because I got a lotta news for you all this week.
So take a moment, go grab yourself a nice latte, lean back, put your headset on to maximize the sound of my voice, and let’s jump into this week’s Weekly Byte of MMORPG News.

FINAL FANTASY XIV

Let’s start this off with some big news, first!
For those of you that own an Xbox One and have wanted to play Final Fantasy XIV for the longest of times.. you might have something to look forward to.
According to The Verge, Phil Spencer, the Executive Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft have announced they’re in discussion to launch the game onto the Xbox platform.
Well, I say “in discussion,” but he said, and I quote, “Rest assured that we will be bringing that game to Xbox.”
So I hope you’re excited – this means that the population of the game – which is already at an all time high is going to skyrocket even further.
It’s unknown when Final Fantasy XIV will launch onto Xbox One but I’m guessing after Phantasy Star Online 2 – since I’m gonna go ahead and speculate that that takes precedence.

ASTELLIA ONLINE

People were under the impression that Astellia Online was going to be a cash-grab, but after it managed to actually launch successfully, have a fairly sizeable community and.. was honestly pretty well received, new content is already on the way.
And not in the traditional form. Astellia is a South Korean MMO – but the Western version of the game launched with several of the classes un-gender-locked – something the South Korean version of the game was plagued by.
Not only that, but the new content in question comes in the form of an entirely new zone with new story quests and rewards.
Now the strange thing about this is that South Korea doesn’t have this yet, meaning that it’s coming out in English first.

KINGDOM UNDER FIRE 2

We were actually flown out to Germany to participate in the Kingdom Under Fire 2 event. It was beyond cool.
I’ll have much more to say about that in my Kingdom Under Fire 2 dedicated video next week, but disregarding my video, I’d like to point out that the game has actually launched and is completely available for players to play.
There are 3 varying packages to choose between, each offering subtle differences. The game is a hybrid between an RTS game and an MMORPG, but from what we played at the event it seems like much more of an MMO than anything else.
It has some RTS elements but plays out like the majority of MMOs. Stay tuned next week for my official video on it!

GUILD WARS 2

Next up we have Guild Wars 2. I know you guys have been thirsting for content for a little while now but that thirst can finally be quenched.. kinda.
On November 19th, the first full episode of Icebrood Saga, titled “Whisper in the Dark” is set to drop.
A brand new trailer has been released for it introducing the new Raven Attunement and Essence Manipulation masteries, Ancient Boreal weapon sets, Bjora Marches map, and additional missions to look forward to.
To find out more you’d be better off visiting their website as I can’t really summarize it much better than that.

DOKEV

This one is a little weird, honestly. I watched the trailer and am both a little disturbed, and kinda excited. It’s a weird state of mind to be in.
Anyway, DokeV is a new MMO announced at G-Star 2019 – it was originally conceived to be a mobile game but has since been confirmed to be heading to both PC and console – with its mobile port still under consideration.
Little information is known about the game other than it’s planned to be a monster collection MMO, kinda like Pokemon or Yokai Watch.

KRITIKA: REBOOT

I actually did a video both on Kritika shutting down a while ago and Kritika: REBOOT relaunching just last week. It went on to garner over 50,000 views thus far and it’s no wonder why.
People are incredibly excited to be able to jump back into its world – however, it’ll be under the management of ALLM this time, as opposed to En Masse with them having given up publishing rights over here in the West.
I know some people are rolling their eyes at this but this is a case of the actual developer self-publishing their game over here, which could bode very well for it. Fingers crossed.

DRAGON HOUND

Now this.. this one sucks. I did a video on Dragon Hound a few weeks ago? A month ago? I don’t recall, but I was talking about how excited I was for the game.
But I was also simultaneously cautious because, well, it’s a Nexon MMO, so you kinda have to be. Now, as of last week, Nexon confirmed officially that the game has since ceased development of the large-scale monster-hunting MMO.
Which is a damn shame because it looked like it had a lotta potential. It was built on Unreal Engine 4, looked great, and.. then bam, cancelled, ’cause Nexon. Yup, thanks Nexon for being Nexon, like always.

PLAN 8

Alongside DokeV, Pearl Abyss announced three other games: One of which includes Plan 8 – which is what we’re currently discussing.
Plan 8 is the very first shooting game Pearl Abyss have ever produced, and to make things more interesting for all of us, they’ve announced that it’ll be an MMO shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world where mankind is ruled by toasters, washing machines, DVD players and other robotic contraptions.
We have to take the world back and, obviously, show them what they were made for. Like DokeV, Plan 8 is expected to be launching onto both PC and consoles, however that’s about all the information revealed.

BLACK DESERT

Okay, this is a two-parter. See, right now Black Desert Mobile is planned to be launching on December 11th.
In anticipation of that launch, Pearl Abyss are actually giving away the complete version of Black Desert for PC or any console of your choosing – 100% free.
All you’re required to do is pre-register for Black Desert Mobile.. then you’ll receive a free key that you can use to redeem and play the game.
I know some of you might not like Black Desert or might hate how Black Desert Mobile looks, but for those of you interested – now’s the opportunity to try the game out completely free.
What’s the worst that could happen? You waste a few minutes pre-registering for a game you’re not gonna play?

ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE

2019’s final DLC for Elder Scrolls Online just dropped last week for consoles.
It launched in October for PC – with subscribers having automatic access to the DLC and the rest of the playerbase being required to purchase the DLC for 2,000 crowns.
The DLC takes you down South with a brand new story-zone packed with content, but most importantly, the “first batch of changes” to performance, along with redesigning the “Looking for Group” system.
I actually have a video in the works for the Elder Scrolls Online, but with all of this content being added I daresay it’ll be a challenge to ever fully get through it.

SHADOW ARENA

I did a video on the Shadow Arena Battle Royale added into Black Desert several months ago.
It had a mixed reception – I personally had some fun with it but I know a lot of people were abusing aspects of it at the time, leading Pearl Abyss to shut it down.
Fast forward to their recent announcement of 4 new games – and we have Shadow Arena being remade as a brand new, standalone Battle Royale expected to compete with other BRs like Fortnite or Apex Legends.
There have been changes made to the game though, as you’ll instead be able to choose who you play from a list of characters, as opposed to building one from the ground up like you did originally.
Closed Beta will begin next week so make sure if you’re interested you stop by!

BLESS UNLEASHED

I know a lotta you guys are excited for Bless Online 2- I mean, Bless Unleashed, right? Of course you are!
I have good news for all you fans of the upcoming console MMO.. it actually entered Open Beta earlier this month and, yes, it has been met with some mixed reactions from players but you can now download the game completely free and test it out for yourself.
Be warned, however, as the team claims that the game is meant for “hardcore MMO players” only. If that isn’t your thing, it might be best to avoid. Ahhh, I’m glad I somehow managed to say that with a straight face.

PATH OF EXILE 2

Earlier this month Blizz announced they were releasing Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2 would be a direct sequel to the game while allowing players to retain all content they’d achieved over the course of the years leading up to this.
Now, Grinding Gear Games, the team behind Path of Exile have announced they’re developing Path of Exile 2.. and much in the same way, Path of Exile 2 will feature a brand new seven-act storyline that will be available alongside the original Path of Exile campaign.
Both games, both stories, will lead to the same shared Atlas endgame, and players will retain all expansion content created over the last 6 years of the games existance.
Path of Exile 2 will introduce a brand new skill system, ascendancy classes, various engine improvements and more. Additionally, they announced Path of Exile Mobile.. which I’m sure is of significantly more interest to you guys than Path of Exile 2, right?

CRIMSON DESERT

This is news I know a lotta you guys have been waiting for me to touch on. The final game announced by Pearl Abyss was Crimson Desert – originally a prequel to Black Desert.
Crimson Desert is expected to actually succeed Black Desert as it will be an MMORPG with enhanced graphics, combat and an actual story. Yes, for the first time ever.. Pearl Abyss is tackling story-related PvE content.
While actual gameplay was not released – it has been confirmed that the game was initially created as a prequel to Black Desert but evolved into its very own game – an entirely new IP that they plan on investing a lot of money into.
It’ll feature an entirely new world, an entirely new set of characters and a storyline unrelated to Black Desert.
If that sounds exciting to you.. then join the club.

Subscribe to us!

Follow us on Twitch!Subscribe to us on Twitch!

Latest Comments

  • author image
    Paul says:
    This was the best game I ever played. Played on multiple server once the original IGG one got shut d...
  • author image
    Tina says:
    Weird that they elected to only show melee classes so far....
  • author image
    shane says:
    cancelled :/...
  • author image
    fero bryan says:
    can wait for global better than hsr too lets gooo...
  • author image
    William Su says:
    I played a bit of dragon nest back in 2021 or so. It’s definitely not what it used to be. There wa...