EverQuest Next
Setting: Fantasy | Developer / Publisher: Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) | Platform: PC | Cancelled: March 2016
In January 2014, MeinMMO first reported on Everquest Next and the sister project Everquest Landmark. Back then, it was clear: Sony had a lot in mind. The developers spoke about a world that could be freely manipulated and shaped by players. With a spell, to collapse a bridge or cave? No problem!
In the world, players were supposed to encounter dynamic quests that adapt organically to the conditions. This included that hostile NPCs pursue their own goals thanks to modern AI and can behave unpredictably. In this way, they wanted to take the MMORPG genre to a new level.
The EverQuest franchise is already 26 years old:
Everquest Landmark can be thought of as a sandbox game, like Minecraft, only as a companion tool to Everquest Next. In this sandbox, players could express their creativity and create their own content. In the best case, both games were to stimulate each other and grow side by side.
However, the ambitious plans did not come to fruition. In February 2015, the chief developer David Georgeson left. Other team members had to leave as well. Only a few weeks later, the Everquest Next team ended the collaboration with the AI experts from Storybricks. And even later studio president John Smedley said goodbye.
He claimed that Everquest Next would come and blow everyone away, but we know since March 2016 that this was never going to happen. The reason for the cancellation: They never managed to bring all the pieces together in a way that made the game enjoyable in the end.
However, there is also a (hopefully) good piece of news for all fans of the universe! In September 2023, Daybreak Game Company announced a new EverQuest project. It aims to be a kind of reboot of the first part, with modern graphics and updated gameplay. The release is planned for 2028. More about it: 25-year-old MMORPG is supposed to get a successor soon – Here’s what we know about EverQuest 3
