Peter Molyneux is as famous as he is controversial. The creator of Populus, Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable is now releasing his latest work on Steam and lets you play as a god again.
In addition to Black & White, he also gained many fans with the Fable series and is especially known as a risk-taking developer who likes to try something new. However, he is quite controversial because he has the weakness of always promising more than his games actually deliver.
The titles “Curiosity: What’s Inside the Box” and his project “Godus” are regarded as low points of his career because they could not live up to what he had promised and what the fans had dreamed of. However, his new title is supposed to change that.
Here you can watch the trailer for Masters of Albion:
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Masters of Albion shows in the trailer how creative strategy games can be
Is the best saved for last?
What is his latest work? Peter Molyneux is now 66 years old and will turn 67 in a few weeks. For his presumably last work, he has turned to the genre he invented: god simulation.
In Masters of Albion, you again take on the role of an all-powerful figure resembling a god. Your task is to build a city and defend it at night. During the day, you need to invent and produce items yourself, organize food for your hungry inhabitants, and have the lord sew expensive garments.
As time goes on, you unlock more possibilities to build your city, empower your creature with even more power, and pamper your inhabitants. But that can only happen if they survive the night.
What happens at night? When the sun passes its zenith, it becomes dangerous to venture outside the castle walls. Zombies, werewolves, and trolls awaken there and want to eliminate your pampered inhabitants.
You can defend against them with weapons and armor for your citizens, as well as with the magical abilities of your deity. Every night becomes a test of strength, because not only your citizens but also the enemies are continuously upgrading.
When can one start? Masters of Albion launched today, on April 22, 2026, in Early Access on Steam. For the starting price of 22.94 €, you can get the god simulation until April 29, before it jumps to the regular price of 25.49 €.
The title is still in Early Access, where it is expected to remain for 12 months according to the developers. They plan to work on the combat system, balancing, mechanics, and expansions of the game world through patches later.
The developers hope for feedback from the community to guide the development.
As is the case with many games, many gamers are looking for fandom communities for their favorite games, including Reddit. Fans of Windrose wanted to do just that, but promptly got lost with a namesake of their pirate game, which are found more digging than at sea.
Where did the Windrose fans get lost? Those searching for the appropriate subreddit for Windrose will accordingly expect a community by the same name. However, fans of the pirate game will only find it if they search for the original name of the game, namely r/crosswind.
If someone still relies on the current name of the game and visits r/Windrose, they will probably think: Where have all the pirates gone?
The subreddit is dedicated to a band called Wind Rose, specifically an Italian power metal band that has created absolute fantasy anthems for dwarf fans.
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The pirate survival game Windrose finally has a release date, and it is already very close on the horizon
When pirate fans meet dwarves – not such a bad misunderstanding
Who is Wind Rose? The metal band from Pisa primarily focuses on songs and albums with strong fantasy influences, whose covers are mainly adorned with dwarves. The band is particularly known for their hit “Diggy Diggy Hole” (71 million views on YouTube) or the song “Rock and Stone” (1.9 million views on YouTube).
While the former has often been used in the context of Minecraft memes, Rock and Stone is inspired by the video game Deep Rock Galactic. What started as an exclamation in the game has developed into a sign of camaraderie for fans that is still used among fans of dwarves in other games like Dungeons & Dragons.
How do the pirate fans react to the confusion? After a Reddit user pointed out with a tip to r/WindRose that the players of the pirate survival game were in the wrong place, it wasn’t so bad for them. On the contrary: They became aware of another cool thing, which earned the metal dwarves a lot of additional fans.
“I found this subreddit while searching for the Windrose video game,” explains InterestedScroller in his post, “now I’m rocking to ‘Wind Rose’ while playing ‘Windrose’. Sometimes the internet is really cool.”
FilthyBarMat also writes on Reddit: “I came here to search for the game but I already like the band. Diggy Diggy Hole!”
MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller has played the beta of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and already recognizes the great potential of the game – but to become a hit, it must solve a serious problem by the release.
From April 22, 2026, you will have the opportunity to take a look at The Expanse: Osiris Reborn in a closed beta and play the second mission of the campaign if you have purchased “Miller’s Pack” or the collector’s edition of the game.
I have already played the beta in advance and gained insights into the dialogue system, shooter combat, and movement in zero gravity. I could also see that my choices in conversations with various NPCs have consequences, which I would only feel much later in the finished game.
Fans of the “The Expanse” universe are also offered some lore right at the beginning of the beta. In the first 5 minutes, I heard a news anchor talking about James Holden – the protagonist of the TV series and the books. As a fan of the original work, I love such details.
Dynamic Battles Instead of “Hit the Lukas”
During the beta, we can choose between a male character from Earth or a female character from the asteroid belt with a specialization in officer or hacker abilities.
I played two runs of the beta, once with a female officer from the belt and once with a male hacker from Earth. While the officer creates chaos with grenades and incendiary ammunition, the hacker shocks his opponents with electric shocks and sends a robotic swarm of bees after them, causing damage.
Fighting takes place in a third-person perspective, and you should urgently seek cover in every fight. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is primarily a cover shooter. However, the skill tree suggests that there could be a build later in the game that allows you to embrace the Rambo style a bit more.
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The Expanse: Osiris Reborn shows the gameplay of the role-playing game in the trailer
In line with this, the game quickly shows you that you cannot sit motionless behind cover for hours – your opponents will often destroy this after a few seconds. This makes the gameplay a bit more dynamic and prevents a shootout from turning into “Hit the Lukas” with everyone just waiting for the opponent to peek out from cover.
As I am very impatient, I also made ample use of my abilities and my companion. This companion can throw an explosive present at your adversaries. To avoid panicking while coordinating attacks, you can temporarily slow down time with the press of a button while you select the desired command for your companion.
This was rarely necessary in the beta with only one companion, but it can be a very useful feature in the finished game with multiple companions. Once you get the hang of the combat system, issuing commands becomes quick and fluid. I completed the second run of the beta in just under 30 minutes.
Lots of Action with a Special Highlight: Zero Gravity
Overall, the beta gave me a good first impression. There was a lot of action, as we were thrown into a new firefight at several points within the mission. But even between the shootouts, there was often no shortage of action, as several cutscenes featured things flying into the air.
However, my highlight was the fight in zero gravity. At one point in the beta mission, we fight on the outer hull of a space station – and this fight feels fundamentally different from the battles that take place indoors:
Shots sound noticeably duller.
The movements of the characters are quite different.
The projectiles from firearms do not fly as they do in normal space.
The best part of the combat in space was the change of perspectives on the battlefield. To prevent our character from drifting uncontrollably into space, our character wears magnetic boots. With these magnetic boots, we can also walk along an incline and gain – compared to our previous combat position – a new perspective on the still same battlefield.
The Gameplay Feels Unique, But the Rigid Faces are Distracting
This is the impression of MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya:
On one thing, I must directly agree with Dariusz: The sequence where you go out into space and fight on the ship with magnetic boots completely blew me away! I could really feel how the boots stomped on the metal, clung, and my movement became a little slower. That, combined with the rotating perspective, gave me a sensation that I can hardly compare to other games.
It certainly helps that I am a big fan of sci-fi, spaceships, and the universe, which Owlcat has implemented beautifully. It’s almost hard to say, but I was even totally fascinated by how my opponents drifted through space when they couldn’t survive the fight with me. The physics are great – even if they were just rags drifting through space, they would have looked very pretty.
For lore fans, there is also plenty to discover. I took my time and read various diary entries. The universe and the everyday life of the people there are highlighted. You can catch big and small stories everywhere, which I personally always find cool.
What I criticize the most is that the controls still feel somewhat wooden. Unfortunately, the faces of the characters also appear wooden – which is very unfortunate! You can sense that the game will feature strong emotions, but it’s hard to recognize them on the faces.
Overall, I think it’s a good decision by Owlcat to offer a beta before release to manage expectations accordingly.
Conclusion on the Beta: A Lot of Potential for SciFi and Expanse Fans
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn shows in the beta that it has great potential. If you like sci-fi stories, are perhaps a fan of The Expanse (the series/the books), or enjoy games like Mass Effect, you should definitely keep an eye on the new game from Owlcat Games.
The initial shootouts in zero gravity were enjoyable, and the game already hints that we will experience interesting stories within the “The Expanse” universe.
The Twitch streamers Fanfan and PaymoneyWubby made a small appearance with a clip in a movie and earned 2,000 dollars each for it. They didn’t even have to put in any effort.
Why do the Twitch streamers get so much money? PaymoneyWubby and Fanfan probably didn’t think much about it about half a year ago when they streamed Minecraft together. They were talking about the fact that there is probably always at least one person in the world who is currently masturbating.
A clip of the stream was uploaded to a highlight channel of PaymoneyWubby and even reached some people, as the clip on YouTube reached over 3 million views.
It seems that the team of the film Roommates also became aware of this clip, as did Adam Sandler, one of the producers of this film. The clip was apparently so suitable for a scene in the movie that Fanfan and PaymoneyWubby were paid for the permission to use it.
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These are the 5 most relevant German streamers on Twitch in 2024, according to Google
High payment for no extra effort
How much did the two get? The two received 2,000 US dollars each for their performance, totaling 4,000 US dollars. The clip lasts a total of 18 seconds, but only 6 seconds were used. PaymoneyWubby said exactly 6 words, for which he then received this high payment without any further effort.
PaymoneyWubby mentions in a clip on Reddit that according to the team of Adam Sandler, the actor himself saw the clip, found it funny, and actually wanted it specifically for this scene.
Here you can watch the clip on YouTube:
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PaymoneyWubby and Fanfan are by no means the only Twitch streamers whose clips are used for movies. It is becoming increasingly common for content creators to be specifically booked for films.
Either as a voice for a character, as an actor, or even as themselves for a cameo appearance. For example, the YouTuber jacksepticeye can be seen in the film Free Guy from 2021. He commented on the events of the movie as himself.
Windrose is a new survival hit that sends many pirates out to sea on PC. Players are wondering if the game will come to Game Pass as well.
Many players now rely on Microsoft’s Game Pass when it comes to playing exciting titles at release in subscription format without having to pay full price. Although the survival adventure Windrose is priced at around €29.99, which isn’t full price, the question remains whether it can also be tested in Game Pass.
At the start of Early Access on April 14, 2026, the game was initially released exclusively on Steam and can currently only be played there. But will Windrose later come to Game Pass? We explain to you what the chances are.
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The pirate survival game Windrose finally has a release date, and it is already very close on the horizon
Early Access on PC in Focus
Is Windrose coming to Game Pass? So far, it is only known that Windrose will remain playable exclusively on Steam during the Early Access phase. The developers want to prepare for a clean 1.0 release and focus primarily on a smooth PC version.
When and especially if Windrose will also appear on other platforms like Xbox Series X|S or PS5 is currently unknown. Given the current success of the game, it is quite conceivable that the developers will also consider a console release.
It is also unclear whether Windrose will long-term appear on other PC platforms such as the Epic Games Store or Game Pass. You will have to wait for an official statement or purchase the game on Steam. If in doubt, you can also return it there within the designated time frame for a full refund if you don’t like it.
In Windrose there are many different talents, but you should only focus on a few of them while leveling up to become particularly powerful. We show you which ones they are and what they bring you.
Why shouldn’t I level everything? In Windrose, besides various weapons and armors, there are also talents that you can unlock during your journey. You can activate these step by step when you gain a level-up. Of course, the first thought is to distribute your points as evenly as possible to benefit from many bonuses, but this approach is rather ineffective.
There are some key points in your skill tree that you should focus on – these make a big difference, especially in fights against tough bosses. We show you 5 talents that you should pursue and that offer advantages for any build, whether melee or ranged.
[toc]
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The pirate survival game Windrose finally has a release date, and it is already very close on the horizon
The Best Talents in Windrose
As mentioned before, our suggestions benefit every build as their bonuses are not tied to playstyles. Now let’s get to the talents:
Marathon Runner
One of the best talents in the game is the Marathon Runner. At the maximum level (Level 3), you gain up to 50 additional stamina points for your character. These are an additional small stamina bar.
If you have already been involved in sweaty fights in Windrose, you will quickly realize that stamina is one of the most important resources in the game. The more you have, the longer you can deal damage in succession or even sprint. This point should therefore be your first priority.
Agile
Your agility goes hand in hand with your stamina because: the more agile you are, the lower your stamina costs are. This is especially important when it comes to dodging, the primary action to reliably avoid damage in fights.
At level 3, this talent gives you a 40% reduction in your stamina costs, which can drastically increase your survival chances.
Stitches and Rum
Activating healing during a fight is a difficult topic in Windrose, especially when you have to fight multiple enemies at once. So if you manage to heal yourself, it must be as effective as possible, and that’s why Stitches and Rum is an important focus.
This talent increases the effectiveness of your activated healing. This means: the effect of your healing lasts longer. This ensures that you generally need less healing – so don’t underestimate this skill.
Perfect Counter
With “Perfect Counter”, especially those who have mastered the timing of parries benefit. If you successfully execute a counter, you gain an increased crit chance for 12 seconds at maximum level.
If you want to deal the most damage, you should invest in this skill because, although perfect counters are difficult to master, they greatly ease your fights.
Just A Flesh Wound
With “Just A Flesh Wound”, you permanently gain damage reduction for melee attacks. The higher the level, the greater the effect. This is especially worth it for those who have difficulties dodging or parrying.
Can I reset my skills? Yes, you can, and it’s even completely free. In the menu of the talent tree, you have the option to reset your talent tree at any time and completely free of charge. This is especially useful if you change your build and want to go in a different direction. So feel free to be creative and try many builds.
That was all the important information you should know about the best talents. Are you still unsure which armors you should gather for your pirate? Then feel free to check our overview. Here we show you which outfits are worth it for you: Windrose: Best Armor – What You Should Consider
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The major restructuring at Ubisoft is far from over. Instead of unleashing a new wave of layoffs, the decision-makers have now chosen to abandon a genre that is booming on Steam.
Which genre is it? The decision-makers at Ubisoft have announced that they will no longer develop the cozy game Alterra. The project is being halted and the employees reassigned to other titles.
In a statement from Ubisoft to IGN, they explained:
“As part of our portfolio management approach and our evolving, internally driven creative model, we continuously evaluate projects at every stage of development to ensure that they align with our strategic priorities, quality goals, and long-term market potential […] Projects that no longer meet these expectations may be discontinued.”
Alterra was meant to be Ubisoft’s answer to Animal Crossing, making it the company’s first major cozy game.
Here you see another competitor to Animal Crossing:
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Petit Planet: Das neue Spiel von HoYoverse sieht aus wie Animal Crossing im Weltall
A decision against the trend
Why is the decision unusual? Animal Crossing, Dreamlight Valley, Heartopia, Palia, and many other cozy games have become a popular genre in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, there have been almost weekly new, relaxing games that combine elements of survival, MMOs, and RPGs into a simpler, relaxing environment that you can experience at your own pace. The genre is a true goldmine for many developers.
Cozy games come without expensive multiplayer servers and require relatively small updates with new characters, for which a sufficient number of players are willing to pay a little money. Looking at how often these video games are searched on Google compared to large MMORPGs or multiplayer shooters, Dreamlight Valley and Animal Crossing rank higher than Call of Duty and Guild Wars 2.
Rank 1 goes to Animal Crossing
Accordingly, Ubisoft’s reasoning for not releasing Alterra due to “strategic priorities” and “long-term market potential” seems unusual.
What do the fans think? Players find the cancellation of the game unusual as well, but emphasize that given Ubisoft’s strong monetization strategies, it would likely have become an expensive endeavor. They express their views on Reddit:
KazMiller20: “Honestly, knowing their business model, this could have been a good thing.”
dead_is_death: “Hey, this new person wants to live on your island. – A character DLC appears to purchase her”
JimmyJackJericho: “Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokopia, and Tomodachi are incredibly popular, this game would not have stood a chance”
Rosebunse: “Do they hate money?”
For the players, it was already clear before any details about the game were released that Ubisoft would have relied heavily on monetization, which they would prefer to avoid.
The managers of Amazon Games are pushing forward their strategic shift, soon they might not have anything to do with MMORPGs at all.
What is this strategic shift? With the sudden end of New World, the managers of Amazon Games announced a strategic shift in October 2025. They intend to reduce investments in large proprietary projects (especially MMORPGs) and instead focus on their own cloud gaming service Luna and the development of casual/AI-focused games.
The publisher role for Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark was to be continued. The measures were accompanied by extensive layoffs, with the MMORPG studio in Irvine reportedly being hit the hardest.
In January 2026, there was a change in leadership: Christoph Hartmann, who had driven the focus on MMORPGs as head of the Amazon Game Studios for years, left the company after the strategic shift. His position has not yet been filled one-to-one.
Regarding the MMORPG for Lord of the Rings announced in May 2023, Amazon Games had not commented at that time. The statement of a former senior developer suggested that even the ambitious project might have been canceled. She was certain that she would have loved the new Lord of the Rings MMO.
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Amazon wollte Big Player für Games sein – Das Ende von New World vervollständigt eine traurige Geschichte des Scheiterns
No statement, no entry, no MMORPG
What new hint is there? On the official game overview on amazongamesstudios.com the Middle-earth MMO was still listed until just a few weeks ago – as the Wayback Machine shows with the version of the page from February 19, 2026.
This was the last glimmer of hope that a genre and Lord of the Rings fan could point to: See, it’s still listed, it hasn’t been canceled! We also surfed the overview monthly to check: Is it still on the list?
Last weekend it happened: Looking at the MMORPG talk at CAGGTUS 2026, we passed by the game overview of Amazon Games again and saw … no MMORPG for Lord of the Rings. The open-world racing game that was to be developed in collaboration with Maverick Games has also disappeared.
Instead, in addition to the two Tomb Raider projects, Throne and Liberty, Lost Ark, and AI-judge Snoop Dogg, there’s now a new deck-building game for the Masters of the Universe universe (you know, by the power of Grayskull!), which is set to release on June 5, 2026, for Luna.
No official statement from Amazon Games regarding the cancellation of the Lord of the Rings project was provided in the course of the adjustment of the overview.
This was part of the game overview of Amazon Games until recently.
The MMORPG department is shutting down
What else is happening at Amazon Games? From the outside, it seems that Amazon Games wants to completely part ways with the MMORPG genre at the latest with the shutdown of the New World servers on January 31, 2027:
With Henry and Roxx, the Lost Ark team lost two key pillars in March 2026, who had been important faces and points of contact for the community over the past years.
Both personnel changes show that Amazon Games is gradually scaling back its publishing responsibilities for Throne and Liberty as well as Lost Ark. We wouldn’t be surprised if they return these responsibilities to the respective developers at NCSoft and Smilegate in the coming months to completely leave behind the MMORPG topic by 2027.
Additionally, it fits that NCSoft wants to take care of the publishing for Aion 2 in the West itself. It also seems questionable whether Amazon Games will still play a role in the AAA games industry after the two current Tomb Raider projects. Already now, the company’s balance sheet is catastrophic: Amazon wanted to be a big player in games – The end of New World completes a sad story of failure
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The next event has been announced in Pokémon GO. This includes not only a new one but also many costumed monsters.
What kind of event is this? The event is called the Spring Marathon. It will start on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 10:00 AM and end on Monday, May 18, 2026, at 8:00 PM.
As the name suggests, running is the focus here. In addition to various costumed monsters, there will also be a new Pikachu variant and a new monster from the Paldea region.
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Pokémon GO Fest 2026 comes with Mewtwo and Zeraora
Run, Hatch, Collect
Which monsters are new? During the event, you can receive Flattutu for the first time. This monster comes from Generation 9 and can evolve into Psiopatra, for which you will need 50 Flattutu Candy in Pokémon GO. You can obtain the monster from 5 km eggs as well as one specimen in the event’s GO Pass.
Additionally, you can receive a new costumed variant of Pikachu. This is Pikachu with a marathon visor. You will receive the monster as a reward in the free, limited research during the event. With a bit of luck, you might even get it as a Shiny.
What other monsters are there? If you hatch 5 km eggs during the event, you can also obtain Pichu, Togepi, and Wonneira in costumed variants with flower crowns in addition to Flattutu. All of these costumed monsters can also appear as Shiny.
In event field research, you can encounter Eevee with cherry blossoms and Haspiror with flower crowns.
What else is in the event? In addition to the already mentioned free, limited research and field research, a GO Pass will also again be part of the event. This is available as usual in both a free and a paid version.
In the free version, you can receive event Pokémon, Stardust, experience points, rare candies, and ultra balls. The paid version also brings you an item for your avatar, incense, silver pinap berries, as well as candies and XL rare candies.
Until the start of the event, you will have to wait a bit. But even until then, there are still various contents in the game. If you want to know what these are in the last days of the current month, feel free to check our overview with all events in April 2026 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Players of Final Fantasy XIV can currently look forward to the new fan festival series starting on the weekend of April 24 and 25 in the USA. As part of this, there will likely finally be first information about the expected new expansion 8.0. We have everything that is currently known.
When will there be first info about FFXIV 8.0? Traditionally, Square Enix announces new expansions for Final Fantasy XIV during the fan festivals in the USA. Historically, there are first fresh pieces of information at the opening:
Further new information is expected to emerge at the subsequent fan festivals. The second will take place on July 25 and 26, 2026 in Berlin. The third, however, will be on October 31 and November 1 in Tokyo, Japan.
First hints about the location and plot of 8.0 are likely already present in the trailer for Patch 7.5, which goes live on April 28, 2026:
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Final Fantasy XIV shows the new class in the trailer for Patch 7.5
Final Fantasy XIV 8.0: Release, Jobs, Level Cap – What do we already know?
Currently, very little is known about the release of Final Fantasy XIV 8.0. Below you will find all the information that has been confirmed so far, as well as substantial hints or speculations. These are clearly marked.
When will 8.0 be released? At the moment, there is no date for the release of Final Fantasy XIV 8.0.
However, Naoki Yoshida, the director and producer of the MMORPG, has already given some first hints about the release. In the context of the announcement of the fan festivals, he stated that players would not have to wait too long for the expansion after the Japanese fan festival (late October/early November 2026):
Thank you all so much for your support thus far, and we hope to have the pleasure of your company as we continue along this incredible journey for years to come. (And one more thing: for those wondering what comes after the Japan Fan Fest…while I can’t give any details just yet, rest assured you won’t have to wait long.)
This could indicate a release of 8.0 as early as winter 2026 or spring 2027.
What new jobs will there be in Final Fantasy XIV 8.0? Currently, there is no information on which new jobs will be implemented in Final Fantasy XIV 8.0 in the MMORPG.
In previous expansions, there were usually two new jobs (classes) for players. If Square Enix does not deviate from the previous release and content rhythm, 8.0 will also bring two new jobs upon release. If the previous rhythm is maintained, it could involve a fresh Defender and a physical ranged damage dealer in the new expansion.
In addition to the regular jobs, the MMORPG also includes the Limited Jobs Blue Mage and from Patch 7.5 the Beastmaster. Since the latter is just now being introduced into the game, a new Limited Job will likely not appear until at least 9.0.
What will the new level cap of 8.0 be? Currently, it is not known whether and to what extent Final Fantasy XIV will have a new level limit.
With the current expansion Dawntrail, the maximum level has been raised to 100. If the MMORPG maintains the usual update rhythm, the new level cap could be at 110.
What new areas or planets will be visited in 8.0? Final Fantasy XIV is expected to receive six new regions in a previously unvisited part of the in-game universe in 8.0. Where exactly it will be heading is still unknown.
Player Attrition & a Mixed Endgame – This is FFXIV Today
Currently, Final Fantasy XIV is in the later lifecycle of the Dawntrail expansion. Patch 7.5, the expected final update for the expansion, will be released on April 28, 2026.
With Dawntrail itself, the MMORPG is suffering from a steady decline in players due to several factors. The number of currently active characters at the end of Patch 7.4 stands at only 770,000, according to the census from the Japanese blog Lucky Bancho. Thus, the game is currently far from its peak of 1,020,000 active characters at the release of the penultimate DLC, Endwalker.
The reason for this is likely the rather weak main story of Dawntrail. This must be completed before classic endgame activities such as new raids can be tackled. However, the Arkadion raids are particularly well-received by players. At the moment, Occult Cresent, a major MMO grind content, is encountering less enthusiasm.
A new expansion or the release of version 8.0 is a great opportunity for the MMORPG to bring players back on board with new high-quality content. Those who do not want to fight through Dawntrail will likely be able to jump in at the release with a corresponding jump potion from the real money shop at the start of the new DLC.
Whether 8.0 will be able to take Final Fantasy XIV to new heights will probably only be finalized at the release. MeinMMO will of course continue to follow the game and keep an eye on everything. We have recently dug through the list of mounts available in the MMORPG and have here the Top 5 most absurd mounts for you.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With Honor of Kings: World, the probably largest MMORPG of the year has been released in China on April 10, 2026. Preparations for the launch in the West are underway. But how much MMO genre does the new spinoff of Honor of Kings contain? Actually, less than initially thought.
Honor of Kings: World is supposed to benefit from this popularity and attract many fans of the franchise to the servers. There, they will find not only the characters and classes familiar from the MOBA (you can also create your own character), but also a massive open world full of quests and puzzles, an action-packed combat system, instanced PvP modes, and challenging PvE content.
MeinMMO author Cedric Holmeier is currently reviewing the freshly released version of the game to tell you before the first alpha tests of the western version whether the largest new MMORPG of 2026 might also be the most exciting. One thing has already become clear: Honor of Kings: World is not a true MMORPG.
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Honor of Kings: World shows setting and battles in the trailer
More Where Winds Meet than Aion 2
How much MMO is in it? Honor of Kings: World offers a huge, open world that does not hide in terms of scope compared to the continent Pywel from Crimson Desert. While you can see other player characters, this Tencent MMO has a special twist reminiscent of Dark Souls and Co.:
The other characters are just phantoms and do not actually exist in your version of the world. Therefore, you do not compete with them for monsters or resources.
In fact, the content of the open world of Honor of Kings: World seems to be designed so that you can play it solo. However, if you want, you can team up with other players to tackle Dungeons or Raids.
This is reminiscent of a more developed variant of Where Winds Meet. There too, there was a strong focus on the single-player experience as well as the optional possibility of teaming up with others for certain content.
While the multiplayer in Where Winds Meet is strictly separated from the solo experience, Honor of Kings: World goes a step further: you see a small number of characters as phantoms in your world and can interact with them directly: chat, trade, or invite them to a group.
As part of a group, you then jointly explore the world of Honor of Kings: World to complete quests and accumulate experience points. You can even experience the story content in co-op if you wish. The progress made together counts for the worlds of all group participants (for the story, it is important that you are on the same page).
Due to the solo focus and the relatively small number of visible character phantoms, the world of Honor of Kings: World thus lacks the “Massively” feeling that one would expect from a proper MMORPG.
This is probably one of the social multiplayer contents of Honor of Kings: World.
What multiplayer content is available? In Honor of Kings: World, you can tackle a large part of the content alone. Nevertheless, there are challenges and modes where you need to team up with other players or compete against PvP enthusiasts:
PvE Dungeons and Raids
Minigames and social features such as card games or housing, as well as multiplayer hubs where you actually meet other characters (and not just their phantoms)
PvP: 1vs1 arenas and a 4vs4 mode reminiscent of the payload/escort content from Overwatch – there are rankings for everything and a custom mode to host your own tournaments
However, there is currently no guild function in Honor of Kings: World. You still have to organize yourself through friends lists and so-called interest groups. The pure multiplayer content for PvP and PvE is started via the respective group search registration in the menu.
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz evaluate this approach? Honor of Kings: World is further proof that we will see fewer and fewer real MMORPGs. The genre is simply too complex to develop, thus extremely expensive and risky. Moreover, many MMO fans prefer to play mostly alone and only team up for specific content.
This is not a new phenomenon, but the consequences have been felt more clearly than ever in recent months:
Originally planned MMORPGs like Crimson Desert or Windrose are switching genres and thus becoming / still (?) a great success.
Games like Where Winds Meet and Honor of Kings: World make the MMO part an option and instead focus noticeably on the single-player experience.
As a fan of large theme park MMORPGs, which distinctly showcase the “Massively” in MMORPG, I personally do not like this at all. This genre variant is dying out. The future of MMORPGs appears to be different. I will delve into exactly this in a dedicated analysis in the coming days. Please feel free to check back on MeinMMO. If you want to know where the genre comes from, you can find it here: The ultimate history of MMORPGs from the 1960s to now
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The streamer Maximilian HandOfBlood Knabe had the German host and entertainer Klaas Heufer-Umlauf as a guest on Twitch. In the stream, the German host talks a lot about his early career. HandOfBlood also recalls that he was inspired by a YouTube video.
Which format did HandOfBlood steal? Klaas Heufer-Umlauf has achieved quite a bit in his time as a host, and especially created funny formats with his colleague Joko Winterscheidt. One of these formats was a kind of interview where retirees were asked specific questions.
In 2005 or 2006, the releases of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were imminent. A topic that probably very few retirees have dealt with. Therefore, Klaas simply provided the answers to the respondents along with his colleagues.
It looked as if the retirees were perfectly familiar with it, and the comedic effect came from the mention of gaming-specific terms.
The format had previously inspired HandOfBlood and one of his fellow students to create something quite similar as a YouTube video.
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HandOfBlood: The most important thing about the YouTuber and Twitch streamer in under a minute
Retirees farming and rage quitting
How did HandOfBlood implement the format? HandOfBlood implemented the format in his own video in 2014. He went out onto the streets to interview retirees about the game League of Legends. Back then, LoL was one of the main topics that the content creator covered on his channel.
HandOfBlood also gave his interview partners the answers, which they read from a sheet, thus getting the retirees to say terms like farming, rage quitting or Burst. In addition, HandOfBlood gave them made-up names and gamertags.
HandOfBlood refers to it in his Twitch stream as his breakthrough back then (Source: Twitch from 01:03:17).
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The mind behind Lost Ark is working on a new project for Smilegate, and this could be the successor to the popular MMORPG.
What kind of project is it? Smilegate, the developers of Lost Ark, are working on the new project “Orpheus”. It is led by MMORPG expert and the mind behind Lost Ark, Keum Kang-sun. The developers describe it so far as a next-generation fantasy open-world RPG.
But aside from marketing talk, there is already some initial information about what Smilegate intends to do with the game.
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Lost Ark: Trailer zur Valkyrie zeigt die neue Klasse in Aktion
A game against the trend
What are the rumors? In a personal letter, Keum Kang-sun is said to have reached out to potential allies according to invenglobal.com, revealing what he wants to achieve with “Orpheus”. He speaks for a PC and console title, not a mobile game.
The focus will be on the characters and the story. It aims to be a “resonant epic” with “lovable and charming characters”.
The goal is to bring back passion to game development and break away from the industrial grind. The developer wants all employees to present the title with pride to their loved ones.
What will the gameplay look like? The job postings for “Orpheus” provide some initial details. The developers at Smilegate are focusing on a challenging combat system that rewards thought rather than rotations and clicking.
The world should also hold up when players attempt to take unpredictable paths or even cross boundaries with exploits. Visually, they want to maximize the hardware capabilities and create a “beautiful and captivating world”.
What does this have to do with Lost Ark?While the player numbers of Lost Ark continue to decline in the West, “Orpheus” could potentially be the successor to the MMORPG. The name “Orpheus” fits into the universe of Lost Ark and is also the name of the universe of Lupeon, the God of Order, as explained by the MMORPG website 17173.com.
It is conceivable that the two games are somehow related. Also, with multiplayer projects, one must expect a development time of about five years – by then, Lost Ark, started in Korea in 2018, would be 12 or 13 years old. Moreover, the MMORPG is still running on Unreal Engine 3, which was already outdated at release.
However, there is a catch: So far, Smilegate has not mentioned it as an MMORPG. It could be that this is again a hybrid game like Where Winds Meet or Honor of Kings: World, which offers MMORPG elements but is no longer a classic genre representative.
You are starting a new game on your gaming PC? MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann always changes a setting when he starts a game for the first time. And he explains to you why he can recommend this to everyone.
As soon as I start a game for the first time, I usually go to the graphics settings first – if there are any – and check them.
The first setting I always adjust is the often optional FPS limit. This sets an artificial limit for my hardware on how many FPS it can render and display on my monitor.
In principle, I count these settings among the most important options that you can change in a game and should. Because these are not just bare numbers, but you are also influencing your PC hardware in the long term.
Those who don’t limit the FPS stress their PC hardware
What happens if I don’t limit my FPS? If you do not limit your FPS in the game, your PC hardware often runs at maximum capacity. Because your graphics card wants to extract the maximum from the available performance, and the FPS quickly rise as a result. And this leads to several problems:
Due to the high load, your graphics card gets hot, producing a lot of waste heat.
Since the heat has to go somewhere, ideally outside, the fans of your graphics card and case ramp up. This is the “jet engine” effect that many players probably still know and “love” from the old PS4.
Some graphics cards make strange noises under heavy load, which are referred to as coil whine. These are annoying and can be particularly unpleasant for sensitive individuals.
Also, not to be underestimated: A fully loaded graphics card results in significantly higher power consumption. This not only stresses the power supply but also ultimately your electricity bill.
With an FPS limit, you set an artificial limit for your graphics card that, ideally, it does not exceed. There are basically two options for this:
Ideally, directly through the graphics settings in the game, saving you time and effort.
If the game does not offer an internal FPS limit, you can do this via the graphics card software. For AMD, the option is called “Radeon Chill.” For Nvidia, you can find the setting under “Manage 3D Settings” and then “Max Frame Rate.”
My recommendation: Set the FPS limit to your monitor’s refresh rate. You really gain nothing if your graphics card renders 300 or 400 frames per second, while your monitor can only display 144 frames per second anyway.
It is really unnecessary to calculate 500 or even 1,000 frames and make your graphics card work hard, thus artificially increasing power consumption, noise, and wear on the hardware. Especially considering the current high prices, where you should ideally save on every repair and spare part.
Matrix is a legendary and very influential science fiction film that, according to an astrophysicist, is almost perfect from a scientific standpoint. Almost – because the script makes a major blunder.
The Matrix was released in 1999 and is now considered an influential work that raises philosophical questions. It leads to the question of how realistic and scientifically accurate the depicted content actually is.
The story of machines keeping humans occupied in a virtual world seems absurd at first glance, but once you accept the basic concept, the film succeeds in presenting a not unrealistic portrayal of the whole.
The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has also commented on Godzilla, considers The Matrix his favorite science fiction film, claiming it only makes one scientific mistake.
However, this mistake was necessary for the story surrounding Neo and Trinity to work at all.
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German trailer for the movie „Matrix“ with Keanu Reeves
Humans as an Energy Source
What is the mistake? Neil deGrasse Tyson commented on the film in a conversation with The Diary of a CEO and pointed out an important aspect.
The machines in The Matrix use humans as energy sources. They place them in capsules and keep them alive by providing them with food. At the same time, the minds of the humans exist in a virtual world, the titular Matrix.
The astrophysicist is puzzled by this point:
The machines feed the humans, so why are we feeding the humans and then using their energy for the machines? One should eliminate the intermediary and supply the machines directly with energy.
This is linked to a problem of thermodynamics. When energy is transformed, it is never 100% efficient, according to the physicist. Along the way, some energy is lost. DeGrasse Tyson explains this with an analogy:
For example, if you drive 80 kilometers with an internal combustion engine, the engine gets hot. This heat is wasted energy produced during the conversion of the chemical energy of gasoline into the kinetic energy of the car. It never runs perfectly.
In other words: the method used by the machines in The Matrix is far from perfect and borders on resource waste.
So why does this mistake exist? The astrophysicist can easily understand why the Wachowski sisters, who wrote the screenplay, overlooked this point.
Because without the mistake, there would have been no purpose for the humans in the film, and they could have been done away with. It’s unfortunate when the story revolves around humans and their fight against the machines.
The anecdote shows: Scientific accuracy is nice and all, but it sometimes stands in the way of a good story. If the Wachowskis had insisted on avoiding the mistake, they would not have been able to make the film at all, and we would not have received a genre milestone. A spectacular scene from part 2 cost a lot: A legendary film series sacrificed 300 cars for a single scene, and you thought it was CGI
In other words: the method used by the machines in The Matrix is far from perfect and borders on resource waste.
So why does this mistake exist? The astrophysicist can easily understand why the Wachowski sisters, who wrote the screenplay, overlooked this point.
Because without the mistake, there would have been no purpose for the humans in the film, and they could have been done away with. It’s unfortunate when the story revolves around humans and their fight against the machines.
The anecdote shows: Scientific accuracy is nice and all, but it sometimes stands in the way of a good story. If the Wachowskis had insisted on avoiding the mistake, they would not have been able to make the film at all, and we would not have received a genre milestone. A spectacular scene from part 2 cost a lot: A legendary film series sacrificed 300 cars for a single scene, and you thought it was CGI
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The best counters against Mega-Tohaido in Pokémon GO in the counter guide. MeinMMO shows you the best attackers and movesets against the boss.
What kind of Pokémon is that? Tohaido is a Water-Dark-type Pokémon that has existed since Generation 3. The monster is the evolution of Kanivanha.
The mega evolution of the monster is active from April 22, 2026, at 6:00 AM to April 28, 2026, at 10:00 PM. You can find and defeat the monster in Mega Raids during this time.
We will show you which counters you should use against the boss and what weaknesses Mega-Tohaido has (type effectiveness).
Start video
Pokémon GO Fest 2026 comes with Mewtwo and Zeraora
Defeating Mega-Tohaido in raid – With these counters
Mega-Lucario with Wave Crash and Aura Sphere
Keldeo with Low Kick and Sacred Sword
Mega-Gewaldro with Leaf Blade and Flora Statue
Mega-Lohgock with Counter and Aura Sphere
Mega-Skaraborn with Counter and Evil Wind
Crypto-Lohgock with Counter and Aura Sphere
Crypto-Raikou with Thunder Shock and Aura Sphere
Katagami with Leaf Blade and Sanctum Blade
Mega-Rayquaza with Dragon Tail and Zenith Stalker
Crypto-Meistagrif with Counter and Dynamic Punch
Mega-Guardevoir with Charm and Fairy Wind
Zekrom with Charge Beam and Cross Thunder
Mega-Latios with Fire Breath and Aura Sphere
Mega-Bisaflor with Vine Whip and Flora Statue
Mega-Latias with Charm and Aura Sphere
Crypto-Brigaron with Vine Whip and Flora Statue
Mega-Voltenso with Thunder Fang and Electric Surge
Lucario with Wave Crash and Aura Sphere
Shaymin (Zenith Form) with Leaf Storm and Stun Spore
Is there a shiny Mega-Tohaido? Yes, if you’re lucky, you can also catch the shiny version of Tohaido after the battle.
How many trainers are needed? Mega-Tohaido is one of the comparatively weaker bosses in the game. If you have the best counters, you can defeat the monster on your own. If you don’t have them or want to play it safe, bring along additional trainers.
No matter how many trainers you start the battle with: You should already assemble your raid team before the battle. This ensures that you always start with your best team and saves you some time in each raid lobby: Tips for organizing raid teams in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With Lord of Hatred, the story of Diablo 4 continues. Alongside a new story and a new class, there are many other features. The return of a simple function is the highlight for MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes.
The advantage lies in navigating through dungeons or through the world. While you use your rotations and abilities, you can continue to move purposefully without taking your eyes off your character. In Diablo 4, there has only been a minimap in the upper right corner.
While it’s less immersive to have a big map in the middle, later in the game, there’s so much happening in combat that the world isn’t exactly the focus of my gaze. As a directionally challenged player, I have to constantly look at the minimap anyway; for the gameplay experience, a map overlay would be much better.
This is especially evident to me in Diablo 2: Resurrected. I still get the mood of the world, and the overlay helps me in the nested caves. And when I want to indulge in the beautiful Gothic world, I can simply toggle the map off with a button press.
That’s why I am also so pleased with the implementation in Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred now, because it allows me to focus better on the fight without constantly wondering if I am walking in the right direction. I am not the only one.
This is what the map overlay in Diablo 2: Resurrected looks like.
The lost technology has returned
What does the community say about the return of the feature? In a Reddit thread, the community expresses great joy over the return of the overlay. For the user SheWhoHates (via Reddit), this is a return to the good old days: The lost technology has returned. A true Diablo Renaissance.
Also jotdaniel (via Reddit) is excited about the feature because he can finally look at the screen while riding: Not just because of that. Whenever I am moving on a mount, I am not looking at the screen at all, but only at the minimap.
UltrosTeefies (via Reddit) understands the idea behind the absence of the feature but is very happy about the overlay: I completely understood what the Diablo team meant when it wanted us to dive deeper into the game and look at the screen, but I think a very transparent overlay is actually much better than staring at the upper right corner of the screen 40% of the time.
The nice thing about the feature is that it is optional. Those who have gotten used to the minimap can keep it, and directionally challenged (and nostalgic) players like me rely on the good old overlay.
Are you also looking forward to the map overlay, or have you gotten used to the minimap from Diablo 4? Feel free to let us know in the comments. On April 28, a new season will also start with the new expansion. You can find all the info here: Diablo 4 Season 13 – Start, Release Date and PTR
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A user proudly presents a special treasure: 2,304 GB of RAM. However, he can’t do much with it because it’s special RAM.
A user reports that his father’s company bought new servers. In this context, the company also replaced the installed RAM.
But with the old hardware, they probably couldn’t do anything anymore, so the company disposed of the replaced memory modules in the trash. The user explained on Reddit that his father “rescued them from the dumpster and gave them to me.”
Now, 2 years later, the user has 72 pieces of DDR4 RAM with 32 GB each. Looking at the current prices, he has a small fortune. While the RAM cost around 60 euros according to Geizhals 2 years ago, today one pays about 280 euros per stick.
This represents an increase from 4,320 euros to 17,280 euros.
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Why is RAM so expensive? The current situation explained in 2 minutes
A lot of RAM that is still useless
Why is the hardware useless for him? The RAM is “ECC RDIMM” memory. This is a specific type of RAM that requires special server or workstation chipsets to access the buffered memory.
On a normal motherboard, like the ones installed in your PCs, you can’t really use this RAM: On normal boards, they often don’t fit, are not recognized, or prevent the system from starting. For your gaming PC, you need so-called UDIMM RAM.
Thus, the user has a small fortune but cannot use the hardware effectively himself. To use it, he would need to either sell the RAM or buy a server motherboard.
In Crimson Desert there are some tough boss fights where you only find a way to deal damage to the boss after several attempts. But thanks to a trick, everyone eventually reaches their goal.
What is this trick? Crimson Desert is fundamentally a tough game. The bosses have really powerful attacks that can mean immediate death for the main character Kliff, depending on the situation.
However, the game provides everyone the opportunity to significantly ease the battles by healing themselves with food. This can, however, take unexpected turns.
Will your normal horse still be able to carry you after all that food? If not, all that’s left is Rokade:
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Here you will find the legendary horse “Rokade” in Crimson Desert
Kliff becomes a food machine
Why does the trick escalate? The fact that you can heal with food is no secret. But how some players deal with it is quite special. Players report that before every boss fight, they run through all possible vendors to equip their Kliff with a lot of food.
With that, they can survive boss fights for which they are actually still too weak, simply by eating the whole time. For example, Reddit user Voododoll admits to consuming 70 eggs, 20 soups, and 150 roasted barley just to defeat the boss.
But behind the trick lies a feature that likely saves many players in Crimson Desert.
What is this feature? The difficulty level of Crimson Desert is currently not adjustable. While the developers have announced this for one of the upcoming updates, all players still have to face the same challenge.
However, for many, the challenge might be too hard, and they can only succeed by resorting to the trick with the hungry Kliff. This is also the case for Reddit user fear_nothin, who writes:
“That’s exactly why the game is so great. I just can’t cope with games in the style of Souls. I love the atmosphere and the way the story is told, but I just can’t get anywhere in these games and don’t have fun with them. Crimson Desert says: ‘You suck? No problem, use our many game mechanics to help you’ – and I’ve fully exploited alchemy and cooking to survive.”
Other players agree with him, but also explain that even Elden Ring and other Souls-like games have some easier bosses than one would find in Crimson Desert. So, all gluttons need not be ashamed of their actions.
Crimson Desert already provides you with the tools to defeat any boss. At the same time, no one forces you to eat dozens of kilos of eggs, soup, and barley. You can make the fights as difficult as you want them to be. Learn more about the upcoming difficulty level here: Crimson Desert will soon be significantly easier if you want, or harder
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fifth and final season of The Boys is currently airing and is about to reach the finale of the series. One of the writers now shares that he looks towards the end with great concern – primarily due to the fans.
Eric Kripke is significantly involved as showrunner, writer, producer, and director of The Boys . In an interview with The River, he was asked how he feels about the finale and whether he thinks the fans will be satisfied with it.
In the past, popular series like Game of Thrones or Stranger Things have caused discontent in their final seasons and damaged the reputation of an entire franchise.
Kripke’s answer is clear.
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The Boys shows in the final trailer for Season 5 how far Homelander has come
“I was not confident”
What does Kripke say? The writer is aware that the pressure is high and the expectations of the fans will be great:
I approached this with absolute horror. I was not confident […] because people tend to make a weird thing of judging a series retroactively based on the finale.
In fact, in recent years, the endings of major and long-running series have repeatedly come under criticism. It was often about the story no longer being convincing and the ending being a failure.
However, for Erik Kripke, this is a narrow view, and he cites Game of Thrones as an example:
Game of Thrones is technically and creatively a groundbreaking, monumental achievement that stumbled a bit with three episodes in 8 seasons… and these three just happened to be the last ones, and now everyone says: “Game of Thrones is mediocre.” And I think: Really? This series changed the world.
For The Boys, Kripke has thought very carefully about this, as he has a “panic fear” of the fans’ reaction. He shares that he has gone through every detail carefully and now believes to have produced a good finale.
