It’s time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG News in 5 Minutes.” We summarize the most important news around the best genre in the world. You can expect a new subscription, an exciting playtest, and many WoW dates.
Highlights of the week:
- On April 22, 2026, Patch 12.0.5 for WoW: Midnight will be released. You can find all important highlights and the official patch notes here.
- From April 30 to May 11, 2026, there will be a playtest for Scars of Honor on Steam. This is reason enough for us to introduce you to the promising MMORPG in more detail.
- 21 years after the launch of World of Warcraft, is it still worth starting with the MMORPG? Is it worth it? We break down all the details.
- The Division is now an established loot shooter, but as the developers reveal, it was almost a completely different game – an MMORPG like WoW –.
- Lost Ark received an update this week called “The Shadows Rise.” Included: the new Shadow Raid for the endgame, fresh solo content named “Chaos Rift,” the Tier 4 armor level, a new subscription for 1,500 Royal Crystals (about 15 euros), and more. You can find all details in the patch notes at playlostark.com. From a peak of 1,324,761 players, only 13,973 are currently playing on Steam during prime time (about 1.05 percent, source: steamcharts.com).
What else happened? In September 2025, Blizzard went to court against the operators of the largest private server for WoW Classic. Now a settlement has been reached. Our MMORPG expert Karsten Scholz hopes, that history will repeat itself after Nostalrius and Classic, and we can look forward to an announcement for WoW Classic Plus later this year.
Eorzea is preparing for Patch 7.5 and the Fan Festivals
What happened with the big MMORPGs:
- From April 21, the XP bonus from “Whispering Travels” is active in WoW Mists of Pandaria Classic. Details: on blizzard.com.
- From April 24 to May 22, 2026, you can secure a new Twitch Drop for WoW: the decoration item Cozy Pearly Grrgle. What you need to do is detailed on the official WoW website.
- The update Lords of the Shattered World will be released on May 15, 2026, for the Anniversary Edition of WoW TBC Classic. You can find details on blizzard.com.
- The developers of World of Warcraft prepared a fresh hotfix package for the ID change on April 15, 2026. Fans of the MMORPG could look forward to several weakened dungeons and raids and fixes for some annoying bugs.
- Since the inception of WoW, damage dealers and healers have been desperately searching for a tank. All the elements for what we consider the perfect solution proposed by a player are already present in the Blizzard MMORPG.
- “Tico” is somewhat of a face of Throne and Liberty for the western community. He has now left Amazon Games to work directly for NCSoft.
- Update 50 of Elder Scrolls Online has landed on the test server, and you can check out the planned changes. You can find all information on elderscrollsonline.com.
- Final Fantasy XIV is preparing for the launch of Patch 7.5 on April 28, 2026. The overview page for Trail to the Heavens has been updated with new details by the developers. Additionally, Square has introduced Twitch campaigns around the upcoming Fan Festival on the official Loadstone. Lastly, the Producer’s Letter LIVE Part 92 took place on April 17, and you can rewatch the stream on Twitch.
- On April 16, 2026, the weekly update for Black Desert was released, featuring improvements for item exchange, an overhaul of the Blood Altar, the start of the 2nd semester of the Olvia Academy, and more. You can find the German patch notes on playblackdesert.com. An overview of the Blood Altar can also be found on YouTube and below:
What happened with the smaller MMORPGs:
- Albion Online is celebrating the release of update “Radiant Wilds” and preparing for its debut on Xbox. In the latest Dev Talk on YouTube, UI adjustments and controller support for the MMORPG were the focus.
- The German MMORPG Tibia achieves record revenues, which means the employees of CipSoft can look forward to hefty bonuses.
- In EVE Online, there was a great battle between two powerful alliances that even crashed the servers. The result: 2 world records.
- This week, the “Demonic Pacts” league has launched for Old School Runescape, focusing on the eponymous demonic pacts and tough boss challenges. You can find all details at runescape.com.
- Until April 23, the “Spring into Life” event is running in Tibia, where you can find newborn dragon babies in dragon nests. Details can be found at tibia.com.
- In DC Universe Online, the Superman celebrations have started. They run until April 27 and promise event content, skins, and more. Check out dcuniverseonline.com for more information.
Which 12 free MMORPGs will actually be fun in 2026? We will reveal it to you in our new video. More motion pictures of the best genre in the world can be found on our MeinMMO YouTube channel, check it out!
What happened with the MMORPGs in development:
- In the context of the legal proceedings surrounding Intrepid and Ashes of Creation, new documents have come to light that seem to confirm a rumor about an investment proposal from Riot worth millions. Riot co-founder Marc Merrill has commented on this.
- Also speaking out is Steven Sharif, the former head of Ashes of Creation, who has made a 11-page document addressing the allegations and the end of Intrepid.
- From a successful Kickstarter campaign, a good MMORPG was supposed to emerge on Steam, but now Books of Travels is only becoming a single-player title.
- With Honor of Kings: World, the largest MMORPG of 2026 has just launched in China. A well-known YouTuber has entered the servers and explains how his first impression looks.
- There are rumors that a new game in the ArcheAge universe is in development. It is said to be developed in Unreal Engine 5, to use an isometric perspective (like Lost Ark), but otherwise adhere more to the original ArcheAge than to ArcheAge Chronicles (via mmorpg.org.pl). However, due to a lack of official announcement, you should take this rumor with caution.
That sums up the most important things that have recently happened in the world of MMORPGs.
What have you been happy about this week? What have you been upset about? Let us know in the comments. If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of the history of online role-playing games, you can find it in this extensive special: The history of MMORPGs – From Habitat to Throne and Liberty, and everything that happened in between
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