In 2022, an MMORPG had a historic launch on Steam, at the 3rd anniversary only 1.8 percent of the players remain

It’s time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG news in two minutes.” We summarize the most important news around the best genre in the world. Look forward to a reunion with Deathwing, more information about WoW housing, many content updates, the 3rd anniversary of Lost Ark, a new battleground for New World, and fresh insights into Ashes of Creation.

The highlights of the week:

After 20 years, WoW is finally set to receive a housing system. This week, there was new information about the cash shop, rent, neighborhoods, and more.
Exciting: In Blizzard’s blog post about housing, the developers couldn’t help but throw some jabs at other MMORPGs.
While there was no date yet for housing, progress has been made on other fronts: Phase 7 of the Season of Discovery is in full swing; on February 6, 2025, Naxxramas opened its doors (via worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com).
Additionally, there was a date given for the Hour of Twilight from WoW Cataclysm Classic: Starting February 19, 2025, you can dive into the dungeons of End Time, Well of Eternity, and Hour of Twilight. The Dragon Soul raid will follow on February 21, where you’ll face off against the final boss, Deathwing, among others. All details are available on worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com.
Lost Ark is celebrating its 3rd anniversary with in-game events and gifts (via playlostark.com) – on February 11, 2022, the MMORPG from Amazon Games and Smilegate had one of the most successful launches in Steam history. Of the previously 1.3 million concurrent players, unfortunately only about 24,100 are still active during peak times today (1.82 percent).

What else happened? The developers of World of Warcraft have had many, many bad ideas for the MMORPG over the decades. MeinMMO demon Cortyn has taken a humorous look back at some of these terrible features: The 5 worst features of WoW that Blizzard actually thought were good.

Housing? Check! What about WoW 2.0? Take a look:

For the 20th Birthday, Blizzard Speaks About ‘WoW 2’ and What We Think About It

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Test the new battleground of New World this weekend

This is what happened in the major MMORPGs:

From February 7 to 10, 2025, you can participate in New World’s preview weekend for the new Outpost Rush battleground “Coral Divide.” All details are available at newworld.com.
On February 6, 2025, the first phase of the server merger of Throne and Liberty started. For almost twelve hours, the worlds of the MMORPG were offline. You can find out more in our overview of the server merge.
It sounds curious but makes sense. The hardest depths will be easier in World of Warcraft, as there will be better loot there. Additionally, the MMORPG is working on ideas to strengthen the community. Those who are kind and friendly will receive rewards.
It could have been so good for role players in World of Warcraft. But a small detail makes a new feature in patch 11.1 much worse than necessary.
A new shop mount bundle is causing stress. Because you are actually buying something completely different. And yet another mount is causing trouble: WoW now has a new, super rare mount that you can complain about every year.
Why mounts are important for Blizzard is shown in this news: In a rather conservative approach, we reported in December 2024 that Blizzard likely made over 4 million euros with the 78 Euro mount “Gold-Decorated Trader Brontosaurus.” A new analysis shows that it was still far from the actual sum.
Ironically, the newest race in World of Warcraft does not experience love. Because the Earthen cannot complete a quest.
A solo kill in World of Warcraft takes a solid 6 hours. The trick behind it is brilliantly thought out, but probably not recommended for imitation.
When WoW launched over 20 years ago, many Warcraft fans were just glad they could play the MMORPG somewhat smoothly on their PC and with their internet connection. Just how much has changed since then is now shown in a video from an airplane.
Several players encountered a remarkable display bug while logging into World of Warcraft that seems to increase the character’s health to raid boss levels.
Stories from the hardcore server: A streamer narrowly escaped death in WoW Classic by being too curious and wanting to loot everything he saw.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently in the update phase of the Dawntrail expansion. Patch 7.2 is expected in March 2025, and it could be so good that it might bring one of the most popular YouTubers back to the game from his break.
We stay in Eorzea: The clothing manufacturer BlackMilk announced a collaboration with Final Fantasy 14. Among the clothes are numerous items tailored for fans of the MMORPG. MeinMMO author Jasmin Beverungen will definitely jump on that.
While interested parties can check out the test server of Elder Scrolls Online Update 45, the developers have answered questions from the community about “Champions of Cyrodiil” on forums.elderscrollsonline.com. Also important: From February 6 to 19, the new Golden Endeavors campaign is running. You can find more details on elderscrollsonline.com.
On February 6, 2025, the new 2.24 GB update for Black Desert was released. Particularly exciting are the updates for the ocean monster areas, which are expected to be much more rewarding in the future. You can find the patch notes on playblackdesert.com.
The developers of Lost Ark announced that they plan to remove several features like the Platinum Field on February 26. You can find all the details on playlostark.com.

This is what happened in the smaller MMORPGs:

The MMORPG Ultima Online loses an important employee. This is the producer of the game, who has been part of the team for many years and oversaw the project. The community is now uncertain about the future of Ultima Online.
The developers of Lord of the Rings Online have published a comprehensive FAQ about the new 64-bit servers that are set to go live in 2025. MeinMMO summarizes the most important points for you.
On February 6, 2025, the delayed Ultimate Recruitment Event for DC Universe Online started. You can find all the info at dcuniverseonline.com.
The update from February 3, 2025, introduced interface sharing to RuneScape. You can now import the interface settings of other players or share your own UI with the community (via runescape.com). In Old School RuneScape, royal titans are clashing (via runescape.com).
Do you still remember Riders of Icarus? The last four EU servers from the 2016 MMORPG were supposed to merge into two worlds. However, just before the deadline, the merge was canceled (via vfun-lounge.valofe.com).
A mysterious countdown has appeared on the website of tibia.com. According to this, an announcement will be made soon. What could it be?
For Albion Online, the Rogue Frontier update was released on February 3, 2025. You can find the overview and patch notes at albiononline.com. The trailer is shown below: