It is time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG news in two minutes”. We summarize the most important news about the best genre in the world. You can look forward to WoW Patch 11.2, Patch 7.3 of FFXIV, beta tests, a discontinued MMO, and much more.
The highlights of the week:
- Patch 7.3 for Final Fantasy XIV is on the horizon: Square Enix plans to release the update in early August and complete the main story of Dawntrail. Additionally, there are many new contents, such as updates for field excursions and a new dungeon in the most beautiful area of the game
- The next boss in World of Warcraft has extremely many abilities. Knowing all of them by heart will likely test the patience of raid groups. Some even feel reminded of the boss fights from Final Fantasy XIV.
- The true plans of Xal’atath in World of Warcraft are finally known. We now know what her grand goal is.
- What else you need to know about the upcoming update can be found here: WoW Patch 11.2 Ghosts of K’aresh: Everything about the new raid, artifact cloak, and story
What else has happened? Of course, the grind fest! From July 21 to July 27, there will be a full barrage of specials, anecdotes, analyses, and more on the topic of MMORPGs. You can find the full program for the grind fest here. You can watch a small portion of our two streaming evenings with GameStar below – featuring our guest Uncle Barlow:
The History of MMORPGs: MeinMMO, GameStar and Uncle Barlow discuss 60 years of online worlds
The most successful MMORPG from Germany has received a major summer update
This is what happened with the major MMORPGs:
- Soon there will be houses for characters in World of Warcraft. We have summarized all known information about it for you in a special. MeinMMO Cortyn is actually annoyed about one detail of the new system: Housing in WoW has a massive restriction – Not all characters get a house
- Mists of Pandaria has been released and is for many the pinnacle of World of Warcraft. However, not everyone is satisfied while playing the new Classic variant.
- You can find many things in the basement. Sometimes also epic things. Such as the cursed rune blade Frostmourne from World of Warcraft.
- Final Fantasy XIV is currently under criticism for several reasons. A YouTuber is now explaining in a video what is going wrong – and how players should deal with it.
- Naoki Yoshida announced further measures for improving the blacklist for Final Fantasy XIV, on finalfantasyxiv.com.
- At the beginning of July 2025, the bomb dropped at Microsoft once again. Thousands of employees had to leave, again. Among them were many employees at ZeniMax. Now those affected are talking about one of the worst days of their lives. The studio behind Elder Scrolls Online is said to have been noticeably weakened.
- The developers of Throne and Liberty have talked about the upcoming innovations of the MMORPG. Look forward to the premiere of housing, a new 24v24 battleground mode, and hyperboost servers.
- On July 23, 2025, the update “Welcome to Paradise” for Lost Ark was released, and in several respects, the patch notes indeed read like heaven on Arkesia.
- To fill their worlds with life again, the developers of New World are now planning a change, which is causing some players concern: server merges. Additionally, from July 29 to October 28, 2025, the Summer Medleyfaire event will take place, you can find the information on newworld.com.
- On July 29, 2025, the 9th season of New World will begin. So that the community really plays the new capture-the-flag mode from then on, the developers are resorting to an unpleasant means. By the way, on newworld.com, there is now also a presentation of the new artifacts.
- With an update on July 24, Black Desert has fundamentally revised its already fantastic action combat system, affecting all classes. You can find the extensive patch notes on playblackdesert.com.
- For the new expansion Visions of Eternity from Guild Wars 2, the developers have introduced the first elite specializations: Troubadour, Tempest and Lightbringer for Mesmer, Ranger, and Guardian. You can find details on guildwars2.com. The associated trailer can be viewed below:
This is what happened with the minor MMORPGs:
- 8 years of development, 1 successful Kickstarter campaign, but in the end, no 3 years of live operation… the ambitious SciFi-MMO Dual Universe will go offline forever in August 2025.
- On July 23, Update 45 for Lord of the Rings Online was released. Included: revisions for the Ettenmoors, ornithology, and more. You can find the patch notes on lotro.com.
- Something atypical is happening with Final Fantasy XI. The 23-year-old MMORPG is experiencing a surge in players and now has to take measures.
- While many other MMORPGs suffer from falling player numbers after the launch hype, the online role-playing game Albion Online from Germany celebrates its growing community and fresh records – and that in its eighth year. Not so nice: On forum.albiononline.com, Community Manager TinyHamsterHat reported DDoS attacks on the servers of the MMORPG.
- The developers of Old School RuneScape are taking a gamble and removing a feature from some servers of the popular MMORPG, which has many fans, but also many critics: the ability to place cosmetic items over the actual armor.
- By the way: The update Varlamore: The Final Dawn has been released for Old School RuneScape. Finally, the truth behind the Old Ones is revealed. You can find the patch notes on runescape.com.
- In the new update about the restart of Fractured Online, the developers show YouTube the latest progress. They also talk about their plans for a dynamic event system and MOBA-style battles.
- If you want, you can now also play Blade & Soul NEO on Steam.
- Also now on Steam: The 22-year-old MMORPG Entropia Universe, whose economy relies heavily on real money investments.
- Tibia received a comprehensive summer update this week. Included: new zones, bosses, monster types, loot items, story quests, a weapon skill system, and more. You can find all important information on tibia.com. You can watch the trailer for the expansion below.
This is what happened with the MMORPGs in development:
- Ashes of Creation is postponing the date for Phase 3 of Alpha Two again, from August 4 to August 26, 2025. You can find the corresponding announcement on ashesofcreation.com.
- The developers of Pax Dei have now revealed when the sandbox MMORPG will officially be released and what you need to know about the subscription. Spoiler: It will surprisingly also come without a monthly fee option.
- The zombie survival MMORPG Persist Online by CipSoft will receive a fundamental overhaul of the skill system. The exact plans for this can be found on persist.online.
- BitCraft Online received an update on July 24, 2025, which included housing and group crafting. You can find the patch notes on Steam.
- For Drakantos, a beta weekend will be held from July 25 to July 27 on Steam.
- The new MMORPG Blue Protocol: Star Resonance has finally announced its beta test after years of waiting. However, the monetization is already causing trouble.
- Looking ahead to the final launch on August 18, 2025, Ship of Heroes has adjusted its recommended system requirements. You can find the current specs on shipofheroes.com.
- The new MMORPG Architect: Land of Exiles is expected to launch in Korea in 2025 and will also come to the West later. The first testers were allowed to try out the game and are thrilled.
- The MMORPG Monsters & Memories has released a trailer for its current playtest on YouTube.
- Even 20 minutes of gameplay has been shown from Past Fate, an open-world MMORPG. You can also find this video on YouTube.
More about MMORPGs:
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The 15 MMORPGs with the most players according to official numbers from the developers
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The 10 MMORPGs on Steam with the best ratings in March 2026
Thus, we have summarized for you the most important news that has recently occurred in the world of MMORPGs.
What did you enjoy this week? What annoyed you? Please let us know in the comments. If you are looking for an overview of the history of online role-playing games, you will find it in this comprehensive special: The history of MMORPGs – From Habitat to Throne and Liberty, and everything that happened in between
