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 an exciting alpha, the finale of the World First Race in WoW, and a historical battle with 10,000 players.
Highlights of the week:
- If some experts are to be believed, Honor of Kings: World is set to be the biggest MMORPG release of 2026. The launch in China has now taken place on April 10, 2026. There is no date for the global launch yet, but you can now sign up for the upcoming PC alpha test at honorofkingsworld.com. When exactly the test will take place and how many players can participate is still unclear.
- The final battle against L’ura is a big victory for the heroes of Azeroth in World of Warcraft. But is it really? We deal with the conclusion of the raid “March on Quel’danas” and the subsequent events.
- On April 22, 2026, update 12.0.5 for World of Warcraft will be released! You can expect Void attacks, mini-dungeons for 1 to 5 players, the Void Forge, the activity Abyss Fishing, and a new hide-and-seek mini-game. More details await you at worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com.
- The developers of Final Fantasy XIV have released the new overview page for patch 7.5. Where? On finalfantasyxiv.com. More details on the continuation of the main scenario and upcoming content, such as the Beastmaster, are expected in the upcoming Producer Letter LIVE on April 17, 2026. All information about the stream can be found on the official Lodestone.
What else has happened? At the beginning of the week, all attention was on the World First Race in WoW: Midnight. First, a secret phase caught the leaders of Team Liquid off guard, but then they successfully brought the competition home. So far (Friday, April 10, 2026 – 1:19 PM), alongside Liquid, Echo and Method have also mastered the Season 1 raid on Mythic. MeinMMO congratulates!
Here you can see the trailer for Honor of Kings: World from gamescom 2025:
WoW opens new raid for guild hoppers and solo players
This happened in the big MMORPGs:
- Since April 8, 2026, you can experience the WoW raid March on Quel’Danas in the raid browser or through the story mode, more about this on the official WoW website.
- This weekend, the first matches of the regional cups of the Arena World Championship will take place. You can learn all about the esports tournament at blizzard.com.
- Since World of Warcraft finally introduced the housing system, players have been getting creative in spades. One player has taken inspiration from Counter-Strike 2.
- In WoW: Midnight, you will encounter numerous characters who have experienced a lot in their past. However, very little of this is known in the current expansion. A fan is creating a remedy with an addon. The community is thrilled.
- In WoW: Midnight, the dungeon event has started. In it a quest rewards you with epic raid loot. We tell you exactly what you need to do for it in the report.
- An old NPC has reappeared in World of Warcraft. He remembers you and is dissatisfied – while you should actually be the one who is angry.
- Final Fantasy XIV fans, pay attention! If you want to see the two music acts of the Fan Festival 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center, you can still get tickets for the livestream until May 9, 2026. You can find all the information on the official Lodestone!
- On April 8, 2026, update 3.28.0 for Throne and Liberty was released. The update includes a new battleground map, the brooch equipment slot, new co-op dungeons, and balance changes. You can find the patch notes at playthroneandliberty.com.
- The new update for Black Desert brought improvements for the Red Battlefield, the event season of the guild league, and more. Here are the official patch notes.
- For Elder Scrolls
- The developers of Lost Ark have reached out to the community with an update on the “Kazeros the First After Race” event on the official MMORPG website. The event will end with the upcoming patch on April 15. How things will continue was revealed in a new roadmap video on YouTube on April 9, 2026. Plans include a new region, a fresh raid system, and new progress features.
This happened in the small MMORPGs:
- In EVE Online, a huge battle between two powerful alliances recently took place, which even caused the servers to crash. More than 10,000 players were reportedly involved.
- In the new Producer’s Letter April 2026 for EverQuest II, Jenn Chan (Head of Studio) has released a first teaser for the next expansion of the MMORPG. Perhaps you know what the lines and the associated image could mean. You can find the clues at everquest2.com.
- The developers of Lord of the Rings Online have also reached out to the community with a letter. It was about the past 19 years, the updates from the first quarter, and what is soon to come to the servers: update 48: A glorious hunt. VIP players will gain access to the new region of the Hatokáli Hills with 75 tasks and deeds, and – later in the quarter – a new 6-player instance. Free are the anniversary festival improvements, updated exploration rewards, as well as the Rivendell accommodations.
- In DC Universe Online, the Springtime event runs from April 7 to May 4, 2026. Additionally, with the Thing from the Swamp, a new ally arrives on the servers. You can find all the information about rewards and content at dcuniverseonline.com.
Which 12 free MMORPGs are really fun in 2026? We will tell you in our new video below. More moving images of the best genre in the world can be found on our MeinMMO YouTube channel, check it out!
This happened in the MMORPGs in development:
- The team of ArcheAge Chronicles has reached out to the MMORPG community with a positive status update from the internal testing phase. The release in the fourth quarter of 2026 seems certain.
- Asteria: Fate of the Fallen is a “next-gen VR MMORPG” that promises a social and large-scale virtual world. Currently, a Kickstarter campaign is running to fund the game.
- On May 20, 2026, the early access of SpaceCraft will start on Steam. You can already download the demo and sign up for the playtest of the SciFi MMORPG.
- At the “Medieval Fest” on Steam, Gloria Victis celebrates a comeback. From April 20 to April 27, 2026, you can participate in the playtest on Steam and check how much the MMORPG has changed since its supposed end.
- On April 9, 2026, an action monster MMORPG called Lugh World started early access on Steam. Get ready for an open world with events, PvP arenas, raid challenges, mini-games, and a card collection system. If you want to take a look, you currently need to pay a little over 11 euros.
- Two days earlier, on April 7, 2026, an online idle RPG called Evitania Online started early access on Steam. Expect colorful 2D graphics, collecting rare loot, fighting tough bosses, and endless progression, but without grind – so say the developers.
- In early April, the Open Horizon update from Stars Reach went live for alpha testing. On April 8, a hotfix package followed. Almost all areas of the game have seen some changes. For example, the old tutorial missions have been replaced with a new start in Haven, where you have to help rebuild after the attack of corruption. All information can be found at starsreach.com.
- In the early access version of Brighter Shores, the annual Easter event runs from April 7 to May 5. All information can be found at Steam.
More on MMORPGs:
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Elder Scrolls Online reshapes its future and Skyrim is part of it
With that, we have summarized 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 annoyed about? Let us know in the comments. If you’re looking for a complete 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 has happened in between
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
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