
February is generally a quiet month in the MMORPG genre, but not in 2022. Not only did Guild Wars 2 launch its blockbuster End of Dragons expansion that sent players back to Cantha, but Amazon also launched the western version of Lost Ark, which soared past a million players in its first buggy week.
Plus, we saw major releases from the beleaguered World of Warcraft and Star Wars The Old Republic too as the industry response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began ramping up.
Read on for the whole recap from February of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF FEBRUARY 2022

Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons expansion has a launch date: February 28

World of Warcraft’s game director defends cross-faction team-ups: ‘It’s time’

Blizzard’s recently announced survival title has been developing for just over four years

The FTC will investigate the Microsoft Acti-Blizz buyout, company to skip Q4 conference call

Solid Clouds’ upcoming Starborne Frontiers downgrades from MMORPG to ‘squad RPG’

CIG reels back Star Citizen’s roadmap because players ‘interpret anything on the release view as a promise’

Guild Wars 2 shows off End of Dragons’ cyberpunk-esque New Kaineng

Mortal Online 2 finally rolled out its queue patch, then it rolled back the server 24 hours

Funcom enlists the help of another co-developer to bring the DUNE multiplayer survival title to life

Activision-Blizzard Q4 2021: Blizzard lost another 2M monthly actives as ABK revenue holds steady

Path of Exile’s Siege of Atlas expansion is launching this afternoon

New World announces new server merge for February 8, confirms more merges coming soon

Gamigo’s forums are down without explanation or ETA, affecting RIFT, Fiesta, Trove, and more

Google has ‘deprioritized’ Stadia, pivots to offer cloud gaming white labeling

Lost Ark’s headstart begins today at noon – here’s the new trailer and patch notes

ArcheAge developer XLGames unveils an NFT-filled game launching in July called ArcheWorld

Krafton and Bluehole announce a partnership to create NFT avatars to sell in a future metaverse

Over half a million people showed up at the same time to play Lost Ark’s headstart last night

US Army mil-sim FPS America’s Army Proving Grounds announces a May 5 sunset

Lord of the Rings gaming rights are going up for sale – what will this mean for LOTRO?

You’re an MMOTCG, Harry: NetEase and Warner Bros. announce Harry Potter Magic Awakened

Ultima Online is aiming to launch UO New Legacy in 2022

Lost Ark’s launch has been mired in delays and issues, but it’s live now

Over a hundred New World servers are affected by today’s merge round

Just months after supposed angel investment, indie MMO TitanReach has ceased development – again

Lost Ark promises to manage server limits and queues as over 1M players arrive for free-to-play launch

WAPO’s latest Bobby Kotick article lays bare his vindictive litigation history

Lost Ark eclipses 1.3M players in its second full day of launch as it continues to manage global server load

SWTOR: Legacy of the Sith gets ready for launch

Lord of the Rings Online’s producer: ‘We not only want to maintain the value of this IP but grow it’

NCSoft unveils new MMOs, a new battle royale, and new Blade and Soul game, plans Project TL release this year

Valentine’s Day around the MMORPG genre, 2022 edition

Massively Uplifting: MMOs show true love through helping kids, planting trees

TitanReach’s mystery investor actually existed, and the lead dev is accused of misappropriating the investment

Legends of Aria’s new owner discusses the revamp, Classic, and blockchain implementation

NCsoft Q4 2021: Guild Wars 2 did great, but Lineage W drove revenues

SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith expansion is live today – here’s the new ILM cinematic trailer

Is anyone out there happy about SWTOR’s Legacy of the Sith?

No Man’s Sky’s Sentinel update is live with mechs, new content, and freakin’ jetpacks

EVE Online and Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss believes it can ‘create a stable blockchain ecosystem’

Palia announces that it’ll hold to a free-to-play business model

Star Stable celebrates its US mobile launch with 21M registered players

Star Citizen kicks off a new free fly event as players raise alarms over changes to the ship buyback program

Hi-Rez’s Global Agenda returns to Steam as an unlisted game

ABK reportedly tries to stall Raven Software’s union vote as DFEH and SEC issue new subpoenas

Book of Travels temporarily halts content development to ‘completely focus on fixing the game’

Project Gorgon acknowledges development delays as key dev contends with a ‘rare form of cancer’

Nightingale studio Inflexion has been sold to Tencent – and it’s still launching this year

The Wagadu Chronicles has kicked off its alpha-1 phase today

Bethsoft is sunsetting its launcher, migrating libraries – including Fallout 76 – to Steam

Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen expansion and Season of the Risen are live today

Fallen Earth Classic has formally returned to Steam

World of Warcraft: Eternity’s End is live today

SeedInvest tells Shroud of the Avatar investors that Portalarium eluded its accountability efforts

What to expect from Elder Scrolls Online’s Update 33, launching March 14 for PC

New World acknowledges survival game ‘friction’ in its travel, storage, and other systems

Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick urged by U.S. Senator to get out of the way of unionization efforts

MMO Business Roundup: The gaming industry reacts to the Ukraine crisis

Elder Scrolls Online players are feuding over account-wide achievements

The most important reveals from the Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons influencer sneak peak

EG7 Q4 2021: EG7 and Daybreak post huge revenues, bank future on MTGO, LOTRO

Battlefield 2042 yanks Russian helicopter reward in light of Ukraine invasion

Super-hardcore fantasy RPG Elden Ring launches – with co-op multiplayer

Shroud of the Avatar boss claims confusion over SeedInvest: ‘I’ve done the part that I’m contractually obligated to do’

Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons is officially live today – check out the new trailer!
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF FEBRUARY 2022
THE FULL 2022 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
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