Back in September, 2023, I first heard about Abyss Online, an indie developed PvP sandbox MMO. Like most indie MMOs – the several dozen in development at present – I added it to a backlog of games I’d one day check out, granted sufficient progress had been made.
However, as part of a new “What is MMO” series I plan on doing, I thought, y’know what? Let’s go ahead and take a look. What’s the worst we could find?
Admittedly, I shouldn’t have asked myself that because what I found was both cause for alarm, and simultaneously piqued my interest.

Abyss Online is an indie MMO. Indie MMOs don’t have the best track record in the industry – very few indie MMOs ever fully release, typically running off with money investors and backers put into their game, or running out of money all together, and ceasing operations.
While I’m not saying Abyss Online is going to end up a scam, I will advise players to do their due diligence and always be cautious when backing or supporting a studio with no history of successful releases.

On their website, Abyss Online labels themselves as an “expansive online RPG.” Not an MMORPG – there’s no “massively multiplayer.” There’s no “multiplayer” listed in any capacity. “Online RPG” describes an RPG world that is persistently online – not accessible offline.
However, in October 2023, during Gamescom in Singapore, they listed themselves as being an MMO. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and assume they haven’t realized that there is a contrasting difference between an “online RPG” and “MMO,” and hope this isn’t to mislead potential players.

The game didn’t always go under the “Abyss Online” moniker. Rather, it was built as “Metagates.io,” META being an acronym for “Most Effective Tactics Available.”
They sold NFTs. They sold Founders Packs and game items via Blockchain. But ultimately decided that this wasn’t the direction they wanted to take, and removed any and all crypto elements – citing “no real gamers would play any crypto game,” which is true.
I don’t know a single person that has told me “Y’know what, Stix? I would love if ArcheAge 2, the Riot MMO, Ashes of Creation, Blue Protocol were a blockchain MMO.” Not a single person. Because they’re actually sane.
Their implementation – or even thought to introduce any crypto elements are of immediate cause for alarm to me. Sure, the crypto market has been in a rapid state of decline over the last year. Was that the reason?
It’s unlikely we’ll ever know, and honestly that’s okay. Metagates is no longer a thing. They have since taken core assets and technology from Metagates and replaced it with Abyss, with a stronger focus on gameplay instead of crypto. A good step in the right direction.

MMOBomb actually held an interview with the CEO of the studio developing Abyss Online, Nick Liverman, and they asked him why this information wasn’t made public. The answer.. was concerning.
Instead of being transparent and admitting they had already existed as a game in the past, they chose to hide it. This was, as Nick put it, not his fault.
Rather, he trusted the experts he had paid when they said they should omit any connections to past crypto scams because – for whatever reason – they believed it would be more positively received if someone found it out and spread that information out of context rather than tackling it head-on, with their own narrative.
It’s impossible for me to give any input here – yes it sounds very shady. I don’t know why anyone would opt to do this. Hiding things just makes you look guilty when you’re inevitably found out. And you always are.
They claim they’re not a scam – and I’m moderately inclined to believe them. From what I’ve seen and read, they do seem passionate about creating something tangible.

That’s about everything worth noting with regards to their history and the current state of the game. If you’re still watching, you’re probably wondering what kind of game it is. If not, then you’re probably back in NIKKE farming Waifu’s and I totally get that. I’m grinding the Anniversary myself.

It was confirmed that they will not be free to play. Rather, they’re opting for a premium buy to play business model. I really don’t think this is the way to go.
I genuinely haven’t seen an indie MMO that I think is of a quality that would warrant a premium purchase. Indie game? Sure. Indie MMO? No. And while Abyss might be the first, you’re asking players to take a risk on something that has been proven repeatedly to be a bad decision.
Their reasoning for this is that they want to polish their anti-cheat and DDoS systems before exploring with free to play months, otherwise they’ll be overrun with cheaters. Over the last year, we’ve seen several MMOs release as buy to play titles.
All of them have a handful of players left, and are converting to free to play business models because the alternative is announcing an end of service. I’m not a fan of the ‘ol switcheroo, releasing as a buy to play title, then relaunching as a free title. Bless Online did this, and to this day players make fun of Neowiz for it.
It feels cheap, but I get it. Studios need a return on their investment, and this is one of the easier ways to go about obtaining that. But it is at the expense of their players. Although that’s just my opinion. Because on the other hand, this provides paying players a way to support the devs by purchasing their game.
And that’s fine if they know the game will transition from a premium title to a free title at some point, but is disingenuous to players that are unaware of it.

The devs have plans on holding regular test phases every month. PvP tournaments, dungeon runs, bug-hunt events. There is a test-client on Steam for interested players, which allows you to see the game in real time before investing any time or money into it.
I think this is another step in the right direction, as it’s difficult to trust an indie MMO without hands-on experience with the game in question.

Questing will be a little different to what we’re used to in MMOs. It seems as though they’ve implemented a learning algorithm that will tailor NPCs and their respective personalities, including quests, potentially leading you to entirely new quests – that other players don’t have, new areas that other players can’t access yet.
More and more studios are implementing systems like this and I think it makes for a highly customizable experience for players, but also leaves the world feeling a little disconnected. I think it’s a very cool idea, and I genuinely can’t wait to see new MMOs implementing it as a feature so Mrs Stix and I can compare how our worlds differ.

It utilizes a hybrid combat system, blending action and targeting together.
The game is in Alpha testing right now so admittedly the combat does look a little rough but that’s subject to change and judging a game based off of Alpha footage is a little absurd, given the time between Alpha, Beta and launch is potentially years, if not decades, as some indie MMOs have proven.
From their Pre-Alpha trailer released a few days ago, the game looks early in the stages of development. It doesn’t look bad – it looks like it needs a few years before it’s ready for actual play, but Steam lists it will be releasing in to Early Access on April 18th, 2024.
I do not think this game is even remotely close to being in a ready state, and I don’t believe 4 months is really going to make any semblance of a difference. I’m not the only one with this concern, as others have made their thoughts public on Youtube.

Do I think Abyss Online is a scam? No. I think they have genuine ideas, goals, aspirations, but have no idea what they’re really doing – setting unrealistic goals like “releasing in April 2024,” “listening to people when they tell us to hide our past instead of owning up to it,” and much more.
Will this game ultimately release, or will they fall victim to the indie MMO curse the genre has become known for? I can’t say. I do genuinely wish them all the best, and hope this small spotlight either helps them in terms of feedback, or redirects additional interest to them as a game.
Any and all criticism and praise is equally as valuable in the development of a game your community can enjoy in my opinion. And they definitely have a long way to go.

Arthdal Chronicles is a beautiful upcoming hybrid combat Cross-Platform MMORPG developed by Netmarble and Studio Dragon.
It features a deep, extensive narrative, while being interconnected with the Korean Drama of the same name.
The game will take place within the same world, expand upon factions, families and entire regions encountered within the TV series, with Netmarble claiming they wanted to turn Arthdal Chronicles into a Global intellectual property. A Korean Game of Thrones, as it were.
And while that is definitely a grandiose goal to set – which will be very difficult to attain – Netmarble released footage from G-Star showing us what the game is going to look like. Footage we’ve never seen before.
And that’s what we’re going to look at today. I’m excited to see what the game looks like.

Arthdal Chronicles seems to feature a hybrid action combat system. When it was announced, Netmarble claimed it was going to run a full action combat system, but judging from what we’ve seen in the trailers, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
You can see your character locked on to an enemy, with a red selection icon encompassing the target.
Movement and actions are both very realistic and incredibly fluid. I actually thought for a cross-platform title this looked pretty good. Definitely a higher quality product than I gave them credit for when I first saw the trailer released a year or two ago.
They didn’t show much in terms of area or world diversity: All we saw were some forests and rocky areas, along with acouple different monster types. Whether they feature deserts or snowy regions remains to be seen.
We also can’t really discern how open the game seems to be at present. What we were shown was very narrative-driven, meaning it was scripted and supported by the story.
But Korean MMOs aren’t known to really impose much of a focus on story, so this is a nice change.

Unfortunately that’s all that was really shown. And from that single video, I can say with 100% certainty that if the game comes out looking AT LEAST as good as this, then it’ll be pleasant to look at and play.
But it might also be a pay to win mess. Highly segregated. Mostly auto-play. We don’t – and cannot know currently until test phases are held. Which I’m eagerly looking forward to.

Tarisland held a Global Beta recently, and reviews were mixed. Some people thought – for a cross-platform MMO, it was actually pretty good. Others claimed it was about as mobile-oriented as they’d expected.

Nevertheless, the studio confirmed earlier this week that not only would they be attending Gamescom 2023, making their “grand debut” for the Global audience, but they’ll also show off the latest changes made to the game with an updated schedule for Closed and Open Beta tests.
Given Tencent confirmed the game would be releasing Globally in 2023.. they’re really going to have to pull these Beta’s outta their asses pretty quickly to push the game out within their self-imposed deadline.

I haven’t played Palia – Mrs Stix, on the other hand, has covered, in rather great detail, her experience over the course of Palia’s Closed Beta.

She’s been playing the game extensively since the game went into Open Beta, and while a very different type of MMO – it doesn’t really have combat, dungeons, raids, or a vertical type of progression typically found within the MMO genre, this is some of the most fun she’s had in a while.
Mrs Stix is a Savage and Ultimate raider in Final Fantasy XIV, and a Mythic raider in World of Warcraft, so being able to take it easy in Palia as a casual MMO is a very different experience for her.
You can sign up and play the Open Beta right now if you’re interested. This is a very different MMO to what players are used to, and that.. admittedly has left many players criticizing it. But it definitely carries the potential to appeal to a niche audience that no other MMO caters to.

I feel like we don’t talk about Tree of Savior enough. This is a fun game. This is a good looking game. Yet at the same time, it’s so often overlooked because of how badly it was received when it launched.

Nevertheless, in the face of adversity, the studio has pushed on, never stopping their cycle of updates and improvement, with the latest slew of updates having been released on July 19th.
While there is new gear, a host of bug fixes, various different boosts and buffs for players, the most noteworthy addition is the new Engineer class. New classes are always fun and breathe new life into the game. Black Desert Online is proof of that.

We’ve been eagerly anticipating Project BBQ for years. It was announced around the same time as Blue Protocol, and where Blue Protocol went through numerous changes over the course of its development process, launching in Japan this year with a full Global release in the beginning of 2024, Project BBQ.. well, it hasn’t faired so well.
Neople, the studio behind the game released 2 several minute long trailers elaborating on the type of game it was supposed to be. A large, open-world MMORPG set within the Dungeon Fighter Online universe.
Allowing for seamless exploration and transition between regions, cities, dungeons. And then last year they confirmed that Project BBQ was – for all intents and purposes, canceled. But not in the way we had expected.
On the contrary, they had canceled Project BBQ so they could have it undergo a metamorphosis into something they were under the impression would be far more lucrative in the long-term, and thus Project AK was born.
Which we have a 1 minute trailer for – the upcoming Project AK, henceforth known as Arad Chronicle: Kazan. With the trailer, came the announcement of the title, including an entire overhaul of the core game.

So let’s take a look.

Arad Chronicle retains its world setting. Taking place within and expanding upon the larger Dungeon Fighter Online universe, this new title from Neople is confirmed to have scrapped the MMO aspects of Project BBQ and instead put a focus on the single-player experience.
When asked why this was the case, as Dungeon Fighter Online is an MMO, the upcoming Dungeon Fighter Overkill is an MMO, and Dungeon Fighter Duel is multiplayer, it seems a little unusual to make Arad Chronicle the first incarnation of a Dungeon Fighter title to not be influenced by or at least cater towards a multiplayer audience.
The devs stated that they saw a larger potential in what they explained was essentially “Elden Ring.. in the Dungeon Fighter Online world.” Yes, they’ve taken direct inspiration from Elden Ring, and have confirmed that Arad Chronicle, instead of being an open-world action MMO, would instead be a “soulslike action RPG.” That honestly isn’t bad.
Elden Ring was a great game, and while Dungeon Fighter is a great MMO, it makes sense they’re not confident a new title in the franchise would do too well in the long-term. Especially given how critical MMO players are of new games these days.
It just wouldn’t be a smart business move for the game.

Arad Chronicle is set 800 years before the events of Dungeon Fighter Online, allowing players to experience the tale of General Kazan and Archmage Ozma.
At present, Arad Chronicle is confirmed to be releasing on to console: PlayStation and XBox, however when they were hiring last year they were hiring programmers with experience in integration between XBox Live, PlayStation Network, and Steam. Which sounds as though they’re alluding to PC and console cross-platform functionality.
Honestly we need more PC/console cross-platform MMOs. Too many MMOs release cross-platform between PC and mobile, and while Arad Chronicle isn’t an MMO, if it’s a “soulslike game,” it’s probably going to have some type of multiplayer functionality.

I’m incredibly excited for Arad Chronicle. This is a beautiful looking game that could really allow the Dungeon Fighter universe to expand into areas it had never been capable of reaching.
And while Korea isn’t known for making the best MMOs, they do make some solid non-MMOs. There is no 2023 release date confirmed at present, but a 2024 test phase wouldn’t be out of the question.
Neople nor Nexon have confirmed if there will be a premium box price for the game or if it’ll be free to play, but the former is much more likely than the latter. Yet also much more difficult to monetize.

Back in 2018 there were 2 Anime MMOs on everyone’s minds: Blue Protocol, and Project BBQ. In 2019, there were 3, with the inclusion of Tower of Fantasy.
Tower of Fantasy was a fun game but due to poor handling, let a lot of players down. Amazon Game Studios have upset players with Blue Protocol after announcing there would be some censorship involved in the full release.
And while I have a dedicated video coming on Project BBQ with some info I guarantee you haven’t heard ANYWHERE else, Dungeon Fighter Overkill kinda.. came outta nowhere, years after the “big 3” were announced and took many players by surprise.
This is a gorgeous Anime MMO – not a Gacha game – set within the larger Dungeon Fighter Online universe. Taking what its predecessor did well, and perfecting it, presenting us with one of the only true MMOs of its kind.
And we have a 4 minute trailer, showcasing everything we have to look forward to in the game.

So let’s take a look.

Dungeon Fighter Overkill, much like its predecessor, is a very different type of MMO to what we’re traditionally used to.
The game features a largely side-scrolling perspective, allowing you to navigate horizontally and slightly vertically, but from what we’ve seen in the trailer, also features some over-the-shoulder 3rd-person gameplay.
This might be exclusively in towns, but is the first time a Dungeon Fighter title isn’t limited to a horizontal type of movement.
Overkill is set within the same universe and world as Dungeon Fighter Online, taking place 14 years before the events of the main Dungeon Fighter Online game, and almost 800 years after the events of Project BBQ – which again I’ll be covering with some exclusive news in just a couple days.
The upcoming MMO is under development from the same studio that has been in charge of Dungeon Fighter Online and Dungeon Fighter Duel: Neople. Neople have continued to demonstrate that they understand what players want in the form of video games, and I’m excited to see where they take Overkill.
The combat – which is honestly the main appeal of the game looks as though it’s even flashier and more impactful than in DFO, with special effects and abilities literally taking up the entire screen. So it’s like you’re playing a Shounen Anime.

To appeal to the largest audience, Neople did confirm that Overkill will be launching on to PC, but they are contemplating full cross-platform functionality in the future between PC, console and mobile. However, each version will be built with their own platform in mind.
This is not a mobile MMO. It is built for PC, and will be expanded to console, and mobile separately, at an undisclosed date, and likely won’t be plagued by the poor business model polluting the mobile MMO market. But we’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case.

Honestly, I’m very excited for Dungeon Fighter Overkill. It’s a beautiful looking game with stunning character models and could make DFO relevant again.
It’s unconfirmed if the game is launching in 2024, but it’s a good bet to assume we’ll be able to play it in some form of test phase next year. It will also likely be fully free to play.

I loved Dragon Nest. I did. I never got to play it during its peak – when it was a relevant title, but I’ve played it every year since roughly 2014 – you can imagine my surprise, then, when I saw a sequel was just released – Dragon Nest 2 – and playable on PC. I was ecstatic.
And then it dawned on me. Yes, this is Dragon Nest 2. But this isn’t the vision the original team had for the game. On the contrary, this is some weird, distorted amalgamation of the worst possible ideas condensed into a single, abomination of a game.
And not the kind of abomination where you’re like “oh this is so bad it’s actually kinda funny or quirky.” No, the kind of abomination where you’re like “Did anyone ever think to tell the dude in charge what a steaming pile of crap this is before finalizing it?”
Thankfully we still have Dragon Sword on the way – which is the real successor to the Dragon Nest IP, but this is my horrific experience in Dragon Nest 2.

At the end of the day, Dragon Nest 2 isn’t really an MMO targeted towards PC players. It’s a carbon copy mobile MMO that was ported to PC in a last ditch effort to scam more money out of PC players utilizing the Dragon Nest intellectual property as a foundation.
It’s a game built to be watched rather than played. Because no sane human bring would ever willingly play this hot mess of a game. Other than its visuals – which were a marginal improvement over its predecessor, this game has no redeeming qualities.
I could not and would not ever recommend anyone play this.

New MMOs are announced all the time. Now that I think about it, more MMOs are announced each year than there are MMOs that release within the same timeframe. And while I make an active effort to cover every single one as they’re revealed, this is one I think we all missed.
On July 3rd, a press release was issued to the public concerning a new “Hardcore MMORPG,” ROM: Remember of Majesty. A title developed by Korean studio RedLab Games, and published by Kakao Games Globally. I’ve never heard of RedLab Games, and a quick Google search turned up some interesting information concerning the company.
RedLab Games was originally founded back in 2021, with a goal of becoming a “Global top-level MMORPG game company with its own competitiveness.”
The CEO of RedLab Games held executive positions in Smilegate, known for Lost Ark, Ntreev, known for Pangya and Trickster Online, Neowiz, known for Bless Online and Bless Unleashed, and Blue Potion Games, known for Echo of Soul.
RedLab, through collaboration with Kakao Games – who made a significant investment into their startup, announced early in 2022 a new title – Project R, noted as being a “high-quality, authentic MMORPG.” No additional information was given, not even an official logo or artwork.

And you might be sitting there thinking it’s just going to be another “trashy pay to win Korean MMO,” and you’re probably right. But not all of them turn out that way. And just because it’s pay to win, doesn’t inherently make it a bad game. Just a bad game to play competitively.
You can always carebear it and not give a fuck, enjoying the world, the combat or RPing. There are plenty of fun pay to win MMOs out there. Black Desert Online is considered by many to be one. So is Blade & Soul. So was TERA before it shut down. All, interstingly enough, which happen to be Korean. Coincidence?

GameVU interviewed the CEO recently concerning the game, and he had some interesting things to say about it. The interview was in Korean, thus this has been translated to the best of my abilities but might be slightly inaccurate.
Remember of Majesty – simply referred to henceforth as ROM is a cross-platform MMORPG developed for both PC and mobile players in mind. They’re developing this with a “hardcore” focus, but outside of sheer difficulty, didn’t elaborate on what specifically made it more hardcore than your average MMO.
They confirmed that the game will feature a basic approach to the MMO genre, as they aren’t looking to innovate. Rather, improve upon what already exists. There will be functional dungeons, raids and boss monsters populating the world.
The game is far enough through its development process where they are certain it will be releasing Globally in 2023. They cited a 3rd Quarter 2023 expectation, but MMOs are large projects and are difficult to ascertain a final release date for.
They’re working towards introducing a free, player driven economy. Which is great in the short-term when there are a surplus of players out farming. But gets progressively more taxing on players as the community dries up.
It seems as though they’re working towards not only having a direct PC client, but also upgrading the graphics to compete with current releases. Graphics for mobile are going to be optimized for mobile devices specifically, with PC players having access to a game that supposedly looks significantly different.
A Global version was confirmed. They never elaborated on whether Global would release simultaneously with the Korean version, or at a later date.
ROM is based on an entirely new intellectual property and not linked in any way to any other form of media. The game seems to be set in a large Western fantasy-world with varying regions and weather conditions.
They want to have a large focus on PvP – and have confirmed they understand PvP is difficult to implement and balance. Nevertheless, this is a large focus of theirs – arguably their main focus, alluding to PvP being what makes the game “hardcore.” Open-world and instanced PvP, I guess?
I know this definitely won’t appeal to everyone.
Of slight concern to me is the fact that in their interview they noted “Even if the game expands into play to earn in the future,” which means that while not currently a feature that they have in-game, it is something they’re definitely contemplating.
Play to earn doesn’t immediately make an MMO bad. But I have yet to see it received well.
It looks as though classes aren’t going to be as basic as “Archers equip a bow” or “Rogues equip daggers.” Rather, according to the class fantasy they’re touting, “Archers didn’t just use bows.” Thus, classes will be able to swap between numerous weapons and weapon types.
There also don’t seem to be traditional classes. “We wanted to focus on having classes be long-range, short-range and mage. to increase the degree of freedom in using weapons.” That could be cool. Free weapon systems are great – I love running around as a Mage in ESO and smashing peoples heads in with a greataxe. They never see it coming.
When asked what business model they would employ, they seemed hesitant to reply. I’m going to assume it’s free to play, but will likely be heavily monetized with a severe predatory cash shop. But that’s mere speculation.

And that was everything. Ultimately, I’m very weary of the game. There are a lot of things that really sound concerning to me. Potential play to earn. A large focus on PvP rather than PvE. The fact that this guy held an executive position on several studios with horribly received, predatory MMOs.
But I’m not going to write it off without seeing more, and playing it myself. I think every MMO has potential… I think almost every MMO has potential. And I’m curious to see more. On that note, I’m genuinely unsure of why we don’t have full gameplay trailers by now given it’s supposed to release in a few months.
You’d think there’d be promotional campaigns running in anticipation of the game, pre-registration events. Oh well.

I’ve been a fan of Mabinogi for over a decade. And while I’m still rather fond of its graphical style, there’s no denying that it could definitely do with an upgrade.

Which is what the devs confirm is the case, with Mabinogi’s game director announcing the “Eternity Project,” confirming that he believes upgrading the game’s engine to Unreal Engine 5 is a necessary improvement, and will allow for the studio to continue to maintain the game long into the future.
A lot of additions and alterations will be made to the game with this conversion, like the ability to go underwater, sail the seas. The only thing missing was a release date, which was purposely overlooked.