It’s hard to believe it, but May is already here. Summer will soon be upon us, which usually brings a bevy a MMO content updates and expansion announcements. Until then, we’ll have to sustain ourselves on on some hints and teases of what’s to come in the summer and fall.
Guild Wars 2 Launches New Chapter of Living Story, Reconfirms Second Expansion Still Coming
Last week, “Flashpoint” (Living World Season 3’s latest episode) launched in Guild Wars 2. The long-awaited episode was not only accompanied with its customary quarterly(ish) patch, but also with a bunch of information directly from the devs. In a Reddit AMA primarily focused on Flashpoint, Mike O’Brien confirmed that Flashpoint is the fifth out of six total episodes for Season 3, after which the story will be heading straight into the next expansion. He underscored the fact that the expansion team is still hard at work, and the timeline is looking good to release Episode 6 in 2-3 months, then the expansion a bit later than the customary 2-3 months following an Episode.
There were also some images leaked on Reddit that supposedly contained expansion details (since removed). If they’re to be believed, it looks like the next expansion may take players back to the continent of Elona (which was the setting for the game’s Nightfall campaign). More Elite Professions (one for each of the game’s current professions) were also reported to be revealed. While any leaked content should certainly be taken with a grain of salt, I find the general picture to be plausible. Elona or Cantha would have been my first bets for the location of Guild Wars 2’s next expansion, and Arenanet strongly hinted that Elite Professions would be a staple in later expansion when Heart of Thorns was revealed in full. If the expansion really is on track, I expect that official details will begin coming out pretty soon.
Black Desert Online To Receive Steam Launch Later This Month
Whatever the reason, be it better exposure, lower prices, or something else entirely, a Steam launch for an MMO often revitalizes the game. So it could be a big deal indeed that Black Desert Online (BDO) is getting a Steam version on May 24th. Starting that Wednesday, BDO will be available to purchase on Steam, allowing the players who buy it from Valve to launch the game from the Steam client. These players will receive all patches also through Steam and not the BDO launcher, and will also receive full access to BDO Steam Trading Cards and Achievements once they go live (hopefully, also on the 24th).
While players who launch BDO through Steam will be connected to the very same servers as players who launch the game through the BDO launcher, pre-existing BDO accounts will not be able to migrate or sync to a Steam account. For people who like to consolidate all their games in one client, such as Steam, this could be a bit of a letdown. For current or former BDO players, this may also be disappointing if they were hoping to use their Steam wallet funds on Daum Cash and Pearls (which will be a possibility for players who purchase the game on Steam).
That wraps it up for this month. Are you currently playing through Living Story Season 3 in Guild Wars 2? Are you planning on trying out BDO when it launches on Steam? Or are you happily playing some other MMO that’s teasing some future content? As always, let us know in the comments below!