EverQuest Next

Dave Georgeson, beloved EverQuest franchise lead until 2015 has been very active on Twitter since last week's announcement that EverQuest Next has stopped production. When asked if he could have delivered EQN according to its original vision, Georgeson simply answered, "Yup, absolutely."

Daybreak's Russell Shanks has published a letter on the EverQuest Next site that announces the sad news that the game has been cancelled. Citing big dreams, Shanks said that the development had fallen "short of finding the fun".

Today we reached out to Daybreak Studios to ask them about that thing we've all been eagerly awaiting for over two years: EverQuest Next. Well, we're still going to be waiting, but just as former President John Smedley said, we were assured today EverQuest Next is indeed still being hammered away on.

Everquest Next is working in concert with Landmark players to create some of the locations within Halas. The newly announced contest features a fantastic Style Guide on The Workshop forum to help guide creationists along as they prepare for the contest.

EverQuest Next is alive and well judging by the latest Workshop Show that shines the spotlight on Elves and the Takish Empire. In addition, devs show off some character concept art.

Daybreak Game Company CEO John Smedley has gone on record as saying that EverQuest Next is not vaporware and that development continues on the next chapter in the long-running series of games.

The EverQuest Next site has been updated with a notice that a brand new novella based on the game world has been released. Penned by Maxwell Alexander Drake, the novella is entitled "Dreaming in the Shadow".

A new notice has been posted on the EverQuest Next main forum that lets users know that both the Lore and General Discussion forums will be shut down effective immediately. In the short term, the forums have been temporarily archived as 'read-only' but will disappear for good in April. Daybreak's Dexella cites corporate restructuring as the reason behind the forum closure.

In last Friday's EverQuest Next / Landmark live stream, Terry Michaels revealed that, while the team is currently focused on the PC version of the game, there is the possibility it will be delivered to consoles at some point in the future. "It's really in our heads to see it on consoles." Michaels said.

Daybreak games says it's still very much alive, and Terry Michaels is one of the devs still leading the charge, so what do YOU want to see from EQ Next in 2015? What will affirm your faith in the studio after its layoffs and convince you that EQN is on track?

When SOE turned into Daybreak Game Studio after being acquired by investment company Columbus Nova, readers began to speculate when staff shake ups would begin. A week later and rumors are beginning to float our way that at least two major players at Daybreak have received pink slips.

Sony Online Entertainment has been adamant about its desire to give players influence and control in how EverQuest Next plays out. In a new blog post on the EQN forum, Steve "Moogard" Danuser has written about the importance of worshiping Veeshan and the Nor'I as a point of influence in the game world. The blog also gives background as to each deity's history within the larger EverQuest franchise.

Sony Online Entertainment's former International Brand Manager has finally written about why he left the company so abruptly a week ago. According to Omeed Dariani, he left as a result of failing to communicate his notion that "community first" is the way to go to build brand recognition for Everquest Next and Landmark.

A new Tweet has been released by Omeed Dariani, now formerly the Senior Global Brand Manager at Sony Online Entertainment. According to he post, Dariani resigned from SOE last Friday.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced the release of a new novella based on EverQuest Next. Penned by R.T. Kaelin, the book is titled "From Ash Comes Fire" and takes place after the Dragon Wars, a time in EQN's history chronicled in earlier eBooks.