Welcome to the first of our MMO Launch Spotlight, where we compile the Massively Multiplayer titles and where they launched over the past week. While we can’t guarantee we’ll have an exhaustive list (because games have to launch in some state for this to make sense), we’ll do our best to keep you apprised of what launched each week. This week, Steam saw 4 games that describe themselves as “Massively Multiplayer” launch on their platform. Let’s get this spotlight started.
ASTRAL TALE
We covered Astral Tale: Myth of Stars earlier this week. The game was originally listed on Steam back in October of 2023. Astral Tale is more along the lines of a relaunch of Twin Saga by developer X-Legend Entertainment and published by Aeria Games. Astral Tale is supposed to have some additional content like brand new professions and expanded customization, and X-legend has taken over publishing of the game globally, and it launched on Steam on January 7th, 2024, with a Mixed review rating as of this article. If you were a fan of Twin Saga you’ll probably want to give this one a shot.
RAID: Shadow Legends
I promise this one isn’t an ad. RAID: Shadow Legends actually released on Steam this week. Known for their mobile game that has some widespread and aggressive advertising, RAID: Shadow Legends is a free to play game by Plarium Global ltd that provides both PvE and Online PvP in a turn-based style combat system. The game states there are over 800 playable characters, some of which are from collaborations. The free-to-play mobile port currently sits at a mixed rating on Steam, with players noting that there is aggressive microtransaction popups, just like the mobile version. However, if you’re a fan of turn-based tactics and character collectors, you can now do so via Steam as of January 9th, 2024.
Grudge
Grudge by Scorge_ and published by Badgermouth Productions is another game that we covered in more detail earlier this week. This early access title went on sale January 9th, 2024, and was developed by a single person. The developer has stated that they believe it will take about another year (or more) post early access to provide more content, add features, balance classes and polish the game. The game features 6 playable races, 3 factions, base building, and some real-time strategy features as well. You never quite know what to expect with Indie games, so if you want to follow along with the games progress, Scorge requests you jump into their Discord and follow along.
Dusty Derby
Dusty Derby isn’t exactly an MMO proper, it seems to be more of a party game that allows up to 32 players to jump in and play various mini games. Geniesoft Inc. hasn’t exactly “released” either, with the game only providing a demo of the game on Steam as of this article. Dubbed a “Party Royale” the game allows for some wacky customization of your dust, and you’ll definitely need to watch out for that dreaded vacuum cleaner. Currently there is no release date, but the demo is free to jump in and try, even if it might be a little hard to hit the max 32 players for a match, which would also be below what one might consider Massively Multiplayer. I guess since Geniesoft is dealing with dust they’ve been playing a little dirty with their terminology, but we’ve seen the label of MMO slapped on games with less players, so we won’t sweep this one away on that alone.
