Monthly recap
What Happened This Month in MMOs — July 2026
2026-07-01 → 2026-07-31, from 25 days of daily tracking. Movers compare 7-day average Steam concurrent players at the start and end of the month; games under 150 average players are excluded, and the numbers are always a partial Steam signal — never a population estimate. Generated automatically from the activity tracker, the release tracker, and the news archive.
🚀 Launched this month
- SpiritVale — Early Access Launch · Early Access · July 15, 2026
- Ragnarok: The New World — Southeast Asia Launch · Regional Launch · July 16, 2026
- Open MMORPG — Open-source release + pre-alpha browser demo · Alpha · July 20, 2026
- Ragnarok Origin Classic — Americas Launch · Regional Launch · July 23, 2026
- EverQuest Legends — Launch · Launch · July 28, 2026
🌇 Servers that went dark
- Book of Travels — Online server shutdown · Sunset · July 31, 2026
🆕 New on the release tracker
- World of Warcraft — Patch 12.1: The Curse of Ula'tek · Major Update · August 11, 2026
- The Elder Scrolls Online — Season Two · Major Update · Autumn 2026
- EVE Online — Theaters of War: second expansion · Expansion · 2026
- Albion Online — Dragonfire update · Major Update · August 31, 2026
- Lost Ark — Warpweaver class + Base Camp · Major Update · September 2026
- EverQuest II — Wuoshi (Time-Locked Expansion server) · Fresh Server · June 9, 2026
- Guild Wars 2 — Visions of Eternity: The Only Way · Major Update · May 12, 2026
- Guild Wars 2 — Visions of Eternity: third major update · Major Update · 2026
- Throne and Liberty — The Frozen Divide: Nix · Expansion · June 25, 2026
- Throne and Liberty — New Colossus + Castle Siege updates · Major Update · August 2026
📈 Risers this month
| Game | Start of month (avg) | End of month (avg) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trove | 670 | 853 | +27% |
| Where Winds Meet | 17K | 21K | +27% |
| Toram Online | 914 | 1.1K | +26% |
| Farever | 1.2K | 1.4K | +19% |
| Myth of Empires | 633 | 709 | +12% |
| Final Fantasy XIV | 16K | 17K | +10% |
| Once Human | 14K | 15K | +8% |
| Black Desert Online | 18K | 19K | +6% |
| Star Trek Online | 965 | 1K | +5% |
| NosTale | 257 | 271 | +5% |
📉 Fallers this month
| Game | Start of month (avg) | End of month (avg) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | 4.1K | 1.1K | -73% |
| Temtem | 177 | 99 | -44% |
| Mortal Online 2 | 1.7K | 991 | -43% |
| Star Resonance | 657 | 442 | -33% |
| Dune: Awakening | 6.3K | 4.2K | -33% |
| Destiny 2 | 44K | 31K | -30% |
| BitCraft Online | 810 | 595 | -27% |
| Soul Land: Awakening World | 1.2K | 898 | -25% |
| Project: Gorgon | 390 | 298 | -24% |
| DC Universe Online | 396 | 302 | -24% |
🗓️ Release-schedule changes
- Stars Reach — Steam Early Access: Summer 2026 (announced) → August 18, 2026 (confirmed) · Playable Worlds pinned the exact day in its July 30 Starside update — the summer window narrowed to a committed date, it did not slip. source
- EverQuest Legends — Launch: confirmed → released · Launched on schedule at Noon PT with a staged server rollout. source
- Ashes of Creation — Beta 1: announced → cancelled · Intrepid Studios closed permanently in February 2026; the beta will never happen. source
- Ghost (working title) — First Public Alpha: announced → cancelled · Fantastic Pixel Castle closed in November 2025; the alpha will never happen. source
📰 The month in headlines
- Patch The 2026 Atys Games are here! · Ryzom · Steam · Ryzom
- 0.12.1.3 is now live! · RuneScape: Dragonwilds · Steam · RuneScape: Dragonwilds
- Betawatch: Stars Reach sets course for early access, EverQuest Legends successfully launches · MassivelyOP · EverQuest Legends
- World of Warcraft Trading Post Takes Us West in August, With a Special New Mount, · MMORPG.com · World of Warcraft
- Flex Your PvP Skills, Earn Rewards, Claim a Gift for Bethesda's Anniversary Next Month in The Elder Scrolls Online · MMORPG.com · The Elder Scrolls Online
- Dungeons & Dragons: World of Warcraft Brings Azeroth to the Digital and Physical Tabletop This Fall · MMORPG.com · World of Warcraft
- Celebrate Bethesda’s 40th with a Free Reward and Sale · The Elder Scrolls Online · Steam · The Elder Scrolls Online
- We got some news! · SpiritVale · Steam · SpiritVale
- Whatever happened to NCsoft's MMORPGs Blade & Soul and Blade & Soul NEO? · MassivelyOP · Blade & Soul NEO
- Update 4.5.0 · Throne and Liberty · Steam · Throne and Liberty
- Hear the Guild Wars 3 Main Theme and Join ANet and Newly-Announced Lead Composer Kazuma Jinnouchi on the Game's Music · MMORPG.com · Guild Wars 3
- News | Field of Forgotten Illusions: Nightmare Mode · Star Resonance · Steam · Star Resonance
- TERA Console opened a competitive dungeon and 5v5 battleground in its most recent update · MassivelyOP · TERA
- Kuldra's Saga - An Update From Mod Dutch · RuneScape: Dragonwilds · Steam · RuneScape: Dragonwilds
- Warframe of Mind: The big guide to picking a frame – Mesa, Chroma, Equinox · MassivelyOP · Warframe
⏭️ Confirmed for next month
- World of Warcraft — Patch 12.1: The Curse of Ula'tek · Major Update · August 11, 2026
- Stars Reach — Steam Early Access · Early Access · August 18, 2026
- EverQuest — Lethar (Time-Locked Expansion server) · Fresh Server · August 26, 2026
- Albion Online — Dragonfire update · Major Update · August 31, 2026
↩️ Worth coming back to
Thinking about going back to EVE Online? The era-by-era return guide covers what you missed, whether your progress survived, and what resuming costs — plus the honest verdict on whether it deserves your comeback.
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