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Monthly recap

What Happened This Month in MMOs — September 2026

2026-09-01 → 2026-09-30, from 30 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

  • ArcheAge Chronicles — Network Test (US & Canada) · Beta · September 12, 2026
  • RuneScape: Dragonwilds — 1.0 Launch · Launch · September 15, 2026
  • Guild Wars 2 — Visions of Eternity: Code of Creation · Major Update · September 15, 2026
  • Lost Ark — Dimensionalist class + Base Camp (Dimensions Unbound) · Major Update · September 16, 2026
  • Aion 2 — Launch Scale Test (open stress test) · Beta · September 17, 2026
  • World of Warcraft: Forever — Beta · Beta · September 17, 2026
  • Dune: Awakening — Console Launch (PS5 / Xbox Series X|S) · Launch · September 22, 2026
  • Throne and Liberty — Colossus Vegamor update · Major Update · September 24, 2026
  • Aion 2 — Advance Access (Founder's Packs) · Early Access · September 30, 2026

🆕 New on the release tracker

📈 Risers this month

GameStart of month (avg)End of month (avg)Change
RuneScape: Dragonwilds2.2K14K+535%
Dune: Awakening3.2K12K+261%
Warframe52K73K+41%
Destiny 212K17K+36%
Wakfu181236+30%
Star Trek Online9711.2K+20%
Lost Ark4.3K5K+17%
EVE Online3.8K4.1K+8%
Black Desert Online19K20K+6%
DC Universe Online308327+6%

📉 Fallers this month

GameStart of month (avg)End of month (avg)Change
PIONER31914-96%
SpiritVale10K2.5K-75%
Mortal Online 2366224-39%
Haven & Hearth166119-28%
Star Resonance276200-28%
Gloria Victis475352-26%
MapleStory8.2K6.1K-26%
BitCraft Online521400-23%
Legend of YMIR250196-22%
Farever314247-21%

The full Steam activity numbers behind these movers — every riser and faller with the complete methodology — live in the September 2026 Steam activity report.

🗓️ Release-schedule changes

  • Dune: Awakening — Console Launch (PS5 / Xbox Series X|S): confirmed → released · Launched on schedule on September 22, 2026 — the publisher's "Out Now on Console" post. source
  • Throne and Liberty — Colossus Vegamor update: confirmed → released · Shipped on schedule in Update 4.13.0 (maintenance 10:30 p.m. PT September 23 / 5:30 a.m. UTC September 24). source
  • RuneScape: Dragonwilds — 1.0 Launch: confirmed → released · Shipped on schedule: Jagex's "Dragonwilds 1.0 Release is now live" post is dated September 15, 2026 and lists PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and PC. source
  • EVE Vanguard — Persistent Alpha (24/7, paid access): November 2026 (announced) → November 10, 2026 (confirmed) · Fenris Creations dated the 24/7 Alpha on September 17 — the month window narrowed to a committed day. Access is now paid (EVE Launcher only); the earlier free-playtest framing no longer applies. source
  • Lost Ark — Dimensionalist class + Base Camp (Dimensions Unbound): September 2026 (announced) → September 16, 2026 (released) · Amazon never named a day in advance; the update went live on September 16, 2026 as Dimensions Unbound — the working-title Warpweaver class shipped as the Dimensionalist, with the Mokoko Base Camp event. source
  • Guild Wars 2 — Visions of Eternity: Code of Creation: confirmed → released · Released as scheduled on September 15, 2026 — ArenaNet's launch-day post: "Visions of Eternity wraps up its dramatic story arc today with the release of 'Code of Creation.'" source
  • Throne and Liberty — Colossus Vegamor update: Late September 2026 (delayed) → September 24, 2026 (confirmed) · The September 15 'Vegamor Awakens' devblog named the day — the late-September window narrowed to a committed date; the August → September slip stays on record above. source
  • Aion 2 — Launch Scale Test (open stress test): confirmed → released · Ran as announced on September 17 (6 AM–12 PM PDT) and September 18 (12–6 PM PDT); Advance Access (September 30) and the October 5 launch are unchanged. source
  • World of Warcraft: Forever — Beta: confirmed → released · Opened on schedule on September 17, 2026 — Blizzard's "Beta Now Live" post; the test runs through October 21 with pack buyers and selected opt-ins. source
  • ArcheAge Chronicles — Network Test (US & Canada): confirmed → released · Ran as scheduled: XLGAMES posted "Network Test Now Live" at the 7:00 PM EDT start and "Network Test Has Ended" at the 1:00 AM EDT close. source
  • Aion 2 — Global Launch (PC): October 2026 (delayed) → October 5, 2026 (confirmed) · NC named the day at gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, 2026 — the October window narrowed to a committed date; the earlier September → October slip stays on record. source
  • Chrono Odyssey — Global Launch: Q1 2027 → Q2 2027 · Pushed one more quarter in Kakao Games' 2Q 2026 earnings call (August 5, 2026); the co-CEO told investors there will not be further delays. source
  • Stars Reach — Steam Early Access: confirmed → released · Early Access opened on Steam on August 18, 2026 as committed — no slip. Severe launch-week server issues were followed by nine hotfixes in two weeks (Starside, September 4). source
  • Scars of Honor — Steam Early Access: Q1 2027 (estimated) → 2027 · Beast Burst's own written statement (MeinMMO interview, June 30, 2026) is that late 2026 was the original aim and 2027 is the realistic Early Access target; the Q1 2027 figure traced only to a fan-site relay of a stream remark, so the tracker now carries the studio's year-precision window. source
  • Ragnarok Zero — Global PC Launch: TBA (announced) → August 18, 2026 (released) · Gravity Game Unite launched Ragnarok Zero: Global on August 18, 2026 — PC client, subscription model, serving Southeast Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The Americas are not in the launch region list. source
  • EverQuest — Lethar (Time-Locked Expansion server): confirmed → released · Opened on schedule on August 26, 2026 at noon PT, starting in The Serpent's Spine with the personal-loot ruleset — the official "Lethar Server is now open!" post is dated August 26. source
  • The Elder Scrolls Online — Season Two: Autumn 2026 (announced) → October 21, 2026 (confirmed) · Game Director Nick Giacomini's July 30 roadmap letter pinned the season start — the autumn window narrowed to a committed date, it did not slip. Update 51 moved one week to September 28 on PC/Mac. source
  • Albion Online — Dragonfire update: confirmed → released · Dragonfire (version 32.000.1) shipped as scheduled on August 31, 2026 across PC, console, and mobile. source
  • Guild Wars 2 — Visions of Eternity: Code of Creation: 2026 (announced) → September 15, 2026 (confirmed) · ArenaNet named the third and final Visions of Eternity update — Code of Creation — on August 11 and dated it September 15; the year window narrowed to a committed day, it did not slip. source
  • Throne and Liberty — Colossus Vegamor update: August 2026 → Late September 2026 · Amazon's August 14 Resistance Report rescheduled the Colossus Vegamor update from August to September to prioritise the Q4 handover of Western operations to NC; the August 26 Update 4.9.0 notes refine it to "the end of September". No new date has been given for the bundled Castle Siege and Tax Delivery changes. source

📰 The month in headlines

⏭️ Confirmed for next month

↩️ Worth coming back to

Thinking about going back to EverQuest? 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.

The EverQuest return guide →

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