author: Zuzanna Domeradzka
Older Than WoW and RuneScape. Cult MMORPG Now 25 Years-old, Developers' Plans Still Ambitious
Two games from the Darkpaw Games studio are celebrating anniversaries this year that could be the envy of many MMO productions. Despite the passage of years, the developers do not stop supporting their works.
The most famous MMO games include: World of Warcraft, EVE Online, RuneScape, and Final Fantasy XIV. Despite being released on the market nearly 20 years ago, the first three of these titles are still being developed and continue to attract many players. The same goes for the series from Darkpaw Games studio, which is even older than the mentioned games.
EverQuest and EverQuest II - as we are referring to these free games - will soon celebrate their 25th and 20th anniversaries, respectively. The developers decided to honor the fact that their games are still "alive" after so many years.
Whole year of celebration
The devs didn't limit themselves to a one-time giveaway of gifts to loyal fans (as often happens in the case of such celebrations in other online games). Instead, they announced 2024 as "The Year of Darkpaw." This means that for 12 months players can expect various new features and bonuses.
PC Gamer has received information from the developers about the roadmap for this period. We learn from it, among other things, that:
- New content such as collections, missions, giveaways, and limited items will be released monthly for EverQuest and EverQuest II (in January, players can collect a winged cat and an orc wand, but only in the second installment).
- Many old events will return;
- The 31st expansion for the original will premiere in December, and the 21st for the second installment will premiere in November (no details about them have been given yet).
- The "anniversary tower" will be introduced in the first installment in November, where players will fight monsters on each of the 11 floors and ultimately face the boss.
Furthermore, the developers intend to implement enhancements to the anti-cheat software and improve the performance of the servers for the first installment.
Check out the graphics below to see the specific development plans for EverQuest and EverQuest II if you're interested in what will be released each month.
Popularity of EverQuest
It's worth noting that despite such a long presence on the market - and perhaps because of it - EverQuest isn't very popular on Steam. Both the first installment and the sequel attract an average of 100-500 players at the peak time of each day (via SteamDB). In comparison: The slightly younger RuneScape attracts a significantly larger number of users on Valve's platform (up to 3,000 at the same time).
EverQuest and EverQuest II can actually be played by a slightly larger number of people, as the games of Darkpaw Games are available for download from an external client, similar to RuneScape.
The fact that both of these games are still functioning is quite an achievement. Landmark, an MMO set in the same universe, had a much worse outcome - its servers were shut down a year after its release.
The studio behind the discussed MMORPGs appears to be brimming with passion, as indicated by their eagerness to further develop these games. In an interview with PC Gamer, Jennifer Chan, the head of Darkpaw Games, commented on leading a project with such a long history.
It's a whole lot of emotions, the first one that comes to mind is that it's humbling. It's humbling to be a part of something that has touched so many different people over the course of their lives.
