*A Weaver channels all four elements simultaneously — the specialisation's Dual Attack rework in the July 15 balance patch gave it meaningful new options in both PvE and competitive play.*

Week of 18 July 2026

It was the kind of week where something interesting happened in almost every corner of the genre — a hardware failure delayed Guild Wars 2's balance patch by twenty-four hours, Black Desert Online teased a new gunslinger class ahead of Heidel Ball, and RuneScape 3's long-awaited Player-Owned Housing finally opened its doors. Final Fantasy XIV Mobile quietly ceased accepting new players, confirming that its global launch will never come. The shadow of the ZeniMax layoffs continued to deepen as the leadership departures at ESO's studio were fully confirmed. Across ten games, there is a great deal to document.

Guild Wars 2

Balance Patch Delayed by Hardware Failure, Released July 15

The balance update planned for Monday 14 July was pushed back a full day after a network hardware failure in ArenaNet's office disrupted build and deployment pipelines overnight. The studio confirmed the delay in an early-morning Discord post, noting that while the hardware itself had been repaired, systems were still being recovered and the team was not in a position to respond swiftly to any post-patch issues. The update went live the following morning, Wednesday 15 July, at the standard 10:00 AM Pacific time. The honesty about the reasoning behind the delay — prioritising team stability over hitting the announced date — was noted positively by the community.

Elementalist — Weaver Rework

The headline change in this patch is a substantial rework to the Weaver specialisation, with several Dual Attack skills and traits receiving overhauls or entirely new functionality. The notes describe the goal as introducing new options for Weaver players, many of whose skills had not been revisited since Path of Fire's launch in 2017.

Aquatic Stance, Twist of Fate, Stone Resonance, and Unravel have all been redesigned. Unravel is removed as a utility skill entirely, replaced by the new Fervent Stance (granting quickness, fury, and swiftness, with might on Dual Attack use). Aquatic Stance now refunds endurance on dodge rather than healing allies, giving it a more active role in survival.
Multiple Weaver Dual Attacks received improved usability — Fiery Frost now removes inhibiting conditions in addition to its evade, Glacial Drift dazes on hit, Earthen Synergy's stun duration extended from 1.5 to 2 seconds, Monsoon now knocks back and inflicts vulnerability.
PvE power coefficients were raised across seven skills: Flame Uprising, Cauterizing Strike, Earthen Spear, Fissure, Galvanize, Triple Sear, and Ground Pound all saw increases of roughly 15–28%. Spear Weaver received a counterbalancing nerf in WvW only.
A patch analysis on YouTube described Weaver as the clear winner of the patch, noting that it is now genuinely strong in PvE and better positioned in competitive modes. Spear Weaver's WvW nerf was considered appropriate given how dominant it had become.

Engineer and Guardian

Engineer changes were modest and focused on underused tools. All turrets can now be manually overcharged after the cooldown has elapsed (previously they only overcharged automatically on placement), giving Engineer players more deliberate control over their summons.

Healing Mist cooldown reduced from 25 to 20 seconds. Inventions trait line received additional regeneration sources. Amalgam Symbiotic Shielding and Defensive Protocol Thorns both had their PvP cooldowns increased from 25 to 30 seconds — the only nerfs in the patch.
Guardian's Symbol skills received new effects on initial pulse: Symbol of Swiftness grants superspeed to nearby allies, Symbol of Vengeance dazes enemies, and Symbol of Energy deals extra damage on impact. Power Willbender's Power for Power trait saw its Willbender Flames bonus doubled from 100% to 200% in PvE.

Dungeon Rush — 14 to 21 July

Dungeon Rush launched alongside (or technically, the day after) the balance patch, running through 21 July. The event rewards bonus Pristine Fractal Relics and additional currency for completing Fractals during the event period, and also applies to the classic explorable dungeons. It is one of the better moments in the year for players aiming to progress their Ascended gear through the Fractal track.

*Pearl Abyss revealed a teaser for Eddie, an incoming gun-wielding class, ahead of Heidel Ball — while the Winged Mermaid world boss has arrived at Terrmian Beach for the summer.*

Black Desert Online

Eddie — New Class Teased Ahead of Heidel Ball

On 17 July, Pearl Abyss published a short teaser video introducing a character called Eddie — a gun-wielding figure on a mission to bring back his sister. A press release confirmed that the teaser represents an upcoming new class, with the full name, combat style, and abilities to be revealed at Heidel Ball on 26 July. The Deadeye sibling theming places Eddie in a family lineage with the existing Deadeye class.

Heidel Ball 2026 takes place in Southern California on 26 July. The event functions as Pearl Abyss's major content showcase, typically featuring expansion announcements, new class reveals, and roadmap previews. Attendees at previous Heidel Ball events have also benefited from exclusive in-game rewards distributed on-site.
A predictive voting event — NA vs EU Showdown at Heidel Ball 2026 — has launched ahead of the event (16 July through 24 July), awarding rewards based on the outcome of the competitive showcase at the venue.

July 16 Patch — Winged Mermaid and Abyssal Illusion 3

The July 16 maintenance brought a varied set of additions. The notes cover new events, gameplay improvements, and the third tier of Altar of Blood content:

Winged Mermaid, a new World Boss, spawns twice daily at Terrmian Beach through 30 July. Defeating her drops a Terrmian Dice Box, Cron Stones, Gold Bars, and — with luck — a Box of 1,000 Cron Stones or a Gold Bar 1,000G. A fishing component adds rare ocean treasure bundles containing Gold Bars, Crow Coins, Ravinia's Moss Remover, and a Moss-Covered Map that leads to buried underwater treasure.
Altar of Blood's 3rd Abyssal Illusion has been added, extending the high-end challenge content. The weekly attempt cap has been doubled from 5 to 10.
A Monster Zone Info UI improvement now displays recommended zones based on a player's current total AP, with a 'challenge zones' indicator for pushing progression. This is a meaningful quality-of-life addition for players at gear transitions.
Yar matchmaking now supports cross-server matches, allowing more consistent grouping in the minigame.
Sea monster loot at Margoria pirate fleet, gold mine pirates, and Lekrashan has been improved, with drop rates increased across the white-to-blue crystal range.
Arena of Solare Hall of Fame has opened: statues representing adventurers who ranked first place in their class are now displayed in the Battle Arena, interactable for a reward.
Wild horse populations have been increased in 18 zones across Balenos, the Northern Heidel Quarry, Fogan Marsh, Fairy Valley, and others, addressing a long-standing frustration for trainers about server switching.

The Fountain Feels Festive — Heidel Ball Prelude

Daily fountain quests in Heidel are rewarding an Adventurer's Tome with multiple combat and EXP buffs (Monster DR +10, 10% item drop rate, 100% combat XP, and more), running through 30 July alongside the main Terrmian Beach festival.

RuneScape 3

Player-Owned Housing — Live Now

The Player-Owned House rework launched on 13 July, the most substantial overhaul to the Construction skill in RuneScape 3's history. A day-2 developer blog followed on 14 July with additional detail and a Q&A. The launch has broadly been received positively, with the community noting the depth of customisation on offer.

Construction has been raised to a skill cap of 120, giving high-level players a longer progression path. Existing players retain their levels, with additional XP targets unlocking from 99 to 120.
House plots are divided into zones for rooms, gardens, and outdoor spaces. Players can place furniture, trophies, interactive devices, and decorative elements in each room. Many items from across the game's history — boss trophies, skill-related items, seasonal event rewards — can be displayed.
Multiple house types are available at different Construction level thresholds, ranging from a modest cottage to a sprawling manor. Furniture construction uses materials gathered from Woodcutting, Mining, and Crafting, tying the Construction skill into the broader skilling ecosystem.
Guest mode allows players to visit each other's houses with full interaction. A housing directory is accessible from most major cities.
The update also coincides with the active promotion of Leagues II: Equilibrium, expected in roughly one month, as well as the upcoming Havenhythe Part II content.

The week brought two contrasting FFXIV stories: a sold-out Fanfest in Berlin promises major reveals on 25 July, while FFXIV Mobile has confirmed it will never leave China — and will shut down there too on 30 September.

Final Fantasy XIV

EU Fanfest Berlin — 25–26 July

With Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin just over a week away, Square Enix has confirmed the full stage schedule and opened ticket sales for the concert live streams. The headline moment of the event arrives on Saturday 25 July at 16:00 CEST: a keynote from producer/director Naoki Yoshida expected to reveal the new Tank job coming in the Evercold (8.0) expansion. Later that evening, Producer Letter Live No. 93 (23:30 BST) will feature a two-hour deep dive into the Beastmaster Limited Job, with confirmed live gameplay.

Virtual stream tickets for the Keiko Piano Concert (Saturday night) and THE PRIMALS Live (Sunday night) are on sale via StreamPass and FanStream and are available until 17 August.
The venue at hub27 in Berlin is sold out in person. All stage content except the concert streams free on YouTube and Twitch, with live English interpretation throughout. Co-streaming is permitted.
Dawntrail is 50% off on the Square Enix Store and Mog Station through 31 July, timed to drive new players before the Evercold pre-release period.
FFXIV is arriving on Nintendo Switch 2 in August, extending the game's platform reach ahead of the Evercold launch window (targeting January 2027).

FFXIV Mobile — Global Launch Cancelled, China Shutdown 30 September

Square Enix and Tencent issued a joint announcement on 17 July confirming that Final Fantasy XIV Mobile (Chinese Edition) will end service on 30 September 2026. In-game purchases and new user registrations were suspended immediately on 17 July. The global launch — which had been anticipated since the game's announcement in November 2024 — has been cancelled entirely. CGMagazine confirmed the news.

The stated reason is "adjustments in business operations and changes in the market environment." The game launched in China in June 2025 via Tencent's LightSpeed Studios and received criticism for its monetisation model in its short operational window.
Forums and customer support will close on 15 October 2026. Account data will be deleted in accordance with Chinese data protection law following the shutdown.
The closure ends what had been an extended period of speculation — the global build had been confirmed cancelled by multiple sources since mid-2026. Square Enix has not commented on whether a future mobile iteration of FFXIV is under consideration.

Patch 7.55 — Content Site Updated

The official Patch 7.55 page received new content details on 16 July: Crescent Isle North (the next stage of the Mirage Island content), Phantom Weapon (the final reinforcement stage), and the Hildibrand Dawntrail chapter have all been confirmed as part of the patch, which follows Patch 7.3 on 5 August.

Elder Scrolls Online

Leadership Team Confirmed Departed

The full extent of the ZeniMax leadership exodus following the July 7 layoffs became clear this week. In addition to the previously reported departures of Community Director Gina Bruno, studio sources confirmed — and GameFile reported — that Studio Director Jo Burba, Executive Producer Susan Kath, Game Director Rich Lambert, and Production Director Alla Diaz are all among those who have left as part of the WARN Act-notified layoffs.

Jo Burba had been appointed studio head in July 2025 — a tenure of just over one year. Rich Lambert had been with the studio for the bulk of ESO's development. Their departures represent a significant loss of institutional knowledge at the senior level.
The studio will now be led by Josh Henderson (formerly head of business operations) and Nick Giacomini (game director), both of whom are internal promotions. According to GameFile, a transition notice was sent to staff informing them of new leadership, with a handover expected over "the next few months."
The WARN Act filing confirmed a total of 379 redundancies across ZeniMax divisions: 213 at ZeniMax Online Studios and 166 at ZeniMax Media. With the 2025 round of 62 cuts added, the studio has now lost approximately 275 people in 12 months, leaving an estimated 100–186 staff members — a reduction of roughly 40% from its headcount 18 months ago.
A laid-off developer speaking to Kotaku confirmed that content cadence will slow noticeably: "We will no longer be able to release as much content and at the same speed as before — or even close to it." The studio disputes the framing of maintenance mode, noting the remaining team is approximately the size it was during the Wrothgar and Summerset era.
ESO is reported to be generating approximately $15 million per month in revenue, which is cited as the key reason Xbox has not moved to shut down the game.

Season 1 and ESO Tavern Follow-Up

The ESO Tavern fan event, held in Germany on 10–12 July, gave the remaining development team a direct opportunity to address the community. Associate Design Director Jason Barnes and Community Lead Jessica Folsom spoke openly about the layoffs, confirming team size and reaffirming the "not maintenance mode" position. Season 1 continues as planned, with the Sheogorath storyline due 29 July and the Nowhere Vault still on track.

World of Warcraft

July 14 Hotfixes and PTR Activity

A July 14 hotfix pass addressed a range of issues across live and PTR builds. PvP: Rune of Lingering damage-over-time no longer interrupts flag captures. Dungeons and Raids: Lightblinded Vanguard respawn fix in The Voidspire (soft reset scenario). Quest fixes for Maisara Caverns, a portal QoL addition from Grand Magister Rommath for Omnium Folio weekly quests, and housing room unlock issues for House Levels 3 and 5.

The 12.1 "Curse of Ula'tek" PTR continues active testing. Blizzard has outlined quality-of-life improvements coming with the patch: account-wide user interface settings, Auction House improvements, a one-time Profession Knowledge reset for players who want to change their Profession specialisation, and fixes for common combat and travel issues.
Item level increases for Midnight Season 2 were outlined on 8 July, giving the playerbase a clear picture of the gear floor heading into the next content tier.
TBC Classic Phase 3 — Mount Hyjal and Black Temple — is expected before the end of July based on the established Classic schedule. Mists of Pandaria Classic is expected to announce its Warlords of Draenor Classic transition at some point in the near future. Neither has a confirmed date as of this writing.

Darkspear Dash — Community Event

The Darkspear Dash, a new in-game event inspired by the long-running player-organised Running of the Trolls charity event, has launched and runs through the coming weeks. Players race from Echo Isles to Silvermoon City, spreading rainbow cheer along the route in a celebration of individuality — a nod to the real-world Pride spirit that has driven the Running of the Trolls since 2011.

Old School RuneScape

Maggot King Drop Table — Mid-Week Update

A mid-week update on 14–15 July refined the Blood Moon Rises content, specifically around the Maggot King boss and associated new enemies. The community had been tracking drop rates in the days since the 30 June launch, and this patch addressed several points of feedback.

Venator teeth and Venator fangs are now tradeable, a change that significantly opens up access to these items for main accounts who prefer not to grind the specific encounter. At the time of the update, teeth were trading at approximately 10,000 gold each.
Superior Venenatis will now correctly drop a Venenatis heart when defeated with the Sunspear's special attack — a bug fix that had been causing frustration since the update launched.
Confirmed Maggot King drop rates via RuneFix: Crimson Chinchompa at 1-in-520; Venenatis blood shard at 1-in-860; Superior Venenatis rate at 1-in-5.
Grapevine storage and harvesting improvements: grapevines now stack and can be harvested directly to the bank, addressing a quality-of-life friction point in the Farming guild.

New Island Announced — Arriving July 29

A new OSRS island area has been confirmed for release on 29 July. Details remain limited ahead of the announcement, but it is described as a new explorable zone. Further information is expected next week.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Pirate Incursion and July Events

Pirate Incursion is now live on Dantooine, running 21 to 28 July and providing a seasonal structure for the latter half of the month. The event offers dedicated currency and rewards for characters of Legacy level 10 and above. Nar Shaddaa Nightlife continues through 11 August.

July Cartel Market sales are live, with rotating discounts on Cartel Coin bundles and selected market items. The July rotation is tracked on Today in TOR.
Galactic Season 10 objectives continue, with the Pirate Incursion period now included in the weekly challenge cadence. Game Update 8.0 development remains the studio's stated primary focus, with a PTS Phase 1 described as imminent in the Q2 producer letter.

EVE Online

Alliance Tournament XXII Announced

Fenris Creations announced Alliance Tournament XXII on 14 July, laying out the full calendar for the year's premier competitive event. Key dates: talent applications open now; main rules announced 23 July; team registration opens 23 July and closes 30 July; Thunderdome patched to mirror Tranquillity on 23 July, with preliminary seed broadcast and match schedules to follow.

AT XXII marks the return of the Alliance Tournament after a multi-year absence. The format details — team size, restrictions, and prize structure — will be confirmed with the main rules announcement on 23 July.
A separate PLEX sale is running this week: 20% off selected PLEX packages, with free Hrada-Oki Offender SKINs included for qualifying purchases.

Operation Avalon — Ends July 20

Operation Avalon — the cross-platform collaborative event between EVE Online and EVE Vanguard — closes at downtime on 20 July. Players wanting to engage with the Avalon Investigations in Empire space and claim the remaining seasonal rewards (salvaging implant, damage control module, Incursion Stabilizer capstone token) have until downtime on Sunday to do so. Vanguard published the end date.

Broader Genre News

Lord of the Rings Online — Expansion Reveal July 31

Standing Stone Games has confirmed that a new LOTRO expansion name, setting, and further details will be revealed on 31 July. The AIE podcast confirmed the announcement alongside several other upcoming LOTRO events: the Ill Omens skirmish event runs 23 July through 11 August. On the Legendary servers, both Angmar and Mordor are approaching a major milestone as all Nine Nazgûl enter play, opening some of the most challenging encounters in the game. A new monster player class — the Angmarim Sorceress, the first new PvMP class in 18 years — is also in development.

SpiritVale — Early Access

SpiritVale, a class-based action MMORPG inspired by classic role-playing games, entered Early Access on PC on 15 July. The game is set in a fragmented world populated by monsters, with players choosing from multiple character classes. It is worth keeping an eye on for those interested in smaller MMO launches.

FFXIV on Nintendo Switch 2

Final Fantasy XIV is confirmed to arrive on Nintendo Switch 2 in August 2026, extending the game's platform reach ahead of the Evercold expansion. Square Enix has confirmed that the Switch 2 version will be playable at Nintendo-adjacent events in Japan ahead of launch.

Looking Ahead

The most significant date in the coming week is 25 July and the FFXIV Fan Festival Berlin keynote, where Naoki Yoshida is expected to reveal the new Tank job coming in Evercold. That evening, Producer Letter Live No. 93 will go deep on the Beastmaster Limited Job with live gameplay. For FFXIV players, this is the equivalent of a summer showcase — the next big piece of the 8.0 puzzle.

Also on 26 July: Heidel Ball in Southern California, where Pearl Abyss is expected to reveal the Eddie class fully and likely outline BDO's content roadmap through the rest of the year. Given the teaser's narrative focus on Eddie's family connection to the Deadeye, this one has the potential to be a more story-forward class reveal than recent additions. The new island arriving in OSRS on 29 July is another event to track, with details still pending.

The ESO story will not go quiet: the revised Season 1 roadmap should emerge in the coming weeks, and Josh Henderson and Nick Giacomini's first public communications as the new leadership team will be watched closely by a community that is understandably cautious about what "the same size as Summerset" actually means for content ambition in 2026 and beyond.

Patch Day, One Day Late