*The Dancing Mad Ultimate world-first is claimed — but the community's verdict on 'Name TBD' is anything but settled.*

Week of 13 June 2026

Final Fantasy XIV's Dancing Mad Ultimate had barely been open a week before a world-first controversy erupted around it — and that story has dominated MMORPG conversation for much of the past seven days. Elsewhere, the Guild Wars franchise delivered an illuminating follow-up livestream to last week's GW3 announcement, laying out a detailed roadmap for both games and the new mobile title. The Elder Scrolls Online's Update 50 arrived to broadly positive reception and a significant milestone: Valve has certified it Steam Deck Verified. And in New Eden, the Cradle of War expansion went live on Tuesday, bringing the Military Campaigns framework and a new chapter in EVE Online's ongoing reinvention.

Final Fantasy XIV

The Dancing Mad Ultimate opened on 2 June with Patch 7.51, and by 7 June a world-first clear had been claimed. It should have been a straightforward moment of celebration for the FFXIV raiding community. Instead it became one of the more protracted disputes the game has seen around a world-first result.

The World-First Dispute

Japanese team Name TBD claimed the world-first clear on 7 June but submitted only a video recording of the clear as documentation, citing concerns about stream sniping. They did not stream their progression. This immediately drew scrutiny: the community's longstanding expectation for world-first validation is a live stream, which allows viewers to observe the run in real time and rule out external assistance. A submitted video, however high quality, cannot be independently verified in the same way.
Multiple high-profile members of the FFXIV raiding scene have publicly alleged that the team cheated — either through external tools, modified game clients, or other means — though no specific evidence has been published. The allegations rest substantially on the absence of a stream and what some raiders describe as atypically fast progression given the fight's difficulty and the community's understanding of its phases.
Square Enix has issued no official comment on the dispute. The lack of a formal certification process — FFXIV has never maintained an official world-first adjudication body — leaves the situation unresolved by any authority. The community is effectively in a self-governing position, and the consensus appears divided: some accept the clear at face value, others do not.
Second place went to team DN, whose clear was streamed in full and was described by viewers as a technically impressive run. Third was Banana Codex. Both teams have received praise for their documented approaches. Coverage on GamesRadar has tracked the community reaction.
This is not the first time a Dancing-related world-first has generated controversy in FFXIV — the phrase 'another Final Fantasy 14 Ultimate raid, another controversy' is not hyperbole but a literal echo of prior disputes. Whether the community eventually reaches consensus or the dispute simply fades without resolution remains to be seen.

Other Patch 7.51 Content

The Cosmic Exploration Oxysia finale is live — the concluding chapter of the current cosmic initiative. Tool mastery points replace the former cosmic class score system, and the new Timed Challenge stellar mission type rewards on score rather than completion alone. Players access it via Oizys.
New custom deliveries client Tiisol Ja is active. Completing the weekly deliveries over time will unlock the Eat Taco emote at satisfaction level five. New Triple Triad cards and NPC opponents have also been added to the Gold Saucer.
The Make It Rain campaign continues through 24 June, offering 50% bonus MGP and the Senor Otter minion for Gold Saucer participants. The full patch details are available via the Dawntrail page.

Guild Wars

On 9 June, ArenaNet held a franchise update livestream that answered many of the questions left open by the Summer Game Fest announcement. It is a rare piece of developer communication — detailed, specific, and calibrated to address community anxiety rather than generate hype. The picture it paints is of a studio managing three active products simultaneously, with a clear internal structure to support that.

GW2 Player Response to GW3 Announcement

Guild Wars 2 saw a 45% increase in player numbers in the week following the GW3 announcement. Saturday, 7 June set a new all-time record for returning players — more than double the previous record, which had been set at the launch of the Visions of Eternity expansion. The data suggest that news of a sequel brought lapsed players back to the current game rather than deterring them, aligning with ArenaNet's stated intent.
The livestream explicitly addressed the platform question: Guild Wars 2 is not coming to consoles or mobile devices. Guild Wars 3 is the console GW game; Guild Wars Reforged is the mobile GW game. The GW2 team remains on GW2 — ArenaNet described distinct internal studio teams for each product, with GW3 being developed by a separate team.

Guild Wars 2 — After Visions of Eternity

Visions of Eternity wraps around September 2026. After that, GW2 enters roughly an 18-month expansion break — but this is not a quiet period. The confirmed work includes: Hall of Monuments 2.0, a new Orr map for GW2, a new WvW Borderlands map, and engine modernisation.
The new WvW Borderlands map is being built with community input, with a prototype going live early in the process for approximately one year of community testing before the final version ships. This is an unusually transparent development approach for WvW content, which has historically been a less-communicated area of the game.
ArenaNet confirmed that after GW3 launches, GW2 will return to its annual expansion cadence. The studio stated plainly that GW2 has 'years of story left'.

Hall of Monuments 2.0

Hall of Monuments 2.0 will connect GW2 accomplishments to GW3 rewards — a deliberate echo of the original Hall of Monuments system that linked GW1 achievements to GW2 bonuses. The system rolls out in phases by the end of 2026, with the first phase covering the core game. Subsequent phases will cover additional content areas.
No GW3 has been confirmed, but the structure implies that long-term GW2 players will have a pathway to carry recognition — if not direct mechanical advantage — into the new game. The full livestream is on YouTube and runs to approximately two hours, with timestamps for each major topic.

Guild Wars 3 — Further Details

GW3 is set 1,200 years before Guild Wars 1 — deeper into the past than any prior GW title. ArenaNet described it as a more grounded high fantasy setting, with no Engineer-style technological classes. The tone is closer to the high fantasy of the original Guild Wars than the more contemporary-inflected setting of GW2.
In an IGN interview, Colin Johanson confirmed no subscription fee and no battle pass for GW3. The business model details will be communicated further in 2026 and into 2027. The beta window remains fall 2027 — some earlier sources reported 'later this year', but the official position is autumn 2027.

Guild Wars Reforged — Mobile

Guild Wars Reforged, the mobile entry in the franchise, launches 24 June 2026. No further details were provided in the livestream beyond the date confirmation.

The Elder Scrolls Online

Update 50 went live on 8 June across all platforms simultaneously — the new policy eliminates the stagger that previously gave PC players an early access window. Reception has been broadly positive, with the combat changes in particular drawing community analysis. A widely shared YouTube video titled 'The Update That SAVED Combat?' captures the tone of the conversation: measured scepticism giving way to qualified approval.

Steam Deck Verified

Following the release of Update 50, Valve retested ESO and upgraded its Steam Deck rating to Verified — the highest tier. The move to Proton 11 Beta appears to have resolved the compatibility issues that had kept the game at a lower rating. This is a meaningful accessibility win for a game of ESO's age and complexity, and should broaden its reach on handheld hardware.

Warden Class Rework

The Warden class rework — which had been expected in Update 50 — has been pushed back to Update 51. No reason was given publicly. Warden players have noted this is the second time the rework has been delayed from a planned patch cycle; community patience on the matter is wearing somewhat thin, though the quality of the delay rather than the fact of it seems to be the broader sentiment.

Upcoming Events

Chaos Ball PvP ran 10–17 June, giving players a break from the standard Cyrodiil structure in the days immediately following the major update. The Golden Pursuits 'A New Challenge Arises' campaign begins on 18 June, tying directly into the Challenge Difficulty system — its rewards are structured to encourage players to explore the new difficulty tiers rather than simply remain on Adventurer.
Update 51 is expected in early July. A developer look at its contents was anticipated around the Xbox Games Showcase on 7 June. The Warden rework is now confirmed for U51, giving it a target window of early July. The full June schedule is covered in the survival guide on GameSpace.

EVE Online

The Cradle of War expansion went live on 9 June, introducing the Military Campaigns framework, four new Navy Destroyers, four Tech II Command Carriers, and the Exordium new-player starting space. For an expansion announced and delivered in the same month, the scope is substantial.

Cradle of War — Live

The Military Campaigns framework launches with the Caldari–Gallente campaign going first. Campaign outcomes will influence the shape of the New Eden map over time, giving large-scale conflict a persistent consequence beyond individual battles. Community interest in the long-term implications of this system has been significant since its announcement.
The Exordium new-player starting space is described as 'work in progress' at launch — an unusual admission, but one that reflects the expansion's ambitions around new-player retention. New players are directed there from 9 June regardless of the in-progress state.
The Visions of Greatness Epic Arc went live on 10 June, offering historical battle simulations drawn from New Eden's in-world lore. A 15-day login reward track is active alongside the expansion launch, distributing SKINR components, empire boosters, and skill point rewards.
The full expansion notes are on the EVE Online site.

RuneScape 3

RuneScape 3's most significant update in some time arrived on 8 June: the Player Avatar Refresh, a full model overhaul that has been in development for an extended period and has carried considerable community anticipation.

Player Avatar Refresh — Live

The refresh updates the core player model across all visible body areas: torso, arms, head, legs, feet, and face. The majority of existing outfits and armour sets have been updated automatically to fit the new rig; players will not need to re-acquire cosmetics. An engine stuttering fix was rolled out ahead of the avatar update, addressing a performance issue that had been present on some hardware configurations.
Community reception has been largely positive, with discussion centring on the improvement to lower-resolution legacy equipment and the handling of facial options. Some players have noted that a small number of older cosmetics clip or texture differently on the new model — Jagex has indicated this is being tracked. A full community post details the scope of the changes.

Jagex Accounts Transition

On 12 June Jagex announced the full transition to Jagex Accounts — the studio's unified identity system — moving away from legacy RuneScape accounts. The transition has been in progress for some time; this announcement represents the formal conclusion of the dual-account-system period. Players who have not yet migrated will be prompted to do so. The change affects account security and login, not character data.

Other Updates

The Moonrise Digsite has been previewed as upcoming content — details are limited but the preview suggests a future archaeological/exploration update in line with the Digsite content framework.
Monthly Marketplace: Chaos and Destruction (Zamorakian-themed cosmetics) is live from 10 June. The Amberfell Secrets quest update is live. Both represent the standard ongoing content cadence between major releases.

*The Summer Sweep-Up 2026 is detailed — a broad, unpolled quality of life initiative covering Hunter, Agility, Runecrafting, Slayer, and a wide range of gear adjustments.*

Old School RuneScape

Old School RuneScape's Summer Sweep-Up 2026 was fully detailed across 7 and 8 June, building on the initial announcement of 4 June. It is a substantial initiative — a rolling programme of quality of life changes across multiple skills and activities, arriving in weekly updates over the coming months rather than as a single patch.

What Is the Summer Sweep-Up

The Summer Sweep-Up is not polled — an important distinction in OSRS's development model, where the majority of content changes go to a community vote before implementation. The Sweep-Up instead uses the studio's own judgement on changes broadly considered overdue or uncontroversial. Changes trickle in week by week rather than arriving simultaneously.

Skill and Activity Changes

Hunter: two traps usable from level 1 (previously level 20); butterfly and moth drop rate improved to 1 in 40 (from 1 in 75); pity rate improved to 80 (from 50).
Agility: the ring of pursuit now reveals full tracks rather than partial. Various course-specific improvements are included across the Sweep-Up window.
Guardians of the Rift (Runecrafting): the abyssal needle is now purchasable for 750 pearls; the abyssal lantern now works outside the minigame for willow, blisterwood, magic, and redwood logs; the guardian's eye unlocks a permanent pet transmog; both the needle and fishing barrel are available for 6,000 spirit flakes.
Tempoross: improvements to fishing spot behaviour and pearl reward rates.
Gauntlet: weapon frames no longer drop if you already hold three; floor 4 entry threshold reduced to 77 Attack (from 82), floor 5 to 87 (from 92); boosting is permitted for access; the Grand Coffin requires 84 Thieving or 92 Agility; Corrupted Gauntlet purple drop chance increased, maintaining the 58% prayer scroll weighting.
Chambers of Xeric: purple drop chance increased; demi-boss spawns now guaranteed at fixed compass positions (N/E/S/W); tier 3 armour cost adjusted slightly upward.

Gear Changes

Buffs: Soul Reaper Axe strength bonus increased from 121 to 125, soul stacks from 6% to 10% per stack; Master Wand gains +10% magic damage; Ancient sceptres magic damage bonus doubled from 5% to 10%; Paton Boots gain +1 ranged strength; Venadorbo target-finding improved.
Nerfs: the Burning Claw has been adjusted downward — specific figures to be confirmed in the patch notes as they land. New early-game amulets are being added to provide alternatives at lower level ranges.

Miscellaneous

Mining, woodcutting, and farming materials are now stackable; crystal shards auto-deposit to inventory; energy potions are craftable from Guam at level 10; a full energy restore triggers at quest completion; seed vault UI improvements; pets can now follow players into the Gauntlet, most minigames, and underwater areas. Birdhouse mechanics have been adjusted for improved afkability. The Nightmare encounter has received balance adjustments. Full detail is available on the official OSRS news page and the overview video.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft's week was defined largely by anticipation: Patch 12.0.7 Revelations is now confirmed for 16 June, giving players and guilds a concrete date to plan around. The patch's scope was already known from previous previews; this week confirmed the rollout.

Patch 12.0.7 Revelations — 16 June

The patch introduces a single-boss raid at Harandar — a format that has been used periodically during the Midnight cycle to bridge content gaps between full raid tiers. The encounter is designed for all difficulties and feeds into the patch's broader narrative thread around the Void.
The Omnium Folio is a new mid-expansion power system — the details of its mechanics have been previewed on sites such as Icy-Veins and ConquestCapped, and represent a meaningful addition to character progression between the 12.0.5 tier and whatever follows.
Two rotating Void World Escalations tie into a new assault feature: players are directed to specific Void-touched areas on a rotation, with escalating difficulty options. The assault structure is familiar from prior expansion cycles but adapted to the Midnight setting.
A major UI overhaul ships with 12.0.7. Details remain somewhat vague ahead of the PTR notes, but the scope has been described as more substantial than a standard interface pass.
Troll-focused side quests and micro-holiday content are included. The patch also carries lore content tied to Harandar's role in the Midnight storyline.

Turbulent Timeways V

Turbulent Timeways V begins 30 June and runs through 11 August, drawing from the Dragonflight dungeon pool. The weekly quest rewards a heroic piece of Qualas raid gear. The Spawn of Vyranoth mount is available via Timeways currency for the event's duration.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

A quieter week for SWTOR following the Legacy Reborn launch of 2 June, with maintenance taking the form of a targeted hotfix rather than a full patch. The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally has been running since 9 June.

Hotfix 7.9a — 9 June

The hotfix addressed a cinematic skybox rendering issue in the Legacy Reborn finale, corrected the Knightly Flairs from PvP Season 10 to be Bind on Legacy (they had incorrectly shipped as Bind on Pickup), fixed a Dromund Kaas map display error, and resolved a broken interaction with the Gods from the Machine operation bridge. A small but useful pass given the fresh content.

All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally event runs 9–16 June across Tatooine, Dantooine, and Onderon. This is one of SWTOR's recurring seasonal events — the swoop racing framework has been part of the game's event calendar for several years and offers reputation, cosmetic, and achievement rewards across the three planets.

Galactic Season 10

Galactic Season 10 objectives have been published through 6 July, covering Weeks 14 to 17. Players working through the season's reward track will find the week's objectives published on community sites well in advance; VULKK maintains a running summary of the current cycle's schedule.
A 50% dye sale on the Cartel Market closed quietly around 11 June without a formal announcement — a frustration for players who missed the window. No Galactic Season 11 date has been confirmed; it arrives with update 7.9.1, which has no confirmed date.

Black Desert Online

Black Desert Online's 11 June patch arrived with approximately 50 updates across roughly 747MB — a typical mid-month content delivery. The week also brought Global Lab notes on 12 June previewing class balance and zone improvements ahead of their live arrival.

11 June Patch

PvE class balance adjustments continued, building on changes announced in previous cycles. The Combat Pass 'Subjugate for Rewards' launched 11 June and runs through 16 July, offering a structured reward track for players engaging with the game's combat content.
The 'A Joyride to the Stable' event runs 11–25 June. Summer packages and bundles are available in the Pearl Shop for the season. The full patch notes are on the official BDO site.

Global Lab — 12 June

The Global Lab notes preview the following changes heading to the live server: Corsair and Sage PvE balance adjustments; Blue Battlefield ship damage adjustments; Black Shrine C2–7 reward enhancements; Edania monster zone improvements; upgrades to Pit of the Undying rewards for Kharoxia and Ascendra; Ocean Stalkers near Iliya Island relocated; Guild Boss improvements; and a new quest tied to Sea Monster's Ooze. Community discussion on the Reddit thread covers player reaction to the balance pass.

Neverwinter

No major patch this week for Neverwinter, but the development team made a public response to community concerns about Module 33's economy, addressing several of the most-discussed issues.

In a response video, the team confirmed: Mythic Companion Gear and the Celestial Shirt and Pants will be added to the dungeon vendor, giving players a non-RNG path to acquire them. An Alienware cosmetic cape giveaway for PC players was announced. Discussion of the Mythic Premium Companion Bundle and the Master Dread Sanctum Meta Achievement reward are ongoing, with the developers indicating they are monitoring community feedback on both.
Module 33 content — including the Jotunskar dungeon and the Ice Breaker Battle Pass — remains the current focal point of endgame activity. The team's response is a positive sign that post-launch feedback is being heard, even if no formal patch has been scheduled to address the concerns yet.

Broader Genre News

Aion 2 — Global Launch Confirmed

NCSoft has confirmed a September 2026 global launch window for Aion 2. The original Aion was released in 2008 and maintained a dedicated player base throughout its lifespan; the sequel has been in development in Korea for several years. A September launch would place it adjacent to a busy release window across the genre.

Embers of the Uncrowned — Steam Next Fest Demo

Nexon's dark fantasy action MMORPG Embers of the Uncrowned has a playable demo available via Steam Next Fest from 15 June. Three classes — Executioner, Spectral Blade, and Stormbringer — are playable across three story regions, representing up to eight hours of content. The isometric structure draws comparisons to Lost Ark, but the aesthetic is darker, and the studio has confirmed that there will be no pay-to-win gear progression.

Gloria Victis — Relaunch

Medieval open-world MMORPG Gloria Victis is relaunching on Steam on 17 June following a period off-platform. The game emphasises skill-based PvP in a realistic medieval setting, with territory-control mechanics. Whether the relaunch represents a full reset or a continuation from the previous version has not been confirmed at the time of writing.

Guild Wars Reforged — Mobile Launch

Guild Wars Reforged, ArenaNet's mobile GW title, launches on 24 June. It is a separate product from GW2 and GW3, designed natively for mobile platforms. The June 9 franchise livestream confirmed it is the designated mobile entry in the franchise — GW2 and GW3 have no planned mobile versions.

Looking Ahead

The Dancing Mad Ultimate controversy is unlikely to be resolved cleanly. Square Enix's silence leaves it with neither official legitimacy nor official rebuke, and the community lacks a formal mechanism to render a definitive verdict. What it does do is surface the genre's ongoing tension between the accessibility of unstreamed progression and the transparency demands of world-first culture — a tension that is not unique to FFXIV but that this game's community feels particularly acutely. The conversation will continue.

The more certain developments in the coming week: World of Warcraft's 12.0.7 Revelations arrives on 16 June — the first content update of real substance since the current tier settled into routine. The Omnium Folio and Void World Escalations will either deliver meaningful engagement or land flat, and early reaction should be clear within days. Guild Wars Reforged launches on 24 June — its reception will be a useful early data point on whether ArenaNet's mobile effort can hold its own in a crowded market. ESO's Golden Pursuits 'A New Challenge Arises' campaign begins 18 June; it will effectively serve as an extended community test of the Challenge Difficulty system that Update 50 introduced.

Old School RuneScape's Summer Sweep-Up changes will trickle into weekly updates over the coming months — individual weeks will carry specific Sweep-Up items as they land. SWTOR's Swoop Rally concludes 16 June; the wait for 7.9.1 and Galactic Season 11 continues without a confirmed date. EVE Online's Cradle of War is live, and the Military Campaigns are accumulating their first real data — how the Caldari–Gallente campaign resolves its first cycle will tell the community a great deal about the system's depth and pacing. For RS3, the Jagex Accounts transition is now formally underway; the coming weeks will determine how smoothly legacy account holders move across.

The Jester Takes the Crown