Lego Universe: The Lego MMO

By Nick Mokey June 7, 2007

Nick Mokey

Managing Editor

As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…

Gaming

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor brings balance back to an unstable universe

It’s funny to think about how much has changed about Star Wars since EA released Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2019. The action-adventure game would launch just weeks before The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a polarizing conclusion to its sequel trilogy that would create a disturbance in the force. In the years since, Disney has entirely changed its approach to the series by expanding the cinematic universe with a mixed bag of content, from the critically acclaimed Andor to more middling projects like The Book of Boba Fett. More than ever, the series is in desperate need of stability. It’s somewhat fitting, then, that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could be the project that gets Star Wars back on track.

During a demo event ahead of the sequel’s April 28 release, I got to play a sizable chunk of the game – spanning over three hours of playtime. What stood out most during that session wasn’t its visual glow-up or fleshed-out combat. Rather, it was how tightly packaged it all is, both as a AAA video game and as a piece of Star Wars media. It’s an almost classic Jedi adventure, filled with dramatic lightsaber battles and some lighthearted comedy in-between the galactic melodrama. It’s hard to imagine anyone being upset over it (though the fan base always finds a way, doesn’t it?).

Gaming

Lego 2K Drive melds the best parts of kart racers and Forza Horizon

A custom car built drives around Lego 2K Drive.

Forza Horizon 4's excellent 2019 Lego expansion worked so well that it seemed obvious that an open-world Lego racing game should become its own thing. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long to see that become a reality. Visual Concepts and 2K Games have announced a multi-title partnership with The Lego Group that begins with the open-world racer Lego 2K Drive, which launches on May 19.
I was recently flown out to 2K's Novato headquarters to go hands-on with Lego 2K Drive ahead of its announcement and came away impressed. The Lego and open-world racer combination still works quite well, harkening back to some great-playing racing games with aesthetics and a car customization system that gets as much mileage out of the Lego association as possible. Whether you're a fan of this new wave of open-world racing games or want to build and then race the weirdest Lego creations possible, you'll be thoroughly entertained by Lego 2K Drive.

Entering a Lego world
My hands-on time with Lego 2K Drive encompassed the game's opening hours. The central premise is that players are trying to qualify for the Sky Cup Gran Prix, a race in the sky that only attracts the best drivers from this Lego world. To qualify, one must win four Grand Brick Arena circuits in each of this game's biomes. But first, I had to learn how to drive. After designing my Lego character, I was let loose in Turbo Acres. In this smaller open-world area, it's manageable to learn the basics from an experienced Lego driver named Clutch Racington.
"We wanted to feel like you are playing with your Lego sets in the real world"

Gaming

Amazon repeats its Lost Ark playbook to bring another international MMO to the West

A cloaked character stares out at a village in Throne and Liberty.

Amazon Games announced today that it will publish NCSoft's fantasy MMORPG Throne and Liberty in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan. This cements a unique niche that Amazon Games has found for itself as a publisher: bringing Asian MMOs to the west.
[NCing] THRONE AND LIBERTY - Official Trailer | Work in Progress | 엔씨소프트
Throne and Liberty is an ambitious MMO in development that includes fast-paced action combat, features large-scale PvE and PvP battles, and lets players transform into different creatures and control the environment during battles. The game has been in development for several years, but we didn't know if it'd get a Western release until now. With Amazon's backing, Throne and Liberty will now come out for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X in the West with full cross-play support.

While MMO fans will be happy at this announcement, this also demonstrates that Amazon Games has found a niche for itself as a game publisher by bringing Eastern MMOs to the West. For years, Amazon struggled to gain solid footing as a game developer and publisher, with multiple games canceled and titles like Crucible failing to gain traction. While MMOs aren't as popular as they used to be, Amazon has found a successful niche in trying to make the genre thrive again. It released New World to somewhat positive success, but really found a hit with the release of Lost Ark in February 2022.
Now, it's backing Bandai Namco's Blue Protocol and NCSoft's Throne and Liberty in hopes of repeating this success. Amazon Games Vice Preisident Christoph Hartmann explained what makes these kinds of games appealing in a press release.
"Publishing games that live and grow over time remains a critical piece of our strategy, and delivering games of the highest quality from the world’s most talented developers is one of the cornerstones of our business," Hartmann writes. "The last year has taught us a great deal about publishing and managing a successful live-service game on a global scale, and we’re ready to bring Throne and Liberty players an incredible experience at launch."
It remains to be seen if either of those games will reach Lost Ark's level of success and if Amazon Games plans to do this with even more Eastern MMOs. Outside of the MMO space, Amazon Games will also be publishing the next Tomb Raider game.

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