neverwinter-launch-roundup

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  • Neverwinter's open beta soft launches today

    by 
    Jef Reahard
    Jef Reahard
    04.30.2013

    Ever wonder what the heck an MMO soft launch actually is? Me too, which is funny because you'd think I'd know, working for an MMO site and whatnot. Soft launch implies that somewhere out in game land there's also a hard launch, which is a term that I've never heard once despite following the industry for decades now. Is soft launch merely a marketing construct, or perhaps devspeak for a free-to-play MMO that operates in some sort of perpetual beta in spite of a working cash shop? Or is it simply a term that denotes the beginning of an open beta period that is free of character wipes, as is the case with today's Neverwinter pseudo-release? The definition is up to you, I suppose, and while you're mulling that one over, you can also click past the cut for a roundup of our best pre-soft-launch Neverwinter coverage.