NirvanaOnline 2025 Year In Review

Well well well... it's that time of year again! It's time to take a look back at everything that's come to NirvanaOnline over the last year, and time to give you guys a lengthy look at what to expect from Nirvana in 2026. I've got a lot to say this year, so I'm just going to jump right in.

This year started out with the Season of the Witch, a landmark Season that added all kinds of fun new content like updates to NirvanaArcana, the Wicker Man Raid in Chernobyl Carnivale, the Bad Juju Raid in Arkoneux, and the Black Trees 12-player Vault in Chernobyl. This was all capped off by the release of the ZombieRave, a new limited-time Zombies experience designed to celebrate 15 years of Network Nirvana! Additionally, we also rolled out the new Dragonology Update to NirvanaArcana, letting players battle actual dragons for the first time in Nirvana history!

On the topic of ZombieRave, there were a couple of small things that were added to ZombieRave that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that I think should make their way into other Zombies experience very soon. Namely, the new lockbox system. If you've forgotten, the lockbox system was a new system in which players would find keys hidden around ZombieRave, and then take them to the parking lot of the PyreRave to pop open the car trunks of the several hundred cars around the lot. I really like this system, and I think it's got even more potential, so I'm happy to say that there are plans to bring lockboxes to Zombies in Paradise and Zombie Avalanche, hopefully sometime in 2026.

Eagle-eyed Keepers were quick to discover that some of the stages and POIs within ZombieRave were more of a prophecy than they initially appeared to be. The Aztech Stage quickly revealed itself to be a harbinger for the Blacklight Mirage Vault and the Blacklight District Concept Game World. Concept Game Worlds were revealed to be a new way for me to deliver content to you guys without the pressure of fully developing each idea to the point of being a Mega-World like The Poltercryst. This bite-sized experience brought with it some new Strikes, World Bosses, a new Raid, and some other fun treats!

Then, this summer the next phase of ZombieRave's prophecy made itself apparent... Underworld Carnivale revealed itself as the new summer Game World. This long-delayed Game World brought with it new challenges, developmentally, and a plethora of new content and mechanics for you guys to enjoy! Despite being a smaller experience compared to the other Carnivales, we were quite pleased to hear that you guys seemed to enjoy the nether-inspired chaos of Underworld Carnivale!

Along with the release of Underworld Carnivale, we celebrated NirvanaOnline's 50th Vault with a feat never attempted before in NirvanaOnline... 7 Vaults in 7 weeks... I'm literally never doing that again, but that was fun at least. I hope you guys liked it (except for Boo Hoo Hallow, you guys are going to hate that). Actually, Mobius was pretty sick, if I do say so myself. I'm really proud of that one. At this point, I'm just adding footnotes to this blog post, moving on...

Anyways, to cap off the year, we released LlamaLandOnline as the secret final major release of the year as part of the Season of the Alpacalypse. This long-awaited secret game world started out as an April Fool's joke back in 2024, and after 16 months of hearing you guys ask me about it... I finally broke down. This new secret Game World featured a new Raid, a new Vault, and a new Skirmish Vault, and a ton of random inside jokes that I hope you guys appreciated as much as I did!

Throughout the year, we made a commitment to rolling out a lot of small updates to NirvanaOnline, featuring fixes and new ways to interact with Nirvana, like the dragon attacks, new Public Events, the NirvanaOnline Stock Market, the Nirvana Menu, Raid and Vault Keys, new Guilds, the introduction of Raid Exotics, and more! I'm really happy with all of the little updates we released, each of these has enhanced the game in its own way, and I can't wait to see what's in store for 2026. I wish I could tell you what I have in store for these little improvements, but 95% of them come to me randomly throughout the day. I wish I could say there was a plan for these, and most of them end up surprising even me, haha!

Overall, I'm really proud of how 2025 has played out in NirvanaOnline. I fully stand by each and every release, and I'm really excited to tell you all about what's in store for next year. Actually, let's jump right into that...

Season of Adventure

The Season of Adventure is the official name of NirvanaOnline Season 31, bringing with it 4 major "adventures" and 4 wildly different themes for you guys to enjoy. I've said enough about that in the Discord general chat, so I'll be brief. We've got 3 new Raids for you guys to enjoy next Season, a new Apex Zone, the new Honor System in Sidewinder Springs, a new Skirmish Vault, a new Exotic Shop with 5 new purchasable Exotics, a new Lair, new Strikes, and the return of Zombies In Paradise!

Trust in Granny

Granny Glory is one of the latest corporate entities to make their way into NirvanaOnline. Granny Glory is an enterprising old gal who has managed to score an exclusive contract with the Artificer's Order, meaning the Monastery Shop will start featuring Granny Glory-exclusive products instead of some of the original products. You'll notice that the potions will be receiving a glow-up when the update drops. Granny Glory also wants you to know that the newer, more premium prices associated with her products are merely an indication of quality, and not an indication of this ridiculous "corporate greed".

The WonderWhirl Machine

The WonderWhirl Machine makes its way to NirvanaOnline next week, and this one is going to change the power climb in a big way. Think of the WonderWhirl Machine like the Taken Forge, but for ANY weapon in the entire game. The first challenge is going to be finding the first WonderWhirl Machine. This machine can be hidden in any nook or cranny of any Game World, though from the screenshot below, it's safe to assume it's not in Ikarus, haha! I'll be dropping hints daily after the update drops until the first machine is found, so make sure to check in on the NirvanaOnline Discord Server for updates.

The WonderWhirl Machine allows you to spend new Wondercruxes to increase a weapon's base damage by 15% per level, with up to 5 levels. The first level costs 100 Wondercruxes, and the second level costs 200, and so on. Wondercruxes can be found in world chests, and a small number of them are guaranteed by completing any newly-released major activity. This includes any major activity on the Season Calendar, like what you see above for the Season of Adventure. Some activities that are not included on the calendar may also give Wondercruxes, but it is not guaranteed at this time.

The WonderWhirl Machine has been in production for quite a long time, and it's something that I'm really excited to get out in the wild. It's something special that I've wanted to make for about 3 years now. I really like the idea of "Hey, I've got this weapon, and this weapon has history to it. I've put a lot of work into this weapon, and now it's really something!". I also really like that idea that certain weapons have lore behind them, like how Proclivity is a petrified hand cut from Mr. Longfingers' simulacra. We need more weapons like that, and more are on the way...

One more note about the WonderWhirl Machine. You cannot use the same WonderWhirl Machine to upgrade the same weapon twice. If you wish to get a single weapon to WonderWhirl Grade 5, you must find and use 5 separate WonderWhirl Machines in 5 different Game Worlds.

New Corporations

In addition to Granny Glory, 3 other new Corporations will be joining NirvanaOnline and will be participating in the story coming up in the future. Voltaire is a powerful weapons manufacturer, Sacabambaspis LLLC is a powerful nonsense manufacturer, and Fairy Godmother is a new everything-manufacturer that has historically gone toe-to-toe with Granny Glory. You'll be seeing these two clash in a variety of ways heading into 2027, that's for sure. All three of these corporations, in addition to Granny Glory, will have their Stocks available for sale in the NirvanaOnline Stock Market.

No Longer In Paradise

Next, I wanted to touch on the plans for May 2026. Normally, we take the month of May off from releasing new content while we get ready for the massive Summer of Nirvana every year. This year, I have a little something special for you guys. The Zombies are going to be escaping from Paradise in a new limited-time event that will stick around only for the month of May, but some aspects of the event will persist once the event is over. I will say, I'm pretty confident in this one, and I already have plans for a sequel to this event to run in 2027. You'll hear more about this sometime in February of March, and you'll be talking about this one for years to come...

Coming Summer 2026: Capstones!

After announcing the release of Capstones last year, we decided that these super-endgame activities needed a little more time to cook before they were ready to be put in the hands of the Keepers. I'm happy to announce that alongside Zombies in [REDACTED] releasing this summer, you guys will finally be able to get your hands on the first Capstone this summer in the form of Panacea! Bring your best gear, and get ready to risk it all for the ultimate boost to your character. Capstones are coming to ruin your day.....

A word to the wise: Try to complete Boo Hoo Hallow before you attempt Panacea. The Board has hidden a little something in [REDACTED] that I think will go a long way towards helping you guys out with this one...

Coming Summer 2026: The Spear!

You've seen it in the new Minecraft update, and I'm happy to announce that the Spears will be arriving in NirvanaOnline this summer as new loot for a wild new collection of Vaults releasing in Summer and Fall 2026! The Spear will also be made available as a collection of Exotic Weapons that will be tied to a variety of content releasing this Summer and Fall. Just wait until you see what's in store...

Other Projects Coming [REDACTED]

Finally, I wanted to give you guys a quick peek behind the scenes at what all is being worked on right now around NirvanaOnline. First of all, new content is done and ready to go for Bellatraux Farms and Ikarus. Content is in production for the following Game Worlds: Adytum, Umbra, Sidewinder, Chernobyl, Arkoneux, Etheria, Babylon, The Poltercryst, NirvanaArcana, RogueWaters, Dreamland Carnivale, Underworld Carnivale, Roswell Carnivale, The Asylum, LlamaLand, and Blacklight District.

There's also the matter of Zombies 3, coming this June. How do you keep a community engaged when you've got a game going for 13 years? You make the kind of experience that nobody thought you could pull off... Stay tuned for more information about Zombies 3 in the coming months...

New Vaults, Raids, Wonder Heists, Lairs, numerous Apex Zones, and more Bedlams than I can count are currently in production as well, and I can't wait to tell you about all of them. Lastly, there are currently 3 Zombies experiences in different phases of production, as well as 6 Game Worlds being produced right now. This is all to say... I have no interest in slowing down on NirvanaOnline. I've got too many stories left to tell.

And with that, that's my piece for the year. I hope you all have a lovely holiday season, drink some hot cocoa (as long as it's Granny Glory-brand Lukewarm Cocoa Mix), and spend some time with your families. Next week, on January 1st, we've got a major update coming to NirvanaOnline, and you'll never see Sidewinder Springs the same way. Oh, and let's not forget what I said about prophecies...

See you soon, Keepers, and happy holidays!