It’s very rare that this job allows us to use the terms “shutdown” and “good” in the same sentence, but the upcoming alpha shutdown for SkySaga is one of those rare instances. After all, the only reason the alpha test is shutting down is so that the game can move into its open beta, which will serve as a de facto soft launch. See? That’s a good thing.
Other betas were doing stuff this week, too, so that’s also a good thing.
- Legends of Aria is completely rewriting the Shards Online combat engine, so it’s working hard to justify that name change.
- Project Gorgon continues its relentless drive to add more weird and fun systems into the game with brewing. Now you can be a pretentious jerk who insists on drinking seasonal microbrews in the game! It’s really a brave new world.
- What do you get when you combine the gameplay of Secret of Mana with the modern graphical roguelike hack-and-slash? You get Kingdom of Loot, which is now in early access.
- How pretty are the special effects for Valiance Online? The answer is so pretty.
- The Sea of Thieves technical alpha has a large number of players in the game and testing out how it works. But only on console; the PC crowd will have to just keep waiting.
- Last but not least, if you’re interested in the mechanics behind Rend, you might want to check out just how the game is handling its class system. It’s all about options.
And we’ve got our full list of games just below if you’d like a more rundown-style update. As always, we appreciate it if you let us know what stuff has jumped to another phase of testing or might otherwise be erroneous; we do our best to keep up with changes, but we do miss things from time to time.
As always, we consider an MMO to be in open testing if it features free, public signups and will server wipe prior to launch. An MMO is marked in closed testing if it’s running a private test phase that cannot freely be accessed by the general public; it’s usually under NDA as well. Early access and crowdfunded MMOs whose tests we deem legitimate will be included. So-called “open beta” soft-launch MMOs with cash shops, no sign of launch in the west, or limited interest for our readers will not be listed; we also do not list expansions, with occasional exceptions.
AdventureQuest 3D: Open beta
Albion Online: Closed beta, launching July 17th
Boundless: Donor alpha
Camelot Unchained: Backer alpha
Children of Ur: Open alpha
Cloud Pirates: Early access
Crossout: Closed beta
Crowfall: Backer pre-alpha
Cube World: Closed alpha
DayZ: Early access
Divergence Online: Alpha
Edengrad: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Ever, Jane: Open beta
Fragmented: Early access
Gigantic: Open beta
Gloria Victis: Early Access on Steam
H1Z1: Paid early access, split into two games
HEX: Unofficial open beta
LawBreakers: Closed beta weekends
Legends of Aria: Alpha, formerly known as Shards Online
Life is Feudal: Closed beta
Line of Defense: Early access, removed from Steam
Master x Master: Alpha test
Mu Legend: Closed beta
MyDream: Closed testing open to donors
Origins of Malu: Development moving forward on battleground experience, MMO suspended
Osiris: New Dawn: Early access
Paladins: Closed beta
Paragon: Open beta
Pathfinder Online: Subscription “early enrollment”
Project Genom: Closed alpha
Project Gorgon: Free, open testing
SamuTale: Closed alpha
Sea of Thieves: Technical alpha
Secret World Legends: Closed beta
SkySaga: Alpha servers close on April 27th, open beta soft launch to follow
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Stash: Backer alpha
The Black Death: Early access alpha
The Culling: Early access testing
The Exiled: Early access; formerly Das Tal
The Repopulation: Closed alpha
Tree of Life: Open beta
Tribal Wars 2: Open testing
TUG: Steam early access alpha
Valiance Online: Alpha testing
Wild Terra: Steam early access
Worlds Adrift: Early access planned for Q1 2017
