If you wanted to point to an MMO doing everything right when it comes to Kickstarter, The Repopulation would be a fine pick. Unfortunately, the game is in a tight spot due to the licensing agreements with its engine, and that situation is getting worse rather than better. When your game is talking about contingency plans, it’s a safe bet that things are going south.
While a lot of studios have been quiet for the past few days due to holidays, there has been other beta news just the same:
- The sixth closed alpha for SkySaga has kicked off, with no boundaries between American and European players.
- The beta for Elite: Dangerous‘ first expansion is delayed until November 30th.
- In brighter news, a worldwide launch for Sphere 3 is just around the corner when the game goes live on December 2nd.
- World of Warcraft launched an alpha with basically no fanfare for its next expansion, allowing players to play through a small bit of the Demon Hunter starting experience while also mining out data about bear forms.
- Elite Lord of Alliance left the beta arena to smash up the wild shores of launching.
- Devilian is kicking off its own open beta next week, with a full launch planned on December 10th.
- Last but not least, H1Z1 is fully resetting everything in preparation for various patches and a re-examination of some balance issues.
And, of course, there’s our usual buffet of list items just below. See something that jumped from testing to launch, or from closed testing to open testing? Let us know down in the comments, if you would be so kind.
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.
Albion Online: Closed beta
Ascent: The Space Game: Steam early access
Auto Club Revolution: Closed beta
Beasts of Prey:Â Early access alpha
Black Desert:Â Korean and Japanese open beta, North American alpha testing, release in early 2016
Blade & Soul: Closed beta
Boundless: Donor alpha
Camelot Unchained:Â Backer alpha
Crowfall: Backer pre-alpha
Das Tal: Alpha expected in 2015
DayZ: Early access
Devilian: Closed beta
Divergence Online:Â Alpha
Dungeon Fighter Online: Open testing
Earthrise: First Impact: Alpha testing; no recent updates on development
Eleven:Â Closed alpha
Eternal Crusade: First wave of closed alpha
EVE: Valkyrie: Pre-alpha registration for EVE and DUST players
Ever, Jane: Closed beta
Gloria Victis: Donor pre-alpha
H1Z1:Â Paid early access
HEX:Â Unofficial open beta
Kingdom Online: Closed beta
Landmark: Paid closed beta, cash shop active
Life is Feudal: Early access beta
Line of Defense: Early access
MyDream: Closed testing open to donors
Nosgoth: Open beta
Origins of Malu:Â Combat module in early access
Otherland: Early access
Overwatch: Closed beta
Pathfinder Online: Subscription “early enrollment”
Project Genom: Closed alpha
Project Gorgon: Free, open testing
Shadowrun Chronicles: Steam early access; launching in April
Shards Online: Pre-alpha
Shroud of the Avatar: Steam early access, backer testing
SkySaga: Ongoing NA and UK alpha events
Star Citizen: Backer pre-alpha
Starriser: Taking beta signups
Stash: Backer alpha
The Repopulation: Early access/backer alpha, originally launching Q4 2015 but possibly delayed
Tree of Life: Paid early access
Tree of Savior: English beta testing events
Tribal Wars 2: Open testing
TUG: Steam early access alpha
Valiance Online: Pre-alpha testing
Venus Rising: Closed beta (adult/NSFW)
