It’s important to note that Shroud of the Avatar is not actually going to launch on July 28th. It’s just not going to wipe characters any further. Everything will be completely persistent from that point onward, but that’s different from launch because of reasons. The players are preparing to hold a convention later this year in Baltimore, and there’s a prequel novel available for those of you who just can’t get enough of the game’s lore. There’s also a swanky gated community in the works.
More beta news? Aw, sure, why not; we’re friends:
- Star Citizen has sold a million ships to players, some of which can be flown already and some of which cannot. Some more of those may very well be flyable in the upcoming 2.5 update, but even if they aren’t, a new refund clause will make getting refunds on those ships marginally more difficult. If you’re the sort of person who impulse-buys spaceships, that’s important.
- A big update is on the way to AdventureQuest 3D, including the game’s second dungeon. It also features the first version of crafting, which players are warned is not actually finished yet. Our guess is that everything will just be glued together, which will lead to several difficulties with worn garments.
- Remember Firefly Online? Development for that might be offline. Who knows? No one does at the moment. It’s kind of the Firefly story in a nutshell, that.
- If you’re a player who really enjoys working in groups, you might be looking forward to Saga of Lucimia‘s group focus. Of course, you can also look forward to having to manually assemble every single group, because that’s how the developers roll.
- Last but not least, if you’re eagerly looking forward to early access for Conan Exiles, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The early access period is being bumped from September of this year to some time in 2017.
The list of games below here is a list that will bring you endless joy, or perhaps it will just refresh your memory about titles that are in testing which you had forgotten about. Has a naughty game opened a cash shop while still claiming to be in beta? Let us know about that down in the comments.
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 starting in June
Albion Online: Closed beta
Boundless: Donor alpha
Camelot Unchained:Â Backer alpha
Children of Ur: Open alpha
Crossout: Closed beta
Crowfall: Backer pre-alpha
Cube World: Closed alpha
Das Tal: Ongoing alpha tests, summer alpha in July
DayZ: Early access
Divergence Online:Â Alpha
Eleven:Â Closed alpha
Eternal Crusade: Early access play on Steam
Ever, Jane: Closed beta
Fragmented: Closed backer beta
Gigantic: Closed beta
Gloria Victis: Early Access on Steam
H1Z1:Â Paid early access, split into two games
HeroWarz: Closed beta
HEX:Â Unofficial open beta
LawBreakers: Closed alpha
Life is Feudal: Early access beta
Line of Defense: Early access, removed from Steam
Master x Master: Alpha test starts June 21st
MyDream: Closed testing open to donors
Origins of Malu:Â Development suspended
Otherland: Early access
Paladins: Closed beta
Paragon: Early access; Open beta August 16th
Pathfinder Online: Subscription “early enrollment”
Project Genom: Closed alpha
Project Gorgon: Free, open testing
Riders of Icarus: Open beta starts July 6th
Shards Online: Pre-alpha
Shroud of the Avatar: Steam early access, backer testing
SkySaga: Ongoing NA and UK alpha events
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Stash: Backer alpha
The Black Death: Early access alpha
The Culling: Early access testing
The Repopulation: Alpha offline, moving to the Unreal engine, survival spinoff Fragmented in early access
Tree of Life: Open beta
Tribal Wars 2: Open testing
TUG: Steam early access alpha
Valiance Online: Pre-alpha testing
World of Warcraft: Legion: Closed beta, launching August 30th
