This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen stole the show, first with a video showcasing its extraordinarily detailed character face tech, then rather unintentionally in a Kotaku piece that sought to investigate the game’s controversial crowdfunded development process.
Meanwhile, Fragmented continued enhancements to housing and melee combat; Gloria Victis tidied up its new dynamic events system; Worlds Adrift prepped for its fifth alpha round;Â Hero’s Song revealed abilities usable by the Paladin and Warrior classes and streamed an AMA on Twitch; and Edengrad offered a preview of its blocking mechanics, UI, and graphics upgrade.
We’d also like to express our condolences to the friends, guildies, and family of Shroud of the Avatar player Lacey, who passed away this week and was memorialized in-game using an in-progress system for craftable, customizable gravestones.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding this week and the roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on!
Shroud of the Avatar: Estgard and memorials
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen as the ‘unwieldy, ever-changing dream project’ - Kotaku has a long piece on Star Citizen out today, cobbled together over months of discussions with Star Citizen developers, anonymous and not. Julian Benson's Inside the Troubled Development of…
Massively OP’s guide to the best upcoming indie MMORPGs, part one - When you write for an MMORPG website that covers literally hundreds of games and could probably add in hundreds more that are extinct, are in operation only overseas, or are…
The Stream Team: Derek Brinkmann dishes about Shards Online - How would you describe Shards Online? MassivelyOP's MJ found the perfect way to answer that question: She nabbed Derek "Supreem" Brinkmann to do it! Who better to answer all your…
Camelot Unchained makes progress on the ‘long road’ to beta - It's been a "longer road" to the first beta test than Camelot Unchained's team originally anticipated, but the good news is that progress is definitely being made. Need proof? Then…
The Stream Team: Fishing and frolicking in Shards Online - It's been quite some time since MassivelyOP's MJ dived into Shards Online to show it off to you, and much has changed since then. She's excited to get back in…
The Exiled is thoroughly revamping its user interface - Indie PvP sandbox The Exiled, formerly known as Dal Tal, is in the middle of a massive upgrade to its user interface. Fairytale Distillery's Alexander Zacherl says that the team's been…
Forsaken Legends brings you up to speed on its ‘massive’ updates - The small team at Forsaken Legends wants to bring fans up to speed on the "massive" updates that it has rolled out for the upcoming fantasy sandbox over the past…
Crowfall’s Raph Koster and Thomas Blair on the challenges of MMORPG harvesting - Harvesting in an MMORPG is just the boring gruntwork you have to trudge through before you can get to the glory of crafting -- or it is? That's just one…
How voxel tech is powering sci-fi sandbox Dual Universe - Dual Universe has a fresh dev diary out this week on how it's employing voxel technology for its builder-centric space sandbox. "The idea of voxel is not new," Novaquark's Jean-Christophe…
Star Citizen unmasks its intricate facial design system - This week's Star Citizen 10 for the Chairman is being called a special edition in that Chris Roberts and Head of the Global Character Pipeline Josh Herman selected questions from…
Dual Universe dev on single shards, launch schedule, consoles, and VR - WCCFtech has an interesting interview with Dual Universe's Jean-Christophe Baillie out this week that sheds some fresh light on the upcoming sci-fi sandbox. Baillie says that even if five million…
Shards Online adds fishing before it hops to alpha - What are the most crucial features to have in an MMO before you go into alpha testing? Shards Online already has a lot of mechanics in place, but it was…
ECO’s ecosystem will release October 5th - Total War: ArenaAn ecosystem is coming to ECO! Though if you consider the survival sandbox's name, that probably doesn't come as much of a surprise. The devs told Kickstarter backers this…
Elite: Dangerous adds more fighter support, ‘mysterious’ planetary discoveries - Feeling lost among the stars, especially when you run out of fuel and find yourself drifting in the cosmos and contemplating a new line of work? Elite: Dangerous' development team…
Hero’s Song updates Indiegogo backers on funding, AI, and Steam - Hero's Song's Indiegogo update today reveals how far the game has come, both in terms of its finances and its design. "We're hard at work on finishing the game," writes…
Gloria Victis debuts its dynamic events system - Gloria Victis has a way of downplaying its updates for its fiercely loyal tester playerbase, but this past weekend's announcements deserve a spotlight. The star is the game's new global…
Chronicles of Elyria teases online store, taiga biome - Chronicles of Elyria's weekly update to Kickstarter watchers is brief, but it heralds the 2.1 release of the website, which now includes a private messaging system, better moderation tools, improved…
Fragmented makes Xbox One plans, experiments with VR - The Repopulation's spun-off survival sandbox, Fragmented, is pivoting in a big way, MOP reader DK pointed out to us over the weekend. In a message on its official forums last…
Shroud of the Avatar teases Halloween content, Estgard, and SOTAcon - Shroud of the Avatar has the honor of being one of the first MMORPGs to tease Halloween content this year, meaning it's only about two months behind all the damn…
Hero’s Song AMA stream (and summary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_OpC7_w50g
Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching
3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; plans October launch.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Fully launched!
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – Kickstarter canceled (site has been taken offline).
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Open donations/packages
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) –Â Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media)
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios)
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama)Â –Â Three campaigns; now in KS early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter over, donor preorder packs.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter live now, ends October 11.
Eco (Strange Loop Games)
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded June 2016; early access coming Sept.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrionn Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, multiple times now.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guns of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched.
Hero’s Song (Pixelmage) – Kickstarter canceled; Indiegogo live, ends mid-October.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – Successful Kickstarter, now playable.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
Overpower (Hydrant Games) –Â Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Doom, mostly.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Successful Kickstarter.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game, LLC)
Pumpkin Online (Monique)
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Above & Beyond Technologies) – In middle of engine do-over.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; early access planned for Sept. 2016.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon.
Shards Online (Citadel Studios)
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Final wipe was in July 2016.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – In middle of year-long revamp after funding surge.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.
Star Citizen facial tech
With thanks to Kinya, Anon, and Lorgarn!
