This week in MMO crowdfunding, Crowfall canceled its weekend playtest, but not before issuing a dev blog updating the community on some of the crafting changes that are in the latest builds, including the addition of Geomancy (using precious stone, wood, and ore to make land parcels that can combine into larger ones) and Architecture (which lets players craft deeds for buildings as well as crafting stations and city structures — sound familiar, SWG vets?).
Out in space, a group of core Elite Dangerous community developers went on strike briefly this week, bringing their websites and tools back online once Frontier had agreed to better support them. That was good timing, as players are in the middle of a massive roleplay event that will affect the outcome of an in-progress novel based on the game.
Meanwhile, Shroud of the Avatar dropped Release 41, City of Titans talked about its “aesthetic decoupling” philosophy, Pantheon updated players on its finances, OrbusVR completed its first closed alpha test, and the Dual Universe team moved into a new office.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on.
City of Titans
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Camelot Unchained’s Seattle studio finally has an office - Remember last June when Camelot Unchained startled everyone by announcing it was opening a second studio in Seattle? The team out west has been working on the game for many…
Chronicles of Elyria answers player questions in a two-hour video - The Chronicles of Elyria team hosted a public community Q&A session, and players had questions. And those questions... well, they were answered. Extensively. The resultant stream was just shy of…
The Repopulation updates graphic shaders, QA pipeline ahead of May update - How's The Repopulation coming along? Well, it's coming. Last week, the newly installed Idea Fabrik developers discussed how the planned May update is progressing with bug fixes and a smoother pipeline…
City of Titans lets you call the shots with your powers - Are you ready to handle the awesome responsibility of being able to make your own powers? City of Titans thinks so, which is why it's including something called "aesthetic decoupling"…
‘This universe is going to be awesome’: Chris Roberts on Star Citizen’s evolving moons - On this week's Around the Verse, Star Citizen's Chris Roberts and Sandi Gardiner bookend two key segments. The first is a studio update with Foundry 42 checking in from Frankfurt;…
Pantheon shows the class you’ll never be allowed to play - There was a lot of buzz swirling about Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's hour-and-a-half developer livestream yesterday, thanks to a truckload of information shared and gameplay that showed off the…
ECO explores climate change with the power of video games - If you're averse to politics, science, and education, you might want to give ECOÂ wide berth. Otherwise, Strange Loop Games CEO John Krajewski hopes that you and the upcoming generation of…
Shroud of the Avatar rebalances combat, adds Path of Truth in R41 out today - Shroud of the Avatar's 41st release is rolling out to players this morning, stuffed with fresh content for testing. Probably the most important bit arriving today is the finished Path…
Elite Dangerous’ community tool developers have gone on strike - [update]Update: The strike has ended -- see the end of the post for details.[/update] Move over, voice actors guild: Elite Dangerous gamers are going on strike today. Specifically, it's developers…
Worlds Adrift delays closed beta by ‘a few weeks’ - What's going on with the Worlds Adrift testing? Since the launch of its 6.1 alpha play test two months ago, the Bossa Studios team has been hammering out bugs and…
Life is Feudal MMO begins another round of its closed beta - [AL:LIF]Bitbox is unleashing another round of closed beta testing for the MMO fork of Life is Feudal, expected to run two weeks. Accompanying the beta announcement is a new trailer…
Mars survival sandbox ROKH pushes early access to May - Mars-themed survival sandbox ROKH is inching closer toward release, a new post on Steam announced today, as early access is now planned for May 16th. "Playing on persistent servers, you…
Pantheon studio Visionary Realms finds firmer financial footing - Looking at Pantheon today, you almost wouldn't know it flopped its Kickstarter way back in 2014. That's because the team kept at it and has been raising money from investors…
Valiance Online posts development progress, beefs up backer rewards - How much transparency do you want or demand from your upcoming MMOs? Valiance Online's team assumes that you're on the "quite a bit" end of the spectrum, as the team…
Crowfall’s hellcat has a purr of doom - One shouldn't forget that Crowfall's various campaign worlds will be populated by more than just irate players looking to make the world burn (and loot your corpse while they're at…
VR MMO MetaWorld plans summer early access launch, seeks financial support - Hoping to see a full-fledged MMORPG with virtual reality take off in your lifetime? We may be witnessing the start of one with MetaWorld, even if it does look a…
Shroud of the Avatar preps two more beginner zones, asks for localization help - This Thursday, Shroud of the Avatar will be pumping out its latest monthly update, Release 41. There's a lot in store for the patch, including the Norgard ruler Titan Grannus,…
This in-game Elite Dangerous event will affect the game’s novelization - Cancel your plans for Saturday, folks: You're gonna want to be in Elite Dangerous. That's because Frontier has a big event planned that day that ties into the upcoming Premonition…
Project Gorgon
An unhappy Orc shows off the upcoming Bard Armor. #ProjectGorgon #MMO #MMORPG #Gaming #IndieDev #GameDev #AsheronsCall #EverQuest #RuneScape pic.twitter.com/pISz3GW4MV
— Project: Gorgon (@ProjectGorgon) April 26, 2017
Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching
3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; beta began Oct 2016.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter successful; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully.
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful, open packages.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) –Â Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; launch planned for fall 2018.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
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 funded, now has donor platform. Alpha delayed.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; in early access.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrion 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; in early access.
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) –Â KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) –Â Funded and launched.
Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards Online. Currently in alpha.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Currently in beta.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maestros of the Anthymn (String Theory) – Kickstarter canceled.
Mekria (Infinity Online Studios) – Kickstarter canceled.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful.
Nebula Online (Mizar Games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017.
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. Early access delayed to May 25.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. In alpha.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; 2015Â KSÂ unsuccesful. In Steam early access.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Back in alpha
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; early access delayed to May 16.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Successful KS. Soft launch 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.
