This week in MMO crowdfunding, Ashes of Creation made the leap to Kickstarter, raising (so far as I type this) 1.35M, far more than its $750,000 goal. The game has kept the MMO community busy all week, though it hasn’t been without its issues.
On the survival sandbox front, Mars-themed ROKH released a new trailer and screenshots. It’s slated to hit early access later this month.
Meanwhile, Legends of Aria (fka Shards Online) suffered a delay, Crowfall has a big reveal coming in May, OrbusVR ran its second (brief!) closed alpha with the runemage rework, Grim Dawn teased its upcoming new gear and Inquisitor in a new trailer (below), Pantheon unveiled the Monk, Elite Dangerous’ Salome event ended in disaster, and Valiance Online posted several updates — including a mock-up of its map!
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.
Rokh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9KKBPZYeT4
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Camelot Unchained shifts dev focus to beta gameplay - From the sound of this week's Camelot Unchained newsletter, the team at City State is having a lot more fun now that beta development is starting to shift from engine…
Crowfall teases next week’s teases for May 16 reveal - Who wants a teaser for more teasers! Nobody? Bad news because we're getting some anyway, so go make some popcorn. A lot of it. The teaser for the teaser swirls…
Realm Zero seeks funds for its ‘evolving’ world vision - What can one man do with four years of spare time, a computer, and a fondness for video games? If you're Hank Newman, you throw yourself into making your very…
Valiance Online previews City Hall and the hospital - The team behind Valiance Online wants to show you everything there is to be seen within the game. Of course, you can't see it yourself at the moment, but that's…
Mark Hamill caps off Star Citizen’s latest Around the Verse - This week's episode of Around the Verse sees Star Citizen's Chris Roberts and Sandi Gardiner bookending the Austin studio update and tech check-in. The Austin branch is focused on major features…
Path of Exile on the ripple effect of DOT changes - Moar dots! Grinding Gear Games has so much to say about Path of Exile's changes to damage-over-time skills, you guys. Reams. Whole manifestos. It's actually kind of excessive for an…
Fat men can’t jump: Chronicles of Elyria sends studio teams on project ‘adventures’ - With four times the staff than it had at this time last year, Soulbound Studios is going full-steam on Chronicles of Elyria and all of its pre-alpha projects. To make…
Valiance Online muses about a sidekicking system - Sidekicking and mentoring were among the best and most-used features in City of Heroes, but will one of its spiritual successors take a cue from these systems? On Valiance Online's…
‘Reputation should matter’: Crowfall ties your account name to your character name - Anonymous griefers, Crowfall might not be the game for you. In May's developer Q&A video, the team clarified that players' character names will be the same as their account names…
Pantheon unveils the second part of its early Monk preview - Harsh environments, energetic punches, and the ever-present specter of death, all of this can be found within the archive of the most recent Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen livestream event.…
Legends of Aria delays next alpha test to May 12 - The Game Formerly Known As Shards Online (which can also be represented by an abstract symbol or its new name, Legends of Aria) announced a slight delay in the start…
Albion Online retools combination PvP PvE Hellgate maps - As part of Albion Online's pre-beta overhaul, developer Sandbox Interactive is retooling the game's existing Hellgates. No, not that Hellgate. In Albion, Hellgates are basically free-for-all PvP zones with seriously badass…
Path of Exile previews updated NPC models and adds new cosmetics to its store - [AL:POE]Since Path of Exile's next major update is really heavy on story, it's the perfect time for the team behind the game to work on updating old NPC models around…
How Shroud of the Avatar’s night sky impacts gameplay - Other than for providing an atmospheric backdrop to night questing, starry skyboxes in MMOs don't really mean or do much. This is not the case for Shroud of the Avatar,…
Chronicles of Elyria gives extra goodies to its Kickstarter backers - Did you help to fund Chronicles of Elyria when it ran its Kickstarter campaign almost a year ago? The team at Soulbound Studios would like to reward you for your…
Elite Dangerous’ novel-concluding Salomé event was wrecked by long-con griefers - Last week, we reported on an impending roleplaying event in Elite Dangerous that was set to influence the outcome of Premonition, a game-based novel by author Drew Wagar. What players…
Shroud of the Avatar adds a small patch with a hidden message - There's a hidden message in the patch notes for Shroud of the Avatar's small patch from yesterday. What could it possibly mean? Is it something about the fact that several…
Ashes of Creation
Ashes of Creation’s Steven Sharif on his business history, $30M funding goal, and PvP
Ashes of Creation knocks out two stretch goals, confirms in-game food
Ashes of Creation clears $1M in crowdfunding, shows off mounts, and dangles kitties and puppies
Whatever happened to Alganon, Ryzom, and Forsaken Legends?
The Daily Grind: Are you Kickstarting Ashes of Creation?
Massively OP Interview: Ashes of Creation on a new way to MMO
Ashes of Creation’s Kickstarter is live, seeking $750,000 to bolster the ‘rebirth of the MMORPG’
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.
Grim Dawn teaser
Valiance Online map
