This week in MMO crowdfunding, indie sandbox Albion Online — whose 250,000 founders reportedly crowdfunded the game for almost $10,000,000 — formally launched. The buy-to-play isometric game has hardcore old-school flair with a potentially alienating PvP template, but it’s brought plenty of PvE content along for the ride in an attempt to woo a more diverse playerbase.
Meanwhile, Project Gorgon made progress on its 64-bit test build, OrbusVR plans to open its alpha next weekend, City of Titans released a new lore piece, Camelot Unchained showed off more of its UI, Ashes of Creation demoed arenas, Path of Exile picked a date for Fall of Oriath, and Crowfall pushed its very first trial campaigns to testers. Oh yeah, and some Star Citizen drama.
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.
Albion Online launch
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Camelot Unchained stabilizes the game engine and shows off inventory UI - Check out Camelot Unchained's first pass at a player inventory UI. What do you think? Looks pretty sharp, doesn't it? This glimpse was part of this week's development newsletter. It…
Ashes of Creation talks about group dynamics and shows PAX demo locales - Calling it an "essential part of the game," grouping is this week's focus over at Ashes of Creation. Ashes of Creation's team is currently planning for a default group size…
Crowfall’s Cleric rises from the ashes of the Legionnaire - Farewell Legionnaire, hello Cleric! As part of the Crowfall development team's decision to decouple races and classes, the former Legionnaire archetype dissolved in the aftermath and was reshaped into the…
Path of Exile’s microtransaction system is finally live - [AL:POE]After multiple false starts over the summer, Path of Exile has finally patched in its new microtransaction system as of last night. "In the new Microtransaction System, we've completely done…
Valiance Online works with the community to develop and show off powersets - Do you like pets, powersets, and behind-the-scenes development glances? Then you'll enjoy the nearly four hours of Valiance Online stream footage now available just below, which features a discussion of…
Let’s go space shopping in this week’s Star Citizen Around the Verse - We've been chatting about game economies this week here at Massively OP, so it's a happy coincidence than this week's episode of Around the Verse features Star Citizen's shopping kiosks…
Shroud of the Avatar’s Richard Garriott backs Neverdie’s ‘etherium blockchain gaming’ venture - I often joke with our readers that Massively OP is not an MMO uptime monitor, but darn if we don't feel like a Richard Garriott uptime monitor lately -- love…
Chronicles of Elyria’s tribes will possess combat specialties - The tribes parade is still ongoing over at Chronicles of Elyria, as the fans aren't running out of questions and the developers aren't running out of patience in answering them.…
Crowfall hosts a race and class ‘show and tell’ session - Remember how Crowfall announced back in May that it was decoupling its race and class archetypes to allow players to mix-and-match more freely? This wasn't a one-and-done reveal; the team…
Path of Exile’s Fall of Oriath expansion arrives August 4 - Path of Exile's Fall of Oriath expansion arrives August 4 - check out the release trailer and prepare for the microtransaction system tomorrow!
Star Citizen followers react to server capacity, star system count news - Another day, another Star Citizen drama. German website Gamestar published an interview with Cloud Imperium Games this week, and between the paywall, Google translate, deliberate disinfo, and a quick game…
Albion Online is hitting login queues as Veteran players get to log in - Launch is here for Albion Online and it's popular enough that there are queues. Yes, login queues are being login queues. According to the most recent official status updates, the…
MMORPG veteran Richard Garriott decries ‘space tourist’ label - If you haven't figured it out, Shroud of the Avatar and Ultima Online's Richard Garriott is on a press tour lately for his new memoir, Explore/Create, in which he talks about…
Albion Online expands its launch rollout - Some MMOs have launch days, but some MMOs are not Albion Online, which is claiming a good chunk of this week to officially release this long-awaited fantasy sandbox. You see,…
Elite Dangerous’ David Braben on communities, MMOs, F2P, and the space game genre - Elite Dangerous' David Braben has a big spread in Rolling Stone's Glixel blog this week, and it's a fun read as he zips around discussing Trappist-1, Roman slavery, Star Wars,…
Pantheon’s Brad McQuaid elaborates on designing for an audience - Did you know that Brad McQuaid's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is not meant to be for everyone? Probably, because the game sort of likes to offer a mission statement…
PAX West 2017: Ashes of Creation’s PvP demo trailer - Yeah, we're way far off from PAX West, but so what! Ashes of Creation has released a trailer today featuring PvP arena content that will be demoing at the Seattle…
Shroud of the Avatar hopes to up its profile at San Diego Comic-Con this week - Watch out, Comic-Con: Shroud of the Avatar's masterminds are on their way to rock your geeky world. Richard Garriott and Starr Long will host a panel on the upcoming game…
The Stream Team: Launch day adventures in Albion Online - Today's the day Albion Online shuffles off its beta coil! Legendary founders pack and legendary starter pack owners get a headstart that started this morning, and Massively OP's MJ is…
Albion Online raised almost $10M, officially launches today - If it seems as if you've been hearing about Albion Online for a long time, you're not wrong. In fact, the game has delayed its testing periods multiple times for…
SDCC 2017: Pantheon invites you to ‘Bring Friends’ in its new trailer - San Diego Comic-Con hasn't been known for much of an MMORPG presence in years, but Pantheon is showing up with a trailer in tow, showing off pre-alpha footage from the…
Valiance Online livestreams its development alpha test - In an epic-length livestream this past weekend, the Valiance Online team showed off its development alpha test and discussed some of the systems and features that are going into this…
Pantheon’s grouping trailer
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.
Albion Online (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Successful KS.
Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early access.
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.
Global Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter ends July 30.
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) – Kickstarted, early access launched sans multiplayer.
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; now in early access.
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.
