This week in MMO crowdfunding, Valiance Online took everyone by surprise by announcing the launch of its investor alpha on PC for Friday, though it didn’t actually launch until today thanks to some unforeseen tech issues. “If you donated to our old website campaign or Kickstarter, you might not be in Alpha today,” Silverhelm tweeted. “We’ll be working over the weekend to get you in!” Folks who donate right now through the official site should also have immediate access.
Over in the newly launched Albion Online, developers calmly responded to criticism of its large-scale battle system, explaining the upsides and downsides of diminishing returns from zergs. (Thanks, David!)
Meanwhile, Project Gorgon promised tweaks to its Poetry Appreciation skill (<3), Saga of Lucimia demoed its Pyrography skill, OrbusVR welcomed more players to its open alpha, Shroud of the Avatar rolled out R44 and cracked down on insider trading exploits, Chronicles of Elyria posted a whopper of a roadmap, Global Adventures’ Kickstarter ends tomorrow, and Star Citizen clarified (sort of?) the number of planets it will launch with and effectively announced another 3.0 delay.
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.
Global Adventures
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen’s 3.0 alpha appears to have been delayed yet again - Ever wonder whether developers regret transparency? With Star Citizen, probably not so much when the money keeps coming anyway, even when the game's 3.0 alpha and persistent universe continue being…
‘Selectively multiplayer’ Shroud of the Avatar unleashes R44, plans August free trial, and expands around the globe - The Shroud of the Avatar team is sitting pretty on top of this past week's Release 44, but there is always more to be done to get the game ready…
Camelot Unchained’s big bot battle boasts benefits for beta-beseeching backers - What does a battle between hundreds and hundreds of bots have to do with fans eager to access Camelot Unchained's long-awaited beta? Plenty, it turns out. In this week's newsletter,…
Star Citizen’s Around the Verse makes parking your ship sound way hard to design - This week's episode of Star Citizen's Around the Verse isn't going to surprise anyone who's been watching the reaction to the game's latest concept ship, the Tumbril Cyclone rover and…
Crowfall announces the ‘mur-deerous’ Elken race - MMORPG players are no strangers to anthropomorphic races, particularly of the cat, lizard, and rat varieties. Leave it to Crowfall to explore some of the more interesting species as potential…
Tencent buys into Frontier, recruits Batman to give its MOBA western appeal - Two MMO forces are now bound together in will and purpose -- or at least in stocks and finances. Tencent, the world's biggest games publisher by revenue, recently purchased 9%…
Valiance Online kicks off its investor alpha today - If you've been eagerly awaiting the day when Valiance Online would open for testers, the day has come. The investor alpha is starting today (it was announced yesterday, albeit when…
Shroud of the Avatar’s Release 44 finishes episode one’s story - Shroud of the Avatar is complete. Not the full game itself, of course, but the storyline to episode one is now fully playable from start to end without any gaps,…
Chronicles of Elyria vows better communication, posts roadmap to release - Saying that the development team has drifted away from the high level of transparency that it originally demonstrated, Chronicles of Elyria's project lead vowed that the studio would become a…
Chris Roberts has ‘no intention of reducing the size of the Star Citizen universe’ - Last week, German-language German website Gamestar published an interview with Star Citizen studio Cloud Imperium Games, noting that Roberts appeared to have said Star Citizen will launch with 5 to 10 star systems, an…
Frontier Developments plans a convention for Elite: Dangerous in October - Do you have a deep and abiding love for Planet Coaster? Probably not. How about Elite: Dangerous? Yes, that's good, many more hands are being raised. How would you like…
OrbusVR starts up open alpha on July 28 - If you've been longing for the chance to play an MMO in VR but haven't yet been in the closed alpha for OrbusVR, the good news is that you'll get…
City of Titans and Ship of Heroes team up for City of Heroes successor panel at PAX West - There will be a City of Heroes panel at PAX West... after a fashion. The game may be gone, but the City of Titans development team will be there to…
Star Citizen Q&A covers the Cyclone concept vehicle, which won’t make it into 3.0 - Earlier this week, we reported on Star Citizen's latest concept ship: The Tumbril Cyclone, a ground vehicle whose multiple variants will run up to $70 for those who buy in and whose…
MMO dev and astronaut Richard Garriott hosts a Reddit AMA on /r/space today - [pullquote]Curious about astrophysics? The Massively OP Podcast brought on a special guest for a fun holiday bonus 'cast back in 2015 to answer a ton of listener questions on the…
Shroud of the Avatar stymies insider trading at the perceived expense of backer privileges - Yesterday, Shroud of the Avatar's Starr Long announced a change to its testing forums that has ruffled more than a few backer feathers. "Due to the potential economic and gameplay advantages…
Albion Online introduces its character builder - Like any game with a surfeit of character build options, Albion Online can be a bit overwhelming at first. What are you supposed to do? How do you make a…
Crowfall’s in the middle of a massive day-long Q&A dev stream - So! It's almost noon, and you have nothing better to do but sit around and watch people talk about video games for 12 hours, right? Oh, no? You have a…
Shroud of the Avatar polishes, primps, and prepares for this week’s Release 44 - The Shroud of the Avatar team is staying quite busy this summer as it works to finish up the game world for launch later this year. The projects that it…
Chronicles of Elyria
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.
