Betawatch: Delays always win (August 4, 2017)

We realize that some of our readers are a bit younger, so we’d like to introduce you to a universal truism of life: Delays always win. Everything goes wrong and nothing ever works right. Depressing and harsh? Yes. But considering that Star Citizen has delayed its 3.0 testing once again and ARK: Survival Evolved has pushed back its official launch to August 29th, can you say we’re wrong?

Other beta news has also happened, though. Some of it not delay-oriented at all!

• If you’re wondering about all of the features that MU Legend will have at launch, you can watch a helpful video explaining its core features in a quick and easy-to-view format. That should be nice and straightforward.
• Free-to-play open beta for Dreadnought has begun on the PlayStation 4. All the spaceship-based deathmatch action you could possibly ask for.
• The development on Camelot Unchained is steaming toward its first beta at full tilt, so that should happen… when it’s ready. At some point before the heat-death of the universe, hopefully this year.
• Rebuild testing for Bless Online has started as well, albeit in a language that one may suspect most of our readers do not read or speak. But at least it’s making forward motion, which is heartening alone after a winding process of back-and-forth up to this point.
• There’s also a new update for Line of Defense that’s focused almost entirely on underlying technology rather than actual in-game content. You can be sure that this is a vital step in the process of making a game work, of course, and thus no one would ever criticize a game for such updates.

Is that a list of beta tests in below the cut, or am I just happy to see you? It’s both! I’m happy to see you in an allegorical sense, of course, because I’m not actually watching you right now. But it’s nice to see readers, and I’m sure you’ll help us all keep feeling happy by sharing your own beta stories (or sneaky phase changes for betas) in the comments below.

As always, we consider an MMO to be in open testing if it features free, public signups and will server wipe prior to launch. An MMO is marked in closed testing if it’s running a private test phase that cannot freely be accessed by the general public; it’s usually under NDA as well. Early access and crowdfunded MMOs whose tests we deem legitimate will be included. So-called “open beta” soft-launch MMOs with cash shops, no sign of launch in the west, or limited interest for our readers will not be listed; we also do not list expansions, with occasional exceptions.

AdventureQuest 3D: Open beta
Boundless: Donor alpha
Camelot Unchained: Backer alpha
Children of Ur: Open alpha
Citadel: Forged with Fire: Early access
Cloud Pirates: Early access
Crowfall: Backer pre-alpha
Cube World: Closed alpha
Dark and Light: Early access
DayZ: Early access
Divergence Online: Alpha
Edengrad: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Ever, Jane: Open beta
Fragmented: Early access
Gloria Victis: Early Access on Steam
H1Z1: Paid early access, split into two games
HEX: Unofficial open beta
Kritika Online: Open beta
LawBreakers: Launching on August 8th
Legends of Aria: Alpha, formerly known as Shards Online
Life is Feudal: Closed beta
Line of Defense: Early access, removed from Steam
Mu Legend: Closed beta, open beta in September
MyDream: Closed testing open to donors
Origins of Malu: Development moving forward on battleground experience, MMO suspended
Osiris: New Dawn: Early access
Paladins: Closed beta
Paragon: Open beta
Pathfinder Online: Subscription “early enrollment”
Project Genom: Closed alpha
Project Gorgon: Free, open testing
SamuTale: Closed alpha
Sea of Thieves: Technical alpha
SkySaga: Open beta soft launch approaching, date not yet announced
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Stash: Backer alpha
The Black Death: Early access alpha
The Culling: Early access testing
The Exiled: Early access; formerly Das Tal
The Repopulation: Closed alpha
Tree of Life: Open beta, launching in August 2017
Tribal Wars 2: Open testing
TUG: Steam early access alpha
Valiance Online: Alpha testing
Wild Terra: Steam early access
Worlds Adrift: Closed beta