This week in MMO crowdfunding, eyebrows across the ‘verse rose as Crytek filed a lawsuit alleging that the studios behind Star Citizen and Squadron 42 were in violation of Crytek’s copyrights in regard to CryEngine. In a statement to Massively OP, however, CIG denied that it was still using CryEngine and said it planned to fight back. “This is a meritless lawsuit that we will defend vigorously against, including recovering from Crytek any costs incurred in this matter.”
Over on the Camelot Unchained blog, CSE is busy working on plot and item permissions tech, scenarios, combat, skill buttons (no word on that I-win button, sorry), NPC AI, large group UI, deflect animations, the place of power, armor, and weeds. No, actual weeds. And dead trees. What did you think I meant?
Meanwhile, OrbusVR hit early access, Albion Online tweaked Kay and updated its rewards, Elite’s Thargoids finally started fighting back, and Crowfall raised a bunch of new money from investors. And the much-anticipated Ashes of Creation and Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen launched their respective pre-alphas for elite and specially selected early backers.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last couple of weeks and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following.
Ashes of Creation
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Ashes of Creation has 64 class combinations for you to try out - Now that Ashes of Creation is officially in its alpha testing, players will be able to discover for themselves what awaits in this interesting fantasy sandbox. One of these discoveries…
Legends of Aria faces down closed beta testing - Ultima Online spiritual successor Legends of Aria is preparing to go through a major transition over the new year as it winds down its crowdfunding campaign and gears up for…
Saga of Lucimia’s devs shriek at spiders and bears - With Saga of Lucimia's ninth pre-alpha test scheduled to run from December 22nd through January 5th, the team hopes that more fans will get excited enough to pony up a…
Star Citizen’s Around the Verse on alpha 3.0, atmo flight, and Squadron 42 info - Shake it off, Star Citizen:Â On this week's Around the Verse, CIG says it's "getting close to live release," stress testing the current version of the game with 176 must-fix issues…
Ashes of Creation opens new storefront, alpha zero set to begin today - After weeks of silence, Ashes of Creation looks like it might be gearing up for the promised December 15th Alpha Zero test. While the team hasn't recently confirmed that today's…
Crowfall explains crowns, guilds, and buying crowns for guilds bought with crowns - Crowns are the microtransaction currency coming to Crowfall starting in 2018, which you can buy like most microtransaction currencies. Guilds are... well, guilds. If you've played an MMO you know…
Shroud of the Avatar prepares for the arrival of Release 49 - December is a time for sitting with friends and family, toasting to the new year, and most importantly, not doing any actual work. Thus, the developers behind Shroud of the…
Elite Dangerous’ Thargoid aliens are finally fighting back - It turns out that when you mess with the Thargoids long enough, eventually even they get fed up. Elite Dangerous players have been poking the ethereal aliens with the space…
Shroud of the Avatar creates the quintessential cozy inn, changes up free trial offerings - When travelers wander in to Shroud of the Avatar's Release 49 later this week, they'll find that one watering hole looks much improved than before. The team has been busy…
Crytek sues Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium, alleging copyright infringement - Update: We've updated with CIG's official statement to us below. Crytek is suing Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries, the companies behind the sprawling and controversial crowdfunded MMO Star…
Pantheon begins pre-alpha testing for high-end backers - It's a big day for indie MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, as it's the first day the gates open to external pre-alpha testers to help test the game. "Our…
OrbusVR starts early access on December 15th with no more wipes - That headline is a bit of a misnomer; everyone who hasn't already purchased OrbusVR will have to wait until December 15th for early access, but people who have already bought…
Ship of Heroes recaps 2017, teases Christmas event, and looks ahead to 2018’s beta - Who says you have to have launched to have holiday events? Not Ship of Heroes. The City of Heroes-inspired indie superhero MMORPG has a new video out this afternoon teasing…
CCP honors fallen EVE Online developer with fundraiser ship skin - As if CCP Games isn't struggling enough right now, the studio announced today that it's lost one of its own: an EVE Online developer and graphics programmer known to the…
Life is Feudal: MMO counts ‘tens of thousands’ of players in open beta - So how's the Life is Feudal MMO doing since it hit open beta a few weeks ago? The login issues and emergency game wipe aside, it's apparently attracted a decent…
Worlds Adrift’s 0.1.5 update is almost ready, but the world wipe won’t come ’til after Christmas - Bossa Studios revealed today that Worlds Adrift's 0.1.6 patch - and its associated world wipe - won't make it into tester hands by Christmas. The 0.1.5 update, however, will. "It…
Sword Coast Legends ends development – grab it from Steam while you can - Better buy Sword Coast Legends while you still can: It appears that Wizards of the Coast and Digital Extremes will be ending the publishing contract for the Dungeons and Dragons-based…
Camelot Unchained fleshes out books, clothes, and the new Dragonfang scenario - They aren't dressing it up with "burndown" hoopla, but City State Entertainment's devs are in just that kind of check-it-off testing mode with Camelot Unchained's development as they push their…
Who does Star Citizen love now? HOVERBIKES! - Is Star Citizen alpha 3.0 going to make it past the PTU testers to the live server by Christmas? It's looking pretty tight. According to the game's weekly Around the…
Path of Exile’s War for the Atlas expansion is live today - [AL:POE]Path of Exile's free-to-play War for the Atlas expansion is slated to go live this afternoon on PC, expanding the gameworld for diehard MMOARPG fans. As we've previously reported, the…
Chronicles of Elyria to start taking name reservations next month - Thinking about reserving a character name in Chronicles of Elyria? It's going to cost you, but if you're willing to pony up the dough, you should be sitting pretty some…
OrbusVR shows off with a new trailer for early access - The trouble with seeing VR images on a non-VR screen is, well, they don't really carry the same sort of impact. The new OrbusVR trailer is full of stuff that…
Crowfall studio ArtCraft just raised another $6M from investors to launch the game - Lest you be dispirited by the fact that Crowfall's soft launch isn't going to make 2017 as promised (after also not making 2016), ArtCraft has a post up today outlining…
Albion Online releases a new update, ‘Kay? - Albion Online's dev team hasn't run out of girlfriends' and boyfriends' Arthurian lore names to use for its patches, so everyone say hello to today's Kay update. The big focus…
Crowfall: ‘You don’t have to get into the stats to have a good time in this game’ - Crowfall's J. Todd Coleman and Billy Garretsen are back for another ACE Q&A - you can pretty much mark the months by these things. December's edition is all about the…
Star Wars Galaxies’ main emulator got a major infrastructure upgrade and the Village Jedi system - If you've not played on the original Star Wars Galaxies emulator in a season or two, it's probably escaped your notice entirely that its core server, Basilisk, had a serious…
Shadow’s Kiss ends Kickstarter with 300% funding and several stretch goals - Expect some vampires to be popping bottles of the red bubbly today. The team behind Shadow's Kiss is celebrating the conclusion a modestly successful Kickstarter run, the funds from which…
Project Gorgon releases an experimental launcher for Linux - There has never been an idea so offbeat and weird that the Project Gorgon team will not give it a shot. That does not simply extend to in-game mechanics, either.…
Shroud of the Avatar’s newest mine borrows from Greek mythology - If you fall into the trap of thinking of every fantasy mine as a dark cavern full of Temple of Doom-style trolley tracks, then Shroud of the Avatar would like…
Elite Dangerous
Commanders, we need your help! Thargoids have attacked stations around the Pleiades and there are thousands of stranded civilians! Any available ships, head to The Oracle (Pleiades Sector IR-W D1-55), Titan's Daughter (Taygeta) and Liman Legacy (HIP 16753) and save them. Please. pic.twitter.com/0aHlgdUMU1
— Elite Dangerous (@EliteDangerous) December 14, 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.
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. Alpha zero.
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. Pre-alpha.
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 funded.
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.
Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – 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. Alpha ended.
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. In early access.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) –Â Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) –Â Open donations. Prealpha.
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, Kickstarter funded.
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.
War of Rights (Campfire Games) – Successful Kickstarter; in alpha.
Camelot Unchained
