This week in MMO crowdfunding, Greed Monger is back in the headlines, as former owner Jason Appleton told Kickstarter backers that as a result of a cryptocurrency windfall, he’s finally planning on refunding those who feel swindled from the game’s now-ancient Kickstarter failure.
“To put it lightly, I’ve been doing well. 2018 is the year I pay back GM donations,” he says. “I will update this once more when I’ve got things worked out with Kickstarter on a system for how this will work. I may only be able to refund $10k a week or $10k a month, but I expect to get this all resolved this year. Hopefully the first round of refunds can happen this coming week.”
It’s not the first time he’s promised some sort of compensation for the game many MMO players still believe was a scam; last year, he was promising cryptocurrency itself. If anyone actually does receive any refund, drop us a tip! (With thanks to Sally Sally’s “friend” for passing this along to us! :D)
In happier news, crowdfunded MMORPG Camelot Unchained received a $7.5 million cash infusion from a group of investors, intended to increase hiring and speed up completion of the game. Mark Jacobs retains full creative control and the largest slice of the corporate pie, meaning the game will ship as originally designed.
We also broke the news that both Chronicles of Elyria and Albion Online suffered layoffs at the turn of the year, in Albion’s case a fairly significant hit to the size of the team.
Meanwhile, Dual Universe teased a fun building tool, Albion Online kicked off the Ice & Fire Speedrun events, Crowfall memorialized a fallen backer, and Saga of Lucimia announced it’s hiring (hopefully that goes better than last time, but we’re not holding our breath). We also dived back into Project Gorgon!
Finally, we’ve tucked in a video from streamer Neith, who’s covered some of Ship of Heroes’ new villain costumes (Nagdellians and Yekus mercs).
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’re following.
Camelot Unchained
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Choose My Adventure: Yes, Project Gorgon is a weird game - I want to start this column by saying the absolute meanest thing I have to say about Project Gorgon, and that one is probably pretty obvious. This is not a…
Chronicles of Elyria confirms layoff rumors - Earlier today, we asked the Chronicles of Elyria team for a statement regarding a tip we'd received about layoffs and salary cutbacks at Soulbound, and presumably in response, the studio…
Albion Online characterizes layoffs as downsizing to ‘pre-release beta testing’ levels - Earlier this week, we got a tip claiming that the Albion Online team had been severely cut back before Christmas, perhaps as much as 50%, owing to poor performance. Turns…
Star Citizen explains where baby ships come from - Star Citizen just wouldn't be Star Citizen without its obsession with meticulously crafted starships, and they're exactly the focus of the Ship Shape segment in this week's Around the Verse.…
Town State Leisure: Camelot Unchained responds to absurd scraper article as only CSE can - If by chance you've ever run a blog about literally anything, you surely know about scrapers - those jerks who use scripts to steal your stuff in full and put…
Crowfall shows off the Assassin’s toxic skills - Nasty toxins, sneaky attacks, and underhanded tactics: If these things appeal to your style of play, then you're definitely going to want to check out Crowfall's newest class, the Assassin.…
Chronicles of Elyria’s latest cinematic pits elks vs. everything - "The only enemy more dangerous than the one you see is the one you don't see." Poor Dryas Elk, they can't catch a break. If death isn't coming at them…
War of Rights makes the battlefield sound like hell - In its quest to replicate the authentic Civil War battlefield experience, the team at War of Rights has added a sound pack with this week's Update 91 that adds all…
Whatever happened to Ascent: the Space Game, Aura Kingdom, and Fragmented? - Ever pause during your day and find yourself wondering, “Whatever happened to that game?” With hundreds upon hundreds of online titles these days, it’s surprisingly easy for MMOs to fall through the…
Ashes of Creation team answers tons of fan questions, gives a preview of the Underrealm - Have a burning curiosity about pixies, testing, and soundtracks? They might have been answered yesterday. In the span of an hour, the Ashes of Creation team tackled around 30 player…
Ship of Heroes gives more love to its warehouse district - Who knew that warehouses could be so exciting? Don't say such things to Ship of Heroes, because this superhero MMO is currently enthralled with its improvements of what could otherwise…
Pantheon recaps 2017 and looks at harvesting - Are you pinning your hope and hype in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen for future MMO entertainment? Then you'll definitely not want to miss out on the January newsletter, which…
Ship of Heroes expands its dev team, updates gallery of new mission maps - Last week, Massively OP's MJ Guthrie and our community were treated to an early preview of Ship of Heroes - specifically, two mission maps, one of which nobody had peeked…
Lost in Crowfall’s alpha? There’s a video for that – three videos, in fact - If you're a Crowfall backer currently logging into the game's current test phase for the first time because you are too impatient to wait for the game's delayed soft launch,…
Shroud of the Avatar draws inspiration from Yellowstone, Hawaii, and Mongolia - Don't have enough money to go on a huge vacation this year? You might be able to save a lot of dough and still get the same basic experience by…
City of Titans drafts volunteer to build metro landmarks - Considering that it's City of Titans and not Prairies of Titans or Lonely Country Road of Titans, it's safe to assume that this indie MMO has quite a few buildings…
Elyria cinematic
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.) – Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; launching fall 2018.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – 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) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – 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) – Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early access.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – 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; 2015 KS unsuccessful. 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.
Ship of Heroes stream
Don’t miss our recap of the best MMO crowdfunding news from 2017!
