This week in MMO crowdfunding, French website AFJV reported that Dual Universe studio Novaquark has snapped up one of the original EVE Online designers: Hrafnkell Oskarsson. The crowfunded sci-fi MMORPG recently opened up its own custom crowdfunding portal to continue development, which is currently still in pre-alpha. “Together, Novaquark and Oskarsson will be working on Dual Universe, the giant multi-planetary sandbox universe where potentially millions of people will be able to invent new stories for themselves, create new political systems, economies, cities, and empires,” says the company in its PR.
It was a big week for the larger Kickstarted MMORPGs: As promised, beloved crowdfunded indie Project Gorgon hit early access this week to cheering crowds on Steam in spite of its relatively high price, and Shroud of the Avatar pushed out new videos ahead of its formal launch this week.
Meanwhile, Pantropy canceled its Kickstarter and is planning a second go, ROKH got a substantial update and a promise that it’s not being abandoned, Crowfall obsessed over death, Ascent The Space Game readied an engine switchover, and Albion Online rolled out its Lancelot update.
Thanks to Cotic and Kinya for the great tips! Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and the weekly roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following.
Playing Project Gorgon
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Project Gorgon has officially launched on Steam early access with a big sale - The time is here for brave Gorgoneers to suit up, face curses, and brave the lands of beta testing. Project Gorgon has officially gone into Steam early access as of…
Pantropy cancels its Kickstarter, rejects publishing offers, plans a new Kickstarter - As we've been covering in Make My MMO, the Kickstarter for sci-fi MMO shooter Pantropy hadn't been going as well as developer Brain Stone had hoped. Last weekend, ahead of…
Ship of Heroes looks at ways to boost performance on older computers - While it is certainly too early for Ship of Heroes to be posting its full system requirements, the team did discuss some of the graphics options that it has included…
ROKH studio Darewise says it’s not abandoning the survival sandbox for new sci-fi MMO Project C - Survival sandbox fans will be pleased to know that ROKH hasn't been abandoned. The game's given the appearance of struggling over the past couple of years; it canceled a flagging…
Don’t lose your head in Crowfall — but you probably will - It's not too common to see game developers giddy about beheading, but then again, most developers aren't part of the Crowfall team. ArtCraft is giving both attention and additional features…
Star Citizen on some of the big ships of alpha 3.1 and the St Patrick’s Day event - I hope you like starships because in this week's episode of Star Citizen's Around the Verse, you're getting two whole segments on just that. Ship Shape #1 focuses on the…
Shroud of the Avatar releases co-op and world videos ahead of launch - Portalarium is going all out for Shroud of the Avatar's formal launch next week - March 27th, for those of you keeping count. Last night, the studio held its launch…
ECO shows off its upcoming vehicles - At long last, players of ECO will no longer be stuck having to walk from place to place like an animal, but will be free to tear across the landscape…
Crowfall might put your head on a stick - Haven't lived up to your potential? Suffered the wrath of your enemies and paid the price for your folly? You could very well end up with your character's head on…
OrbusVR previews the talent system for its classes - When you first choose your class in OrbusVR, you have four options. The new talent system coming to the game also gives you four tiers of option, although it's between…
Ascent: The Space Game is close to pushing out a new patch and client after switching engines - Back in January, we expressed concern for the brilliant one-man space indie sandbox MMORPG called Ascent: The Space Game (not to be confused with that other Ascent). Talks with an…
Ever, Jane eyes a new update, overhauls forums and website - We haven't checked in with pre-eminent roleplaying MMORPG Ever, Jane in a long time - since last summer, in fact - but the game, as it turns out, has been…
Pantheon on mismatched newbie armor and open-world dungeons - This month's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen newsletter is stuffed with images, thanks to features on gear creation and dungeons. Over on the armor side, Pantheon will cleave to the…
Shroud of the Avatar’s housing is expensive, but not impossible to acquire without RMT - When we covered Shroud of the Avatar's newsletter yesterday, one of the tidbits we mentioned was the plan for craftable housing. In response to a question from a player, Starr…
The Daily Grind: Are you going to play Project Gorgon’s early access? - People, I am frustrated. But in a good way. With the activation of RIFT Prime, the release of LOTRO's Northern Mirkwood, and now this week's launch of Project Gorgon on…
The Stream Team: Excited for Project Gorgon’s Steam launch - Massively OP's MJ may not be in town for tomorrow's Project Gorgon Steam launch, but she's excited about it just the same. She'll just be celebrating a day early! MJ…
The Stream Team: Celebrating Shroud of the Avatar’s upcoming launch party - Shroud of the Avatar's official launch may be a bit later this month, but the launch party is this week! Massively OP's MJ is excited to go, and so she's…
Shroud of the Avatar on R52 and launch content, craftable housing, and player ambassadors - Whether or not you agree that Shroud of the Avatar is already soft launched, it is most definitely hard launching on March 27th, meaning there's just a few weeks to…
The Repopulation delays its next update due to backend issues - Almost every player of The Repopulation is eager to test the game's A.00.00.00 update, but it's going to take a little longer to arrive on the test servers. In essence,…
Saga of Lucimia argues GM events should be mandatory in MMOs, not an ‘optional service’ - A few months ago, we ran a Leaderboard poll asking players what kind of live studio-led events they want out of MMORPGs. By way of example, I compared the types…
Project Gorgon is officially in early access on March 13th - It's happening! The official Project Gorgon early access date on Steam is Tuesday, March 13th, which means that owners will need to log in on Steam and new people will…
Albion Online launches Lancelot with fishing and guild updates, grants everyone a week of sub play - Albion Online's Lancelot update, its third major release since launch, is officially live this morning. The star of the update, as we've previously covered, is the new fishing system. "Cast a…
Worlds Adrift
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; launching 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, 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, now in refund process.
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.
Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo successful; open beta.
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. Pre-alpha.
Pantropy (Brain Stone GmbH): Kickstarter canceled.
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. Early access.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; 2015Â KSÂ 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.
