This week week in MMO crowdfunding, Star Citizen stole the show with the release of its 3.5 alpha to all backers. Most famously, this is the patch that introduces playable female characters to the game, though it’s also got the Coruscant-like planet ArcCorp, the new flight model, and new character customization tweaks.
Meanwhile, Elite Dangerous rolled out its new forums, OrbusVR is hosting an open beta weekend, Ashes of Creation talked up its node system, Shroud of the Avatar celebrated its first birthday and pushed out release 64, Temtem delayed its next alpha update, and Spycursion’s Kickstarter went belly up – but its devs vowed to soldier on.
Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week, plus our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!
Star Citizen
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen’s alpha 3.5 rolls out to all backers this weekend with playable female toons as ATV takes a break - It's gonna be a good weekend for Star Citizen backers: The 3.5 alpha is going live for everyone this weekend. This'd be the update we've been covering more intensely for…
R64 springs into Shroud of the Avatar with city buffs, player dungeon changes, and killer bunnies - Developers of Shroud of the Avatar are still working hard on the Top-10 priorities they mentioned in the Q1 update schedule. Today, they released the 64th update to the game…
Chronicles of Elyria’s website now allows title transfers, title trade-ins, and package claiming - Those who are invested in Chronicles of Elyria in both the mental and fiscal sense now have a few new options open to them on the developing MMORPG's website. You…
Star Citizen spin-off Squadron 42 updates backers on February progress - Still keeping an eye on Squadron 42, the Star Citizen spin-off that's... well, it's closer to launch than Star Citizen is, at least. Cloud Imperium sent out a dispatch to…
Here’s a look at the female armors in Star Citizen - Whether it's the digital world or the real one, window shopping is easily one of my favorite pastimes. It's like retail therapy but without actually doing damage to your wallet,…
The Stream Team: Shroud of the Avatar hits its first year anniversary - One year down, many to go! Shroud of the Avatar is celebrating the first anniversary of its launch today and Massively OP's MJ is ready to party! Of course, partying…
OrbusVR: Reborn is holding an open beta this weekend - Ready to get your feet wet in the big OrbusVR expansion and reboot? OrbusVR: Reborn is heading into an open beta this weekend, so anyone with a VR headset and an interest…
Crowfall details the random encounters players will have with War Tribes - The point of the various time-limited worlds in Crowfall is, in part, that players are fighting for victory in the remnants of dying worlds. These worlds will be lost and will…
Ashes of Creation explains the process for advancing and demolishing Nodes throughout the game world - Nodes are the central building block for Ashes of Creation, and seeing them level up or level down is a big element of what makes the game feel dynamic, as outlined…
Choose My Adventure: The almost-zen of crafting in Legends of Aria - Funny how this run of Choose My Adventure arrives after we've had a discussion about designed downtime, because the crafting and gathering in Legends of Aria is the kind of…
Indie hacking MMO Spycursion admits defeat on Kickstarter, but game development will continue - We've been tracking the Kickstarter for upcoming hacking MMO Spycursion for several weeks now, and it's coming down to its last two days. And as we reported in our last…
Shroud of the Avatar puts R64 on the test server and takes over publishing worldwide - Shroud of the Avatar has put out 324 newsletters. I don't know why that strikes me so much, but it does. In this edition of the sandbox MMORPG's newsletter, we…
Check out some of the female character creation options planned for Star Citizen’s 3.5 alpha - As you are all aware by now, women play video games, too. And it's about time that Star Citizen had its female models ready to go, but let's not beat…
Camelot Unchained seeks to blow up a castle built with 9 million blocks - Show of hands: Who here played one of the Sim City games? And of those players, whose first impulse when firing up said game was to unleash all of the…
Ashes of Creation nodes
Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching
3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; beta began Oct 2016.
Albion Online (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam May 2018.
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.
Codename Reality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
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; Issue 0 delayed into 2019.
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. Probably dead.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; in early access.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and fully launched.
Empyrion Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Endless Trials (Fire Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter successful. Pre-alpha.
Global Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date; in early access.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, now allegedly 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. Early access.
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): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded.
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.
Project Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter fully funded; now in alpha.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal;Â KSÂ unsuccessful. Early access.
The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Back in alpha.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in early access but not active dev.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Soft launch July 2016. Launch March 2018.
Spycursion (Defun) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed until at least 2020.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Totally abandoned without a word. Now considered a scam.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.
War of Rights (Campfire Games) – Successful Kickstarter; in early access.
