This week in MMO crowdfunding, Star Citizen finally pushed out alpha 3.6.2 after a bit of delay – and that’s not all that’s being delayed. This week, CIG clarified what it meant by “staggered development”: a roadmap revision that pushes off some gameplay features to later stages of development, including the salvage system, security system, and bounty hunter armor. But hey, you could subscribe right now and get “complementary access” to the 890 Jump temporarily! (They meant complimentary, but it’s not complimentary either since you just paid a sub to get it. Wheeee.)
The Kickstarter for cyberpunk MMORPG Zenith continues as well. With 19 days left to go, it’s already raised over $200,000 after seeking only $25,000. Meanwhile, Valiance Online posted a brief update, Albion Online promised tweaks to guild logs, Crowfall introduced the new Infected ruleset, Ship of Heroes pushed off its character creator test a few more weeks, and Chronicles of Elyria is on track to win an award for best MMO drama in a game that isn’t out yet.
Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last couple of weeks, plus our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!
Zenith
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zenithmmo/zenith-the-fantasy-cyberpunk-mmo-game-for-vr-and-desktop
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen explains the roadmap reassignment of salvage, security, and bounty hunter armor - When Star Citizen announced its plans to tweak its development process last week, it also noted that features on the game's roadmap were going to be reshuffled. The announcement, however,…
City of Titans has slimmed down its costuming program, bringing it closer to a test state - Costumes in a superhero game are a big deal, something the City of Titans team is well aware of. But system resources are also a big deal, so when it turns out that…
Inside Star Citizen showcases commodity inventory, two Vanguard variants, and hover mode adjustments - It's another week, and so that means another development video from Star Citizen! This edition of the video series provided the first build of a commodity inventory system, a look…
Chronicles of Elyria players secede from their king to create their own confederation - A fascinating bit of player-run political intrigue has happened in Chronicles of Elyria well before the game has even seen a playable build. During the Domain and Settlement Selection (DSS),…
Legends of Aria is merging Azure Sky and Verdant Earth today - The Azure Sky and Verdant Earth server clusters of Legends of Aria are merging today, as was promised at the end of August. The new conjoined server will be dubbed Ethereal…
Crowfall’s Infected ruleset offers the best of both worlds - Quick primer on Crowfall's world types for you today: The upcoming PvP MMORPG is running limited-duration campaigns set in four different world types, with relatively safer worlds offering fewer rewards…
City of Heroes Homecoming players have rolled almost a million toons to date - I've always said that if I could do one thing in video games - you know, besides what I already love and do - it'd be play with metrics. (I…
Ship of Heroes pushes character creator beta to later in 2019, says its toons are more advanced than City of Heroes’ - With summer drawing to a close, Heroic Games is barreling ahead on Ship of Heroes' character creation tool beta, which was originally aimed at summer but now will be out…
Camelot Unchained has managed to stop making characters stick to one another - When we talk about making an MMO feel sticky, we don't actually want people in-game to stick to us. Luckily, neither do the folks of Camelot Unchained, which managed to…
Ashes of Creation talks about improving combat, destruction, and infrastructure in a livestream - Anyone who has had some time in the battle royale mode of Ashes of Creation might agree that the game's combat needs a bit of work. Rest assured, that work…
Star Citizen FAQ justifies ‘staggered development,’ shows off procedural space stations - While the update cadence for Star Citizen will reportedly hold steady, the way the dev team at CIG approaches developing these updates is changing. There will now be "staggered development"…
Crowfall’s Decap-a-Thon event will reward you for collecting the skulls of your enemies starting today - Decap-a-Thon sounds almost playful until you realize that you're effectively lopping off the heads of other player characters to get points. But hey, this is Crowfall, and nobody said a…
Why I Play: AdventureQuest 3D’s Korn concerts and crazy puns - My first real exposure to AdventureQuest 3D was years ago now when I was asked if I would host a special giveaway on an OPTV stream. All I had to…
CIG opens sales for Star Citizen’s latest concept ship, the $600 Aegis Nautilus - Earlier this week we told you about the Aegis Nautilus, a currently unflyable $600 Star Citizen ship that features mine laying and mine sweeping gameplay that hasn't been built or…
Shroud of the Avatar’s R69 test build brings back a comet and Aether Creatures, adds a high tier dungeon - The QA test server for Shroud of the Avatar has a new build of the sandbox MMORPG for players to check out. Release 69 is up for testing, and it's…
City of Heroes Homecoming adjusts snipes and Dominator powers with the latest patch - Just because City of Heroes' current servers are still rogue server doesn't mean their content will be locked in perpetuity. Case in point: The Homecoming servers are being patched up…
Indie RvR MMO Camelot Unchained updates backers on ‘Linuxification’ efforts - The Camelot Unchained folks seem to be in love with the word "Linuxification." I can appreciate why: Reading it aloud sounds like a form of new scientific study, and it's…
Project Gorgon’s latest patch overhauls the shield skill and adds the Fae Realm zone - It's patch season for indie MMO darling Project Gorgon, as a new biome has entered the chat. It's called the Fae Realm. "A new explorable area has been added to…
VR cyberpunk MMO Zenith roars past $167,000 in donations - Any way you look at it, Zenith is having a very round of fundraising. The virtual reality cyberpunk MMORPG's extended Kickstarter campaign has crossed $167,000 in donations to date, which…
Star Citizen reveals a non-functional $600 ship at a private function for its Concierge level backers - There's apparently another new Star Citizen ship on the way. A pretty pricey one, too. That news isn't terribly remarkable considering some of the ship costs currently available, but what…
Ashes of Creation
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.
City of Heroes Homecoming (Homecoming) – Monthly donation rounds.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; Issue 0 delayed into 2019.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Destiny’s Sword (2Dogs) – Kickstarter successful June 2019.
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. Abandoned, then not?
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. Alpha 2.
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) – 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)
Oath (Ready-Up) – Kickstarter funded.
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.
Path of Titans (Alderon) – Indiegogo.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early access launched sans multiplayer.
Playcraft (Bebop Games) – Kickstarter funded May 2019.
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.
RAW (Killerwhale) – Kickstarter canceled by Kickstarter.
Starfighter Infinity (Ben Olding) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
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.
Ship of Heroes (Heroic) – Kickstarter canceled, beta expected before 2020.
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.
Zenith (Ramen) – Kickstarter ends Sept 26.
Star Citizen
Yes, some crowdfunded MMOs most definitely do succeed. But others crash and burn, and you need to hear about the whole spectrum of games that sought your money early in exchange for the promise of input and transparency. And that’s exactly what Make My MMO does every Saturday. Help us keep ’em accountable, would ya?
