This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen went absolutely mad with infodumps, and I almost feel sorry for it because it got half buried by Blizzard. But Star Citizen actually turned seven years old this week, with alpha 3.7, new cosmetics and goodies, the new Pirate Swarm game mode. We even had an epic interview of our own with CIG’s Sean Tracy, and CIG posted the full version of its UK corporate report teased earlier this month (cue the armchair accountants). (Thanks, Quavers!)
Meanwhile, Portalarium announced it had transferred Shroud of the Avatar over to a new company owned by the lead dev on the project. It also admitted Kickstarter backers will never see the physical book they were promised and will be compensated with some in-game items instead.
Finally, Day of Dragons funded for over half a million dollars, Ship of Heroes and City of Titans both announced character creator betas, and then we deep-dived Dual Universe, previewed Ashes of Creation Apocalypse, and counted down the list of the biggest MMO Kickstarters ever.
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!
Star Citizen
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Interview: Star Citizen’s Sean Tracy on the gameplay features of alpha 3.7, live today - Today marks another big installment for the alpha of Star Citizen. The 3.7 update should now be live for everyone as you read this, bringing along a variety of updates…
Shroud of the Avatar changes hands as Portalarium transfers assets to Catnip Games - Hey you know when's a good time to drop potentially bad news? Underneath somebody else's even bigger bad news. Apparently, today it's going to be the revelation that Portalarium has…
Shroud of the Avatar finally admits the Kickstarter book is not happening, offers in-game items instead - Yesterday, we covered the bizarre but perhaps expected news that Portalarium has transferred Shroud of the Avatar and other assets to Catnip Games, which is the new studio of Chris…
AdventureQuest 3D opens up Yokai Isle in its latest update, preps Mogloween - The Lolosia Saga of AdventureQuest 3D continues with the game's latest update, introducing players to the hidden ninja location of Yokai Isle and a whole bunch of new things to…
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse just rolled out a much smaller PvP map for testing - Ashes of Creation's battle royale-cum-testing ground Apocalypse kicked out an update yesterday that, among other things, offers a new place for players to slay one another in: the wintry Forest…
Ship of Heroes shows off the hospital for the character creation beta - The character creation beta for Ship of Heroes is coming quickly, set to arrive on November 1st. But you won't be limited to just creating your character and then doing nothing,…
Ship of Heroes’ character creation tool donor beta is set for November 1 - Just an hour ago, we joked that City of Titans and Ship of Heroes were just about to have a big ol' showdown as the two City of Heroes-inspired MMOs…
City of Titans’ avatar builder is coming to backers soon - Ship of Heroes isn't the only superhero MMORPG in town that's getting a character builder out to its fans this month: City of Titans just announced that it's going to…
Temtem shares the first backer-created creature design process - The critters of Temtem are the center of the action, being as the title is a Pokemon-inpsired game which funded last year. This is why one of the potential backer rewards…
Fractured opens up a porting test weekend ahead of Alpha 2 in November - How long do projects take in software development? The old standby is that you should take your most realistic estimate and double it, but it turns out that the estimates…
OrbusVR brings its new level 30 dungeons and new Shard dungeons online - Earlier in the month, VR MMO OrbusVR offered a look at new endgame content due with its forthcoming update. That update officially went live yesterday, bringing along with it new…
Legends of Aria is overhauling its PvP system once again - Remember this past summer when Citadel Studios announced that it was finally launching Legends of Aria on Steam with a huge overhaul patch that would shake up the game's ruleset,…
Perfect Ten: Kickstarter MMOs that raised the most money - The rise of crowdfunding in the mid-2010s swept a large wave of MMORPGs our way that might never have happened otherwise. For a while there, we were seeing new project…
Albion Online increases Silver costs, lowers Transmutation costs, and tweaks some items - Balancing the economy of Albion Online appears to be at the forefront of today's patch to the Percival update, which is mainly all about introducing more Silver sinks in the…
Chronicles of Elyria’s Kickstarter-versary enters its final week with one final stretch goal to unlock - The last few pieces of news coming out of Chronicles of Elyria have been all about its Kickstarter anniversary crowdfunding drive, which is perhaps to be expected considering the effort…
Camelot Unchained’s support class testing moves on to the Dark Fool - While the Minstrel class in Camelot Unchained is by no means finished, the weekly update now notes that the folks at City State Entertainment are focusing efforts on the Dark…
Albion Online offers a closer look at its new Outlands PvP area - Oh, great! Another new video from Albion Online with Robin Henkys and what looks like the world's most comfortable chair! Let me just open the link and... wait... who is…
Pantheon’s Brad McQuaid’s recent dev blogs cover everything from PvP to instancing - Pantheon fans, if you haven't swung by the official site in a few days, you definitely should. Visionary Realms' Brad "Aradune" McQuaid has been busy indeed dropping dev blogs and…
Shroud of the Avatar dates next SotACon event, releases more Episode 2 bundles - Sometimes you have to root around in the Shroud of the Avatar update digest to find the interesting stuff. Digest #352 kind of has this problem, which is mostly about…
Fight or Kite: Impressions of Ashes of Creation Apocalypse, a solid fantasy battle royale nobody is playing - A mere fortnight ago, the team behind Ashes of Creation took its MMO combat testing ground known as Apocalypse and opened the doors on Steam as a fully free-to-play title…
Star Citizen goes over ship weapon concepting and offers a look at a new Star Marine map - Star Citizen has offered a couple of intriguing peeks into its world and its process with a couple of updates. In one update we got a look at how one…
Ship of Heroes will let players save and share a costume file - "Okay, so which blue is it again?" "The third one down." "Down from the top?" "Yes, Frank, that's what down means." "Okay, is this good?" "...dammit, Frank, no, you have…
Computer science professor uses lessons he teaches to set a new flight record in Elite Dangerous - Many times in a sandbox game, you have to make your own fun and set your own challenges. One such challenge in Elite: Dangerous is charting the fastest route from…
Star Citizen recounts alpha 3.7.0 feature development in its September report as the update hits PTS - Alpha 3.7.0 for Star Citizen is a pretty big deal for the game. It's been the subject of numerous Inside Star Citizen videos for the past few weeks and it…
Star Citizen studio releases UK Annual Companies House Report for 2018 - Star Citizen and money: It's one of MMO players' favorite topics, right? Back in December of last year, Star Citizen studio Cloud Imperium announced a $46M private investment in the…
Ship of Heroes teases character creator tool beta with new preview video - It's happening, folks: Ship of Heroes is set to announce the date for its character creator tool this week, which means it's cranking up the hype machine with a new…
Elite Dangerous addresses community petition over development ‘grievances’ - It appears that a number of Elite: Dangerous players are unhappy with the state of things in the space sandbox. In fact, they've drafted a formal petition to Frontier Developments…
Chronicles of Elyria’s Kickstarter-versary funding drive crests $560k, keeps on adding new goals - There must be a pastime of throwing cash in Soulbound Studios' direction among the members of the Chronicles of Elyria community because the kitty for the Kickstarter-versary crowdfunding event we…
City of Heroes: Homecoming patches in the third part of Issue 26 with new stories and powers - At long last, City of Heroes players who have been aching for new story content have an option for exactly that with the release of the Homecoming Issue 26, page 3 patch.…
Camelot Unchained’s latest newsletter covers class design and differentiation in MMORPGs - Camelot Unchained's latest newsletter has arrived, and in it, apart from the recap of development progress, is a deep-dive into how City State approaches the creation of new classes, something…
Multiplayer monster sandbox Day of Dragons just funded for over half a million dollars - Day of Dragons has gotten just a sliver of coverage here on Massively OP as it headlined a crowdfunding column, but today it's getting a bunch more, as the game…
Shroud of the Avatar’s spoopy Halloween release 70 is officially live - While we already knew that Shroud of the Avatar was going to start dressing up for the best holiday on Earth (Halloween) with Release 70, all we had was a…
Trials of Ascension: Exile gets bought by a player who vows to continue development - If you were worried that your dreams of playing as a spider were in danger due to the rocky foundation that Trials of Ascension: Exile stands on, then you may…
Ashes of Creation explains how Apocalypse battle royale has brought about improvements to the MMO - This past Friday saw a developer livestream from the Ashes of Creation team with the aim of providing a bit more context on just what good a battle royale mode…
Preview: Dual Universe demos alpha 2’s player economy, solar system, and space stations - You know that feeling when you follow a game's development and it just keeps getting better and better? I don't mean the promises of what's to come but the reality…
City of Titans defines alpha and beta, teases a patcher, and shows off unisex outfits - There's been a little bit of a news burst coming out of the City of Titans camp. The devs have taken a moment to discuss what alpha and beta means…
Ship of Heroes
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.
Day of Dragons (Beawesome) – Kickstarter successful.
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 successfully funded.
Star Citizen Live
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?
