So Torchlight III gave everyone a big surprise when it jumped into early access! It was, unfortunately, not the good kind of surprise. More like the “oh no, why is this happening” sort of surprise. The developers have vowed that it’s going to get better, so that’s at least good news… you know, when it actually gets better.
Elsewhere… news! That’s not any sort of surprise; you knew this was coming.
- The closed beta for New World will take place in good old July! That’s it. That’s the joke. We’re still looking at August for launch.
- Cyberpunk and VR-enabled MMO Zenith has moved from pre-alpha to alpha, in… well, maybe not a milestone move. Are there yardstones?
- Corepunk (not to be mistaken with punkcore) has showed off some of its pre-alpha gameplay while reasserting its old-school MMO chops.
- Last but not least, while it’s not currently in beta, the mobile MMO V4 is en route for the west on both mobile and PC platforms. That might be a thing to watch.
And now it is time for Betawatch to drift into the horizon while mournful music plays; please choose your chiptune rendition of haunting melodies as suits your needs. You may also gaze wistfully on the list below which should provide a quick glide across various titles currently in testing, but you can also let us know if something hopped test phases without us noticing. We’ll drift back over the horizon to take note of that.
As always, we consider an MMO to be in open testing if it features free, public signups and will server wipe prior to launch. An MMO is marked in closed testing if it’s running a private test phase that cannot freely be accessed by the general public; it’s usually under NDA as well. Early access and crowdfunded MMOs whose tests we deem legitimate will be included. So-called “open beta” soft-launch MMOs with cash shops, no sign of launch in the west, or limited interest for our readers will not be listed; we also do not list expansions, with occasional exceptions.
AdventureQuest 3D: Open beta
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
Ashes of Creation: Alpha one testing in May; Apocalypse early access has ended
Book of Travels: Closed beta
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta one
Children of Ur: Open alpha, further development merged with Eleven
Crowfall: Backer alpha
Cube World: Closed beta since September 23rd
Dauntless: Open beta
Dark and Light: Early access
Dual Universe: Alpha
ECO: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Elyon: Korean beta (fka Ascent Infinite Realm)
Ever, Jane: Open beta
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Gloria Victis: Early access on Steam
Guardians of Ember: Open beta
Hearthstone Battleground Mode: Open beta
Inferna: Early access
Life is Feudal: Early access
Line of Defense: Early access, removed from Steam
Magic: Legends: Beta testing in 2020
Mortal Online 2: Closed alpha
New World: Beta in July, launch in August 2020
Occupy White Walls: Early access
Osiris: New Dawn: Open beta
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Pantheon: Backer pre-alpha
Pathfinder Online: Subscription “early enrollment”
Population Zero: Early access
Project Genom: Closed alpha, servers offline for restructuring with SpatialOS
Project Gorgon: Early access beta
Prosperous Universe: Early access
Saga of Lucimia: Closed alpha
SamuTale: Closed alpha
Ship of Heroes: Alpha
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Temtem: Early access
The Black Death: Early access alpha
The Cycle: Alpha, weekly test cycle
The Repopulation: Early access alpha
Torchlight III: Early access
Valiance Online: Alpha
Zenith: Alpha
Yes, MMO gamers, you too can perform the unpaid quality-control work otherwise known as game testing! Check out Massively Overpowered’s Betawatch every week for a run-down of MMOs that are still on the road to launch, even if they appear to have set up a permanent residence in a shed called early access.
