This week in MMO crowdfunding, Book of Travels popped back on our radar with a preview of its capital city, Kasa, which will serve as the game’s hub and shopping center and harbor.
“With its deep waters, Kasa has been the launching and landing place for Travellers for time immemorial, and for most visitors it’s their first impression of the region. But bustling as it is, they’d be deceived to think the whole of Braided Shore as dense and thronging; a Traveller need not wander far to find themselves in nature and tranquillity. […] Intense as it may be, we think Kasa will be a place to stimulate the senses, thronging with the kind of sights and sounds that can only be found in a highly populated area. However, its very existence is intended to contrast with the region’s peaceful hinterlands. We think there’s something more satisfying about solitude when the knowledge of human tumult is somewhere in the distance, and a visit to Kasa is sure to enhance the feeling of peace beyond it.”
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!
Elite Dangerous
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Interview: Crowfall’s Rhea Shelley on what to expect from Revival’s big class update
Ashes of Creation raised over $83k for Extra Life, so Intrepid’s Steven Sharif had to shave his beard
Crowfall’s developers discuss Domains and Update 6.3
Star Citizen offers a look at ore refining features and new sniper scopes coming in alpha 3.12
Elite Dangerous shares new screens and details for Odyssey ahead of free availability on EGS next week
Temtem adjusts radars for rare monsters after community feedback
Fractured’s fall alpha has testers knee-deep in player cities, farming, and mounts
Albion Online bans more than 600 accounts for buying currency
Shroud of the Avatar details where to trade in foals and tamed horses for rideable mounts
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen discusses programming in its latest dev roundtable
Star Citizen talks about ship balancing and offers more details for this year’s IAE spaceship expo
Dual Universe’s aerospace expo brought together a thousand players and their hardware
Project Gorgon bestows much love upon its playable cows, rabbits, and spirit foxes
Star Citizen shows off item interaction, more homestead progress, and refinery deck exteriors
Legends of Aria deep-dives The Outlands’ Necromancer class
Massively Overthinking: Does early access kill an MMO’s buzz?
Pantheon studio Visionary Realms seeks a technical artist for its dev team
Star Citizen’s October report notes progress on Orison, job-specific armors, and new weapons and ships
The Repopulation talks up its new inventory system and plans to remove character model bones
Ashes of Creation offers a close look at the alpha one Cleric as it preps for an Extra Life charity stream
Crowfall aims for a ‘revival’ with this month’s update
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen offers a look at its environmental art process
Shroud of the Avatar adds mounts, the Breach, map changes, and economy changes in R83
Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts and Richard Tyrer talk about plans for character death in a video
Camelot Unchained offers looks at new UI, the Dreadcaller class, and more Dragon’s Web details
Fractured
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.
Book of Travels (Might and Delight) – Kickstarted successfully. Closed beta.
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, Indiegogo. Beta.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter. Abandoned March 2020.
City of Heroes Homecoming (Homecoming) – Monthly donation rounds.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; Issue 0 delayed into 2019.
Dawngate (Studio Wayfinder). Kickstarter successful.
Day of Dragons (Beawesome) – Kickstarter successful.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Destiny’s Sword (2Dogs) – Kickstarter successful June 2019; demo avail now.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Abandoned in 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. Paid beta.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded. Abandoned, then not, then again.
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.
Frozen Flame (Dreamside) – Fig campaign successful. In founder 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) – Funded and launched and now sunsetting Dec 31.
Ilysia (Team 21) – Kickstarter fully funded Oct 2020.
Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards Online. Launched 2020.
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. Seemingly abandoned.
Occupy White Walls (Stikipixels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
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.
Past Fate (Icy North): First Kickstarter unsuccessful, second successful.
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.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in early access but not active dev.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas.
Seed (Klang Games) – Kickstarter launching in 2020.
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.
Starfighter Infinity (Ben Olding) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff (Kindred) – Kickstarter funded.
Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter fully funded; now in early access.
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.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
The Wagadu Chronicles (Twin Drums) – Kickstarter successful.
Titan Reach (Square Root) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Trials of Ascension (Dragonfire) – Latest Kickstarter failed.
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; now in alpha.
Ashes of Creation
Farewell, beard! 🧔 🚫 https://t.co/PlH7XBAZqK
Steven shaved his beard for the 30k milestone! Because of all your generous donations, we've raised 55,555 thus far for @ExtraLife4Kids and @radychildrens hospital! You all have blown us away, THANK YOU!! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/Sb5Oqv04f2
— Ashes of Creation (@AshesofCreation) November 8, 2020
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?
