Anyone with even passing familiarity with World of Warcraft has probably watched the Tarisland trailers and gotten the sense that the latter is a clone of the former. It’s not a difficult path to walk. But Tencent would prefer to insist that it isn’t a clone, which would have all the naive charm of someone posting an image of Coldsteel the Hedgehog with “ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL” on an image board if not for the fact that this is a massive multinational corporation instead of an enthusiastic 12-year-old. Let’s be real, the clone aspect is what keeps any of us over here interested in the first place, coupled with the timing of WoW getting tossed out of China like a rowdy drunk in an old-time Western saloon.
Look, with Twitter dying we have to post bon mots somewhere.
Speaking of clones, Loftia is another game that’s trying to clone the whole “start a small cozy farm with your friends” MMO mold that’s become all the rage recently. It doesn’t have any release dates or test dates to share yet, but it does have a Kickstarter planned, so that’s… well, not actually a great sign, but we’ll choose to overlook that for the moment. We’re just happy it’s not another battle royale.
Your own bon mots, thoughts on cloning of games, and thoughts about betas you are currently involve in are welcome in the comments down below. Letting us know if we missed something, from a game switching test phases to soft-launching quietly, is also welcome down in the comments below. Pictures of aardvarks? Probably too off-topic to be welcome, but we admire your drive.
Tencent insists Tarisland isn’t a World of Warcraft clone
Funcom discusses Dune Awakening’s South Korean prospects and MMORPG elements
Star Citizen player gets a partial refund from CIG in spite of the studio’s legal arguments to the contrary
Reign of Guilds’ fourth Steam playtest runs until July 17 with revamps to gameplay systems
Blue Protocol showcases Blitz Lancer class and delightful summer swimwear
Sandbox MMORPG Pax Dei holds back on a date for alpha, plans testing timeline in the fall
Loftia is yet another ‘cozy solarpunk’ life sim MMO in the making
Daybreak job listing hints at ‘unannounced’ game with ‘high fantasy’ elements
Chronicles of Elyria’s Jeromy Walsh: ‘Learn from my mistakes’
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 often 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, nor will games that are NFT/blockchain scams; we also do not list expansions, with occasional exceptions. Finally, we’ll mark games “malingering” if they’ve been in a certain tier of development for a long time with no clear path to launch.
Open testing
Closed testing
Paid access
Legit MMORPG
Multiplayer
MalingeringThe Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Paid closed beta
Anvil Empires: Intermittent alpha
Arcane Waters: Early access
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Closed testing
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two in planning
Ashfall: Closed testing
Battlebit: Early access
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bitcraft: Closed alpha incoming
Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024
Book of Travels: Early access
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta
Chronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, again
Chrono Odyssey: Closed testing
Cinderstone Online: Closed beta
City of Titans: Alpha
Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Alpha, open test during Steam Next Fest
Corepunk: Closed alpha
Craftopia: Early access
The Crew Motorfest: Closed testing
Dark and Light: Early access (abandoned?)
Darkbind: Closed beta (probably abandoned?)
Dawnlands: Closed beta on June 24th
The Day Before: Closed alpha (delay drama)
The Division Heartland: Closed testing begins on June 27th
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing
ECO: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Beta
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing
Fae Farm: Closed testing (delayed)
Fractured Online: Paid beta access
Fractured Veil: Back in closed development
Frozen Flame: Early access
Genfanad: Alpha
Ilysia: Alpha two
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Last Oasis: Early access (abandoned?)
Lost Skies: Closed testing
Monster Hunter Now: Closed beta
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Multiverse: Returned to closed testing
Nightingale: Meep
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Closed alpha
Pantheon: Intermittent backer alpha
Past Fate: Closed alpha
Path of Exile 2: Beta soon, announcement expected July 28th
Pax Dei: Closed alpha
Perfect New World: Closed beta
Pow Vista: Open beta (mobile)
Project F4E: Closed testing
Project Genom: Closed alpha (servers offline, abandoned?)
Project Gorgon: Early access beta
Project Loki: Closed beta
Prosperous Universe: Early access
Return Alive: Closed beta
Reign of Guilds: Intermittent open beta
SamuTale: Closed alpha
Seed: Alpha (drama, crypto link and weird comms blockout?)
Shadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Skull and Bones: Closed alpha
Spellcraft: Alpha
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Beta
Throne & Liberty: Korean closed beta
Valheim: Early access
V Rising: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
The Wagadu Chronicles: Alpha two
Warcraft Arclight Rumble: Closed alpha
Waven: Open alpha, part of Steam Next Fest
Wayfinder: Closed beta
We welcome additions and corrections to this list; send your info our way via tips!
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.
