In what will surely shock anyone with the memory of a mayfly that has suffered severe head trauma and has gotten blackout drunk, Kingdoms of Elyria (which was supposed to be the “at least we launched something” project out of Chronicles of Elyria after its chief dev tried to declare it not actually canceled) will not actually launch this year. Jeromy Walsh also notes that he’s trying to add more polish and adds a comparison to Baldur’s Gate 3, which is… you know, let’s just write it off with a nod and an admonition to keep reaching for that rainbow, buddy.
What? Star Citizen isn’t the only crowdfunding disaster we have to dunk on. We don’t have to dunk on Palia at all, with its latest patch adding Temple of the Flames content. We’re not dunking on Eterspire or Dune Spice Wars or Synced for launching. I’m just saying.
Look, let’s just move on to the roundup of beta news just below along with our full list of games in testing. If one of those titles has skipped into a new test phase, you can let us know about it in the comments. All of the above is totally cool. We’re fine, we’re all fine. How are you?
Indie MMORPG Eterspire celebrates its full release on iOS after three years of development
PvPvE Project F4E dates its next playtest for October 5
Nightingale’s Sun Giants are gentle explorers until you mess with them
Star Citizen talks about the creation of a ‘true cargo career’ and player housing-like hangars in latest video
Chronicles of Elyria studio tosses ‘quick release’ strategy after inking a licensing deal
The First Descendant shares video footage of a new character and the shooter’s first 17 minutes of gameplay
NCsoft’s mythological battle royale, Battle Crush, is launching next spring with CBT signups open now
New indie MMO Legendarium Online claims inspiration from Ultima Online and Tolkien
Warhaven outlines gameplay tweaks, world pass, and new game mode ahead of September 20 early access
Palia’s open beta releases new Temple of the Flames content, skins, recipes, and crops
Throne & Liberty addresses ‘static combat and boring growth’ with latest revamps
New World’s Rise of the Angry Earth expansion PTR opens this morning as Amazon previews the flail
Trimurti Online is an ‘oriental fantasy’ MMO currently in stress testing ahead of a December 8 launch
Tencent’s co-op looter shooter Synced makes its free-to-play release on PC, plans a console launch this winter
Ankama’s tactical card-driven MMO Waven unleashes multiple bug fixing patches and its first season pass
Star Citizen showcases alpha 3.20’s updates, declares it won’t answer ‘when’ questions anymore
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 beta
ASKA: Closed beta
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Closed beta on October 23rd
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: Early access
Corepunk: Closed alpha, open testing scheduled for September
Craftopia: Early access
The Crew Motorfest: Closed testing
Dark and Darker: Paid early access, legal troubles.
Dark and Light: Early access (abandoned?)
Darkbind: Closed beta (probably abandoned?)
The Day Before: Closed alpha (delay drama)
The Division Heartland: Closed testing
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing
ECO: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Beta
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesign
Fae Farm: Closed testing, launch planned for September 8th
The First Descendant: Beta in September
Fractured Online: Paid beta access
Fractured Veil: Back in closed development, early access on October 18th
Frozen Flame: Early access
Genfanad: Alpha
Ilysia: Beta two through August 23rd
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Last Oasis: Early access (abandoned?)
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Closed testing
Monster Hunter Now: Closed beta
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Multiverse: Returned to closed testing
Nightingale: Ongoing closed events
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Open beta
Pantheon: Intermittent backer alpha
Party Animals: Closed testing starting September 1st
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Beta June 2024
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
Project ST: Closed testing, open event ended
Prosperous Universe: Early access
Return Alive: Closed beta
Reign of Guilds: Intermittent open beta
SamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dude
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 beta
Spellcraft: Alpha
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Beta
Throne & Liberty: Korean closed beta, western launch delayed into 2024
Trimurti Online: Stress testing
Valheim: Early access
V Rising: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
The Wagadu Chronicles: Alpha two
Warcraft Rumble: Soft launching, changed name, everything is fine
Waven Early access
Wayfinder Early access ahead of full launch
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.
