Apparently Skull and Bones is now in closed beta. According to the game’s “official Twitter account” and “sources familiar with the matter,” anyhow. Do you believe that? Because I don’t, not any more. Look, we have years of not believing in Skull and Bones backlogged at this point. This is when we let them all out.
Meanwhile, Corepunk is starting its next test on December 16th (tomorrow) and it’ll run through December 20th – without an NDA, marking “the first time [the studio] openly show[s] the game.” Palia is also on the Switch now, that’s neat! And The Day Before is… oh, hoo boy. Y’know, just drag back through that tag. Everything is going super over there, I tell you what.
Did we put a bunch of other games in testing in our roundup below? Yes. Do we have a list of games in testing below even that? Also yes. Would we love it if you let us know if anything is listed incorrectly on that list of games in testing in the comments? Absolutely, three for three. Am I doing all right? No, definitely not. But thanks for asking, hypothetical reader.
The Day Before dev studio announces its closure, claims the game ‘failed financially’
‘Shit happens,’ The Day Before devs tell disgruntled players as mass-refunds continue
Tarisland addresses genderlocking and pay-to-win, boosts raiding over crafting
Post-apoc shooter Once Human aims for 20,000 players with this month’s closed beta
Ship of Heroes’ latest dev blog talks up its attempts to make combat smoother and more enjoyable
EVE Online adds new ice refinery heists and AIR daily goals, calls its first Vanguard test ‘a massive success’
Following its alpha test, Pax Dei addresses building freedom and crafting mechanics
Massively on the Go: Palia’s Nintendo Switch version works on the go, but it’s still better at home
Wayfinder has stealth-launched a gigantic patch ahead of its winter holiday event Friday
V Rising plans end of early access in 2024 with a new zone, endgame events, and gameplay tweaks
World of Warcraft starts internal dev testing of The War Within
Palia has launched into free-to-play early access on the Nintendo Switch as of today
Book of Travels adds new rooms to snoop around in and new quests to follow in latest patch
Siege Camp’s Anvil Empires pre-alpha begins testing housing interiors, player markets, and pack animals
Fantasy sandbox Myth of Empires aims for a February 2024 release
Star Citizen brings three new vehicles, updated salvage, and more derelict settlements in alpha 3.22
PvPvE extraction RPG Seekers of Skyveil continues closed alpha tests and reveals more characters
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
MalingeringAbyss: Closed alpha
The 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: Paid early access
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two in planning
Ashfall: Closed beta
ASKA: Closed beta
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Beta
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bitcraft: Alpha planned for 2024
Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8th
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: Early access planned for end of winter
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: Early Access going great
The Division Heartland: Closed testing
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
ECO: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Beta
EVE Vanguard: First beta test concluded
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesign
Fae Farm: Closed testing, launch planned for September 8th
The First Descendant: Crossplay beta
Fractured Online: Paid early access, back on Steam
Fractured Veil: Back in closed development, early access delayed to 2024
Frozen Flame: Early access
Genfanad: Beta
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Last Oasis: Early access (abandoned?)
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Monster Hunter Now: Closed beta
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha, public beta this weekend
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Multiversus: Returned to closed testing
Nightingale: Ongoing closed events
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Once Human: Beta on December 7th
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Open beta
Pantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceled
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 Crawl: Closed testing
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
Quinfall: Beta delayed to 2024
Return Alive: Closed beta
Reign of Guilds: Beta event in mid-December, early access planned for 2024
SamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dude
Seed: Active development
Seekers of Skyveil: Continuing alpha testing
Shadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Skull and Bones: Closed beta
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing in mid-December
Spellcraft: Alpha
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Second closed beta
Throne & Liberty: Western launch delayed into 2024, live in South Korea
Trimurti Online: Stress testing
Valheim: Early access
V Rising: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
The Wagadu Chronicles: Early access
Warhaven: Early access
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.
