Good news, Chrono Odyssey fans! Or… well, speculative fans. There’s not a game yet to be a fan of; there’s just a promise that there will be a game at one point. But at least it has a publisher in Kakao, so what does that mean? Very little. Well, it means you can’t stand outside the developer HQ with a sign mocking them for not having a publisher, and there’s a trailer to watch. That’s not nothing; it just ain’t a release date.
Of course, considering that this week saw ArcheAge 2 delayed yet again, Path of Exile 2 delayed as well, and EVE Vanguard trying once more to make anyone care about this franchise in FPS form… like, at least Chrono Odyssey is kind of doing the work, right? You keep on keepin’ on. Just announce a beta test sometime before the darkness creeps in, would you?
Do we have other beta news? Yeah, actually. Tons. This week we are replete with beta news, too much to even mention here. But you can find it in our roundup down below, and you can also find a full list of games in testing below that! Let us know down in the comments if something slipped our notice by hopping test phases or the like.
Riot has ‘decided to reset the direction’ of the Riot MMORPG as team goes ‘dark’ under new boss
Star Citizen’s 2022 financials offer additional information about investors and their expected returns
Pantheon calls first season an ‘overwhelming success,’ talks up new dungeon for S2
Pantheon shows off its Season One test phase in video form
NCsoft’s Throne & Liberty has been out in Korea for 100+ days, with still no news on the global launch
Ghost MMO devs discuss building an MMO, wrestling tech, and procedural generation in latest podcast
Gaijin’s ocean adventure MMO Age of Water sets sail for early access on April 18
Kakao Q4 2023: ArcheAge 2 has been delayed (again), now to some point in or after 2025
Star Citizen outlines the features and functions of alpha 3.23’s new persistent hangars
Star Citizen provides a close look at character creator updates arriving in alpha 3.23
Choose My Adventure: Opening and exploring the astrolabe forest in Nightingale
Lost Skies’ latest dev blog looks at exploding ship parts, island updates, and a utility item in action
Tarisland’s new Twelve Monarchs raid is ‘now live,’ whatever that means
Palia is expanding its flowers, trees, and plants system with its next patch
NCsoft’s PC/mobile MOBA Battle Crush enters its second global beta – here’s how to get in
EverQuest II brings GU125 to the beta server on March 26
Book of Travels’ Q&A covers death and mounts – but not when it’s leaving early access
Eternal Tombs, the MMO with live GMs, preps for its closed beta in April
Chrono Odyssey debuts a splashy new in-engine trailer and confirms Kakao Games as publisher
Wandering Wraeclast: Path of Exile 2 showcases the Ranger, announces beta delay and June alpha
Nightingale’s latest video tackles disconnect bugs, QOL tweaks, and compensation for missing houses
The Quinfall begins taking names for its second closed beta test, reaffirms it will have no NDA
The Stream Team: Roaming further into an astrolabe forest in Nightingale
Throwback MMO Scars of Honor posts a wrap-up video for its sixth playtest
Tencent’s Tarisland begins its next round of player testing… in China
EVE Vanguard’s latest playtest adds a mining laser, resource gathering, and suppression contracts
Pax Dei announces a week-long NDA-free second alpha test starting April 23
Fractured’s latest early access patch boosts orb generation and nerfs Assassins
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, early access starts April 18th
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Paid closed beta, early access April 18th
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: Second global beta
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bitcraft: Alpha planned for April 2nd, 2024
Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8th
Book of Travels: Early access
Brighter Shores: Launch planned for Q3 2024, MMO scale not yet clarified
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta, planning to launch in late 2025
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 2024
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 Division Heartland: Closed testing
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
ECO: Early access, full launch planned in 2024
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Beta
Enshrouded: Early access
Eternal Tombs: Closed beta in April
EVE Vanguard: Second beta ongoing
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesign
Final Stand: Ragnarok: Early access (officially, really)
The First Descendant: Crossplay beta
Fractured Online: Paid early access, back on Steam
Fractured Veil: Early access
Frozen Flame: Early access
Genfanad: Beta
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Multiversus: Full launch on May 28th
Nightingale: Early access
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Once Human: Open beta planned for March 28th
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Open beta
Palworld: Early access
Pantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceled
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Alpha June 2024
Pax Dei: Closed alpha, week-long public test in April
Perfect New World: Closed beta
Pow Vista: Open beta (mobile)
Predecessor: Early access, open beta on March 28th, yet another Paragon do-over
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 through February 26th, 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, open testing some time in March
Shadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Smite 2: Signups open, wipe-free beta mid-2024
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped up
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Second closed beta
Throne & Liberty: Western launch delayed into 2024, live in South Korea
Tombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this year
Tribes 3: Rivals: Early access
Trimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13th
Valheim: Early access
V Rising: Early access, full launch May 8
Valiance Online: Closed beta
Vindictus: Defying Fate: Open testing
The Wagadu Chronicles: 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.
