Good morning, SMITE 2. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to enter your first testing phase this weekend. Your continuing mission is to justify your status as a sequel and delight your fans. Your other continuing mission is to have more bizarre crossovers like turning Odin into a ninja turtle (disclaimer: I don’t remember who got the ninja turtle skins, that’s not the point). Then we have another mission in here about something called “bofa” that I’m not reading. This message will self-destruct in about forty years, give or take.
Elsewhere in the Betaverse, Legends of Aria Classic is running a surprise beta this weekend because this time will be different. We also gave our first impressions of Pax Dei as a title during its current test phase, so if you’re curious about how that’s going but aren’t in testing… we tried it for you! We’re like the Test Interveners. Wait, that’s a terrible name, never mind.
To help you not mind, we’ve put a whole list of beta stories for the week just below, as well as our usual list of games in testing. Now, as we make jazz hands and move toward the exits, we implore you to let us know down in the comments if something slipped into a different test phase without our noticing. Fun for the family! (If you have a weird family, anyhow.)
Bellwright’s first week of early access sees daily bug fixing and mostly positive reviews
Legends of Aria Classic is running a ‘surprise open beta’ this weekend ahead of its May 9 relaunch
Nexon is publishing Overgeared-themed Project T MMORPG for PC and mobile
Farm Folks is a new multiplayer solarpunk cozygame headed for a second Kickstarter
Star Citizen allows third wave of testers to alpha 3.23’s PTU, talks about upcoming UI changes
Kickstarted multiplayer cozygame Loftia talks minigames, NPCs, and accessibility
Starbase returns from radio silence with plan for new navigation, territory control, and PvE
Ashes of Creation video shows off its enchanting nighttime ‘magic’
Evercore Heroes, back from the dead, talks new game flow and the rationale for rebirth
Co-op roguelike Rabbit and Steel throws you right into raids without the MMO grind
Osiris New Dawn returns from the dead with ‘enhanced expedition update’ and apologies for silence
Star Citizen runs down alpha 3.23’s feature set including the return of Invictus event and a new hoverbike
Tarisland discusses updates to fishing gameplay as it celebrates over 1M pre-registrations
Warhammer Online Return of Reckoning begins public testing of combat updates and class tweaks
Viking-themed ‘survival tribe builder’ Aska enters early access June 20
Multiplayer maritime sim Ships at Sea delays its early access launch to May 23
V Rising stirs up hype for its 1.0 launch with new trailer and updated website
SMITE 2’s first alpha event kicks off today through this weekend
Reign of Guilds promises to expand dev headcount, seeks player patience in early access
The Quinfall demonstrates the utility and danger of player caravans on the landscape
BitCraft shares an in-game preview of early skills and character progression
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: Open preview, early access starts May 7th
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Early access
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, early access on June 20th
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Second global beta
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last Oasis
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, second alpha delayed yet again
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: Reinforced: Early access delayed for an indeterminate time
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
EverCraft Online: Weekend-long open test starts April 19th
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
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Marvel Rivals: Closed alpha in May
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: Closed beta finally starting after delays
Osiris: New Dawn: Back from the dead, not on Steam any longer
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
Perfect New World: Closed beta
Pow Vista: Open beta (mobile)
Predecessor: Free-to-play open beta, 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: Early access
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
Sky: Children of Light: Open early access
Smite 2: Signups open, first alpha May 2nd
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.
