We’re sad to see the lights go out for The Wagadu Chronicles, as this week saw the heartbreaking news that the game is shuttering without ever leaving beta. We had criticisms of it, but we always wanted the game to do well and are sad to see it go. We’re not sad to see V Rising leave this column’s list by successfully moving to launch, though; that would be on the “successful” end of the spectrum.
Elsewhere, Legends of Aria Classic launched or relaunched depending on your framing, and Fractured Online got itself a patch complete with some of the good old-fashioned demon player races, which is good news for everyone out there who wants to get a discount on seating. Why? Because you shouldn’t have to pay for the whole seat if you only use the edge. Note: Seating discount may not apply in all cases. Please consult the locations where you rent your seats.
Now that we’ve moved on from sad news, bittersweet news, and also kind of happy news, have we run out of beta news? No. Of course we haven’t. We have a whole roundup of it just below, many pieces of it not sad in the slightest. We also have a list of games in testing down below, although whether or not that makes you sad is going to come down to personal preference. As always, if something has slipped to another test phase without our noticing, please share that with us in the comments so we may applaud your wisdom and correct the oversight.
Kickstarted afrofantasy MMORPG The Wagadu Chronicles is sunsetting before launch
Star Citizen answers questions about alpha 3.23 and readies Invictus free-fly event for May 17
Second Wind: V Rising’s 1.0 build is a fangtastic revamp of the vampire survival sandbox
Star Citizen showcases the creation of the two brand-new animals coming to alpha 3.23
Vampire survivalbox V Rising officially departs early access with the launch of 1.0 Ruins of Mortium
Nightingale confirms a full focus on offline mode but still calls online co-op ‘important’
Kakao Q1 2024: ArcheAge 2 and Chrono Odyssey are apparently back on track for 2025
Pearl Abyss Q1 2024: Revenues hold steady as Crimson Desert gears up for reveals
Marvel Rivals kicks off its closed alpha test on May 10
Legends of Aria Classic relaunches this afternoon as devs commit to ‘refining the core game loop’
The First Descendant preps final test May 25 on Steam ahead of global summer launch
Legends of Aria Classic deals with a server hiccup and gathers player suggestions during its open beta
Kickstarted multiplayer cozygame Loftia talks minigames, NPCs, and accessibility
Cozy co-op farming game Farm Together 2 has rolled into early access as planned
Monsters & Memories shares another dev progress report, announces plans for a June public playtest
Victorian survivalbox Nightingale gets positively bloody with this week’s patch
Palia adds new springtime flair and level 5 friendship quests
Echoes of Elysium’s Jeff Hickman talks lore, airship fleets, and Loric’s current development
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen shows off the zone and features of Season 3 ahead of tomorrow’s release
Quinfall offers a lore-focused overview of its game world’s ancient history
Fractured Online’s new patch with playable demon races is live today after a day of delay
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, plans for 2025
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: Final test on May 25th
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
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
Valiance Online: Closed beta
Vindictus: Defying Fate: Open testing
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.
