After so many delays and so much waiting, the good-ish news is that people waiting for Blue Protocol finally found out what was happening with the game’s release. The bad news was that, uh… what we found out wasn’t good! It’s shutting down, it’s never coming over here, and while we know that there is a mobile version in progress for Chinese players, that’s not really the same thing. So that’s awesome. (It is not awesome.)
Meanwhile, Monsters & Memories is once again running a test this weekend. It’s a technical stress test, so expect some jank and some lag in the process, but that’s the whole point. SMITE 2 has also opened up its 24/7 alpha test for backers, and Palia has rolled out its Sunset Soiree, which is already in the running for our generally not very competitive “updates with names that make us think the wrong thing” award. That award should not be competitive. It shouldn’t even be entered!
I don’t know whether this counts as a depressing ending or a positive ending. It’s an ending; that’s enough. Except it isn’t enough because we have a whole list of news from testing over the past week, and then we have our whole list of games in testing just below that! If you’d like to share your feelings on tests that you’re participating in which are not under NDA, or you see something that should be listed differently, let us know down in the comments!
Star Citizen releases alpha 3.24 with cargo hauling improvements and the long-delayed personal hangar
Blue Protocol is shutting down in Japan and will not be localized for the west
Dune Awakening talks about character builds, survival ‘pressures,’ and overall MMO gameplay
New World tempts would-be Aeternum players with another landmarks video
Star Citizen highlights Pyro’s factions, AI archetypes, and FFA PvP activities
Palia’s Sunset Soiree rolls out today with housing upgrades and piles of cuteness
Cozy co-op camping van game Outbound smashes through its modest Kickstarter goal
Bossa’s Lost Skies highlights UI updates, ship machine guns, and boardable skywhales
Stars Reach previews its pre-alpha cameras and movement, from grappling to sliding
Tencent’s Blue Protocol Mobile goes into closed beta testing in China (sigh)
Pixel art survival MMO Necesse posts pre-launch roadmap and tutorial revamp plans
Conan Exiles’ Age of Heroes update faces a second public beta delay and potential release delay
BitCraft takes a tour of some of the settlements players built during its July alpha test
Greg Street’s Ghost MMO readies for ‘very small’ external playtesting ‘in a couple of weeks’
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen adds its Halnir Cave dungeon and reintroduces its death penalty
Ultima Online’s New Legacy beta updates crafting content, gear durability, and tamer pets
Monsters & Memories invites everyone to an open technical stress test this weekend
Bellwright deploys patch with gear presets, combat skills rework, and additional gameplay settings
Survival sandbox Aloft explains how its all-new momentum system will work
SMITE 2 has launched its 24/7 closed alpha test for founder pack owners
Valheim begins dropping teases for its next update due in the fall
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
Malingering33 Immortals: Closed testing
Abyss: Early access
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
Arc Raiders: Launch in 2025, tech beta signups for October
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Paid early access
Ascendant: Open testing in August
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two in planning
Ashfall: Closed beta
ASKA: Early access
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Early access
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last Oasis
Bitcraft: Alpha 2 on June 17th, 2024
Blue Protocol Mobile: Closed beta in China, full game is shutting down
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
Concord: Launch for August 23rd, beta planned but unannounced
Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early access
Corepunk: Fourth alpha, early access planned for November 26th
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?)
Dawn of Defiance: Early access
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
Dungeonborne>: Early access
ECO: Early access, full launch planned in 2024
Eleven: Closed alpha
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)
Fellowship: Closed testing on August 15th
Fractured Veil: Early access
FragPunk: Closed alpha
Frozen Flame: Early access
Havenhold: Second alpha June 20th
Homestead: Open alpha
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Legend of Ares: Open testing ahead of relaunch
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Marvel Rivals: Closed alpha
Mecha Break: Open beta concluded, launching 2025
Midnight Murder Club: Closed testing this weekend
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Necesse: Early access
Nightingale: Early access
Odd Giants: Alpha
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, early access planned for December
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Early access November 15th
Pax Dei: Early access
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: Second closed beta
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, closed beta in September
Shadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Ships at Sea: Early access
Sky: Children of Light: Open early access
Smite 2: 24/7 closed alpha for paying members
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped up
Spellfarers: Early access
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Stars Reach: Pre-alpha started
Throne & Liberty: Live in South Korea, launching in the west September 17, open beta through July 23rd
Tombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this year
Tribes 3: Rivals: Early access, development slowing/stopping
Trimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13th
Valheim: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
Vindictus: Defying Fate: Open testing
WalkScape: Closed beta until June 15th
Waven Early access
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.
