This week in MMO crowdfunding, Star Citizen officially broke the $150,000,000 crowdfunding mark, propelled along by gamers sinking large sums of cash into the latest concept ship. As Relay points out, the original Kickstarter year for the game brought in only about $7M; since then, the game has raised between $28M and $36M every year since, with the biggest year to date being 2016. On paper, the game isn’t on pace to break that record in 2017 so far, but the fansite’s estimation that it might pass $200M this year if Squadron 42 launches as planned isn’t unreasonable. (Thanks, i-Spy, Zander, and fastcart!)
Wild West Online also announced that it won’t be seeking Kickstarter funds after all as it’s already received full funding from investors. That means it probably won’t be back in Make My MMO again since it’s not crowdfunding — but take a peek at our exclusive interview on the game from earlier this week all the same.
Meanwhile, Ashes of Creation’s Kickstarter pushed on toward $3M, ROKH’s early access launched as planned, and Crowfall concluded its teaser week with a massive reveal: Classes won’t be racially bound after all, and beta should hit before the end of the year.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on.
Crowfall’s new class plan
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen’s latest concept ship sale has already raised almost half a million bucks - Currently on sale in Star Citizen right now is a new concept ship, the Aegis Eclipse, on sale now for $250 for VIP backers and soon to be on sale…
Crowfall is shifting away from race-bound class archetypes - Crowfall's teaser week is over, so what was the tease? "Massively expanded character customization options," ArtCraft says, confirming some of the earliest hunches that the game will break up the…
Wild West Online cancels Kickstarter and early access plans, secures funding for a full launch - Remember all of those plans that Wild West Online had for a Kickstarter campaign this month and a Steam early access release? Well, plans change -- and sometimes for the…
Exclusive Wild West Online interview on PvE servers, budget, and Red Dead Redemption 2 - Here at Massively OP, there's nothing we like to hear more than word that new, bold, and big MMORPGs are in development. Over the past week, Wild West Online rode in…
Crowfall wraps up marathon seven-hour stream event, promises open beta by the end of 2017 - Following Crowfall's titanic reveal of expanded and new features earlier this week, the dev team sat down for a seven-hour livestream event yesterday to go in-depth on the race/class pairings,…
Ashes of Creation optimistically posts $3M stretch goal - Now that Ashes of Creation has surpassed $2 million in community fundraising, how far will the game go before its Kickstarter campaign draws to a conclusion? It might seem far-fetched…
Camelot Unchained finishes UI icons, makes ‘major inroads’ into living world support tech - Camelot Unchained hopes you're not tired of the words "living world" because its devs are busy making "major inroads into the tech to support" just that. "At the start of…
Albion Online’s final pre-launch update is uprooting cities left and right - Before Albion Online seizes its destiny and launches on July 17th, it is going to have one last hot, sexy fling in testing with a guy named Hector. Well, it's…
Watch the winning video from Elite Dangerous’ CTRL+ALT+SPACE 2017 short film competition - Last night, Elite Dangerous studio Frontier announced the winner of its second CTRL+ALT+SPACE short film competition. Participants were tasked with creating a video under four minutes using Elite's camera suite; whether the…
Cyberpunk sandbox MMO Exile Online launches new crowdfunding effort - Don't count cyberpunk sandbox MMO Exile Online out just yet. While the game's Kickstarter didn't meet its $45,000 goal last year, its developers continued work and are now rolling out…
Chronicles of Elyria’s online tech is coming together - Chronicles of Elyria is continuing its... interesting method of disseminating development information by posting blogs about its "adventure teams" and their work on the project as if they were in…
Global Chat: Is Ashes of Creation worth backing? - With all of the hullabaloo going on concerning Ashes of Creation and its Kickstarter campaign, a few bloggers are asking themselves whether or not this is an MMO worth backing,…
Valiance Online promises fans that it is ‘moving forward’ - Fans that might look at Valiance Online's development chart and wonder when, oh when alpha will ever arrive are being treated to a pep talk from the team today. A reality check…
Ashes of Creation’s very good, totally tubular, quite excellent day - For Ashes of Creation, May 16th will go down as one of its best days. For starters, the title was featured on Kickstarter's front page as the project of the…
Crowfall fans create mix-and-match class survey - After the astonishing reveal yesterday that Crowfall is decoupling its races and classes to offer more build freedom, what will you make? This burning question prompted one player, Tinnis, to put…
Star Citizen reverses course on CCU concept ship swap system - Cloud Imperium has reversed course on its plans to renovate Star Citizen's Cross Chassis Upgrade (CCU) system in time for the sale of the Eclipse concept ship. CIG's Tyler Zyloh…
Mars survival sandbox ROKH has launched into early access - We first heard about Mars-themed survival sandbox ROKH back in 2015 when it released its teaser to the world, and then in 2016 developer Darewise Entertainment launched a Kickstarter for the game…
Elite Dangerous launches for PS4 on June 27 - We've known since last year that Elite Dangerous was going to set up camp on the PlayStation 4 in Q2 of this year. As of this morning, we know exactly…
Shroud of the Avatar works on endgame storyline - Will Shroud of the Avatar finish fleshing out its main storyline in time for this summer's official release? It might be a photo finish, as the team is currently working…
Ashes of Creation answers questions on progression, music, and (setting) forest fires - Remember kids, only devs can prevent virtual forest fires! And it's probably a good thing that they do because apparently there are some Ashes of Creation fans who actually want…
Valiance Online screenies
Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching
3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; beta began Oct 2016.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter successful; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully.
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful, open packages.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; launch planned for fall 2018.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter over, donor preorder packs.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, now has donor platform. Alpha delayed.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; in early access.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrion Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date; in early access.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, multiple times now.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guns of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched.
Hero’s Song (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards Online. Currently in alpha.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Currently in beta.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maestros of the Anthymn (String Theory) – Kickstarter canceled.
Mekria (Infinity Online Studios) – Kickstarter canceled.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful.
Nebula Online (Mizar Games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) – Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations, no end date.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Doom, mostly.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Successful Kickstarter. Early access delayed to May 25.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. In alpha.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; 2015 KS unsuccesful. In Steam early access.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Back in alpha
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; now in early access.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Successful KS. Soft launch July 2016.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – In middle of year-long revamp after funding surge.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.
