Make My MMO: Zenith’s Kickstarter, Ashes of Creation’s battle royale, and Elite’s next big thing

This week in MMO crowdfunding, cyberpunk MMORPG Zenith joins our list; it’s already blasted past its original $25,000 Kickstarter ask with a whole month to go.

Meanwhile, Ashes of Creation ran a one-day-only Steam test for its battle royale mode, closing it down with a brand-new trailer for the MMORPG itself.

Plus, Elite Dangerous announced major content coming in its September and December patches, Ship of Heroes teased its social club, Path of Exile announced the Blight league, Pantheon talked climates, Star Citizen raised eyebrows with a fluff video, and we streamed the KORN concert in AQ3D.

Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last couple of weeks, plus our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Zenith

Recent MMO crowdfunding news

Whatever happened to the Jane Austen MMO Ever, Jane? - Don't worry - Ever, Jane is as fine as ever. But it popped back on our team's radar this week as a game we haven't checked in on for a…

Chronicles of Elyria will let mayors upgrade to a ducal title without upgrading their pledge - Being a mayor is nice and all, but being a duke or duchess sounds way more important and very likely comes with far fancier hats to wear. However, if you…

Inside Star Citizen devotes an entire episode to the game’s quality assurance team - Quality Assurance. It's certainly not the most glamorous job in video game development, and some would likely balk at the idea that such a department exists for a game that's…

Elite Dangerous will revamp the newbie experience in September, add fleet carriers in December - Fresh outta Gamescom is the news that Elite Dangerous is cooking up multiple updates for commanders across the galaxy. First up: the September Update. Launching September 17th for PC, PlayStation…

Pantheon talks pre-alpha phases and interactive climates in latest newsletter - MMO players keeping an eye on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen have probably noticed that Visionary Realms has been talking about Project Faerthale for a long time, and that's because,…

Today’s City of Heroes’ Homecoming patch future-proofs the rogue servers for Mac players - It's patch day for the largest batch of City of Heroes rogue servers, as the Homecoming team has pushed live part of the beta patch that's been cooking all month.…

Ashes of Creation drops new gameplay trailer after battle royale Steam test - Wading into the Ashes of Creation community is one of those things that makes me wish I had those beach sandals that keep the sharp rocks and pointy shells out…

Path of Exile announces Blight league for September 6 – here’s our preview interview with Grinding Gear! - Fall is creeping up on us, and that means back to school is almost -- if not already -- here. That also means it is back to the beginning as…

The Stream Team: AdventureQuest 3D’s KORN concert is live! - You can do a lot in games nowadays, so why not attend a concert? Even better, get some sweet swag while you are there? AQ3D is opening its Coliseum in…

Ashes of Creation’s next Apocalypse battle royale playtest is running today on Steam - As Ashes of Creation backers and fans continue to wait for the MMORPG to emerge from the caverns of development, at least there's a distraction to keep the community occupied.…

Camelot Unchained continues work to make NPCs behave properly and look good doing it - Last week, the folks at Camelot Unchained were focusing on making sure their NPCs were dolts when it comes to moving around in a 3D space. That work continues apace…

Remember the No Man’s Sky player-funded billboard? It’s up now! - Back in June, we covered a heart-warming story out of the No Man's Sky community, as player sought to raise money on a GoFundMe specifically to install a billboard thanking…

Ship of Heroes previews the ritzy night club that’ll launch with the character creator beta - So who's excited about the upcoming character creator beta in Ship of Heroes? For those of you curious about what to expect, Heroic Games has released a new video demonstrating…

City of Titans talks about how Momentum and Reserves mechanics change the face of combat - There are two systems being developed for City of Titans that kind of work hand-in-hand with one another, at least in a sense that they modify the upcoming MMO's combat…

Shroud of the Avatar hosts a livestream about fishing in fetid water - If you want to watch a community livestream about Shroud of the Avatar's community team hosting a fishing contest in fetid water, gosh, today is your day. The stream itself…

Players can now compete in Crowfall’s Trial of Gaea for a stat-buffing Badge - The common refrain/hashtag espoused by Crowfall is "take the throne," which sort of references the fact that campaigns have a limited time and see a faction hoisted up as the…

Albion Online removes tons of items from its marketplace in advance of its wardrobe system - The latest patch for Albion Online is a bit frustrating in the sense that most patches add things. Today's patch is mostly taking things away, with a large selection of…

Legends of Aria explains the new professions system it launched with Steam early access - Still fresh off its Steam early access launch last week, Legends of Aria has posted a new dev blog all about the Professions system. "Professions" is probably a bit of…

Legends of Aria has seen a 3X increase in players since hitting Steam - We're seven days removed from the Steam early access launch of Legends of Aria, so let's take stock of where things stand, shall we? First up is a hotfix which…

Zenith is a new SpatialOS cyberpunk VR MMORPG – and its Kickstarter just went live - Here's something new for fans of gaming with a headset: Zenith, a VR MMO in development right now from Ramen VR, aiming to provide players with a new VR online…

City of Heroes’ Homecoming Team finally posted a new beta patch after months of public quiet - Apart from its brief announcement last week, City of Heroes' Homecoming Team has been relatively quiet the past few months. Where once the rogue server group with over a hundred…

Into the Super-verse: How Ship of Heroes is winning the superhero race - When it came to the explosion of spiritual successors to City of Heroes, there's definitely something to be said about being first on the scene. City of Titans got out…

Ashes of Creation trots out great-looking stallions - In MMORPGs, horses are to mounts as humans are to races -- in other words, they're the default standard. And for a reason, because who doesn't love and appreciate these…

Ship of Heroes’ character creator will have a randomize button to help with choice overload - Too much of a good thing can be a good thing, but it can also be too much. The Ship of Heroes character creator will, evidently, have a whole lot…

Albion Online changes its land auctions to collect more from winning bids - There's a notable change arriving to Albion Online's land auctions, and while it might seem like a little thing it has far-reaching implications for the game's overall economy. Simply put,…

City of Heroes’ Homecoming rogue servers have joined the Titan Network/NCsoft negotiations - Exactly one month ago, tangent to our interview with the Homecoming server team that's part now-flourishing City of Heroes rogue server community, we also spoke to Tony Vazquez, the administrator…

The Repopulation checks in with an update on vehicles and mounts - It's been a couple of months since we heard much from The Repopulation, but delays ensured that the most recent dev blog combines July and August together and details updates to…

Crowfall’s July ACE Q&A dissects the Fortunes of War update - The end of July saw Crowfall's latest ACE Q&A session, which was held back on account of J. Todd Coleman's work travel. Both he and design director Thomas Blair are…

Ashes of Creation

Elite Dangerous

https://youtu.be/lNNj97HznUU

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; beta began Oct 2016.
Albion Online (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam May 2018.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Successful KS. Alpha zero.
Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early access.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter successful; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully.
Codename Reality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful, open packages.
City of Heroes Homecoming (Homecoming) – Monthly donation rounds.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; Issue 0 delayed into 2019.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Destiny’s Sword (2Dogs) – Kickstarter successful June 2019.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter. Probably dead.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded. Abandoned, then not?
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and fully launched.
Empyrion Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Endless Trials (Fire Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter successful. Alpha 2.
Global Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date; in early access.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, now allegedly in refund process.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – 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. Early access.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Currently in beta.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maestros of the Anthymn (String Theory) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo successful; open beta.
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)
Oath (Ready-Up) – Kickstarter funded.
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early access.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha.
Pantropy (Brain Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Doom, mostly.
Path of Titans (Alderon) – Indiegogo.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early access launched sans multiplayer.
Playcraft (Bebop Games) – Kickstarter funded May 2019.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. Early access.
Project Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
RAW (Killerwhale) – Kickstarter canceled by Kickstarter.
Starfighter Infinity (Ben Olding) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter fully funded; now in alpha.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early access.
The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Back in alpha.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in  early access but not active dev.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded.
Ship of Heroes (Heroic) – Kickstarter canceled, beta expected before 2020.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Soft launch July 2016. Launch March 2018.
Spycursion (Defun) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed until at least 2020.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Totally abandoned without a word. Now considered a scam.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.
War of Rights (Campfire Games) – Successful Kickstarter; in early access.
Zenith (Ramen) – Kickstarter ends Sept 26.

Ship of Heroes

Yes, some crowdfunded MMOs most definitely do succeed. But others crash and burn, and you need to hear about the whole spectrum of games that sought your money early in exchange for the promise of input and transparency. And that’s exactly what Make My MMO does every Saturday. Help us keep ’em accountable, would ya?