It’s been a big couple of weeks in MMO crowdfunding, at least if you’re watching the development of crowdfunded games: Star Citizen is running a promo event, Elite Dangerous has a Beta Blowout through the holiday, Valiance Online teased internal updates, Project Gorgon talked up pet breeding, Camelot Unchained moved on to its next 90-day plan, Fractured plotted its next playtest, City of Heroes Homecoming got a new wiki (thanks, Apparition!), and we dived into Crowfall’s latest alpha.
Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last few weeks, plus our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!
Star Citizen
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Kickstarted cyberpunk MMO Zenith features footage of the pre-alpha, teases alpha - One of the big Kickstarter MMO hits from 2019 was Zenith, which leaped onto the scene and raised over a quarter of a million dollars. Its tiny indie studio, Ramen,…
Fight or Kite: Surveying Crowfall’s new Frostweaver class and interface updates - I’ve been itching to get back in and play some Crowfall, and with the War of the Gods update I've got a good reason: ArtCraft announced that the final class,…
Camelot Unchained looks back at the progress of its previous 90-day plan and outlines goals for the next 90 days - It appears that City State Entertainment really is keen on that 90-day plan thing. Mark Jacobs has recently penned a dev blog that takes a look back at Camelot Unchained's…
The Stream Team: AdventureQuest 3D sewer warfare is PvP of the jumping kind - Have you ever waged war in a sewer? Massively OP's MJ now has the opportunity to do just that in AQ3D! This newest content is team PvP: player vs. parkour.…
Star Citizen talks Invictus Launch Week, new planets, and body dragging mechanics - It's another week and that means another episode of Star Citizen's video digest series. This week, we get a closer look at the Invictus Launch Week event as well as…
Legends of Aria’s Point Release 10 is bringing frosty environments, new items, and new systems - Things are going to get chilly for Legends of Aria players. Point Release 10 is opening up the Frozen Tundra region, and with it comes a couple of dev blogs…
Pantheon shares its progress for May, promises to be close to its next round of pre-alpha testing - The developers of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen are pretty excited about their progress so far. More specifically, producer Benjamin Dean is, as evidenced by his letter for May in…
Albion Online’s newest patch balances for Season 9 while improving mobile play - There are two sides to the most recent Albion Online patch, and they're both about improving the game's environment. One side is fairly simple, because it's a whole bunch of improvements…
Crowfall outlines the 11 classes of its current alpha - The classes of Crowfall might certainly sound fantastical -- Champion, Confessor, Duelist -- but at the brass tacks level, they're really just the classic tabletop RPG trio of Fighter, Mage,…
Fractured will have another open playtest starting on May 26 - If you missed your previous chance to check out the world of Fractured, you've got yourself another shot. The devs are once more having an open playtest event starting on…
Project Gorgon’s next update, ‘a couple weeks away,’ will let you breed your pets - Leave it to Project Gorgon not to stop at merely allowing players to own pets but to breed them as well. The indie MMORPG said that it's putting the finishing…
Ship of Heroes is enthusiastic about Unreal Engine 5 – but practical implementation is a long way off - Last week, Epic dropped a bunch of news and a headline-grabbing video showcasing Unreal 5. While a lot of the ensuing discussion centered on bleeding-edge titles and Epic's own Fortnite,…
Shroud of the Avatar has made a female shopkeeper outfit and it is very proud of itself - Do you play a lady in Shroud of the Avatar? Does that lady own a shop? Have you ever wanted to make that shopkeeping lady look the part? Apparently you…
Book of Travels’ beta already boasts over 400 events - The adorably small and painterly Book of Travels has an adorably geeky and personable development team, if this week's Q&A video is any indication. In the video, two of the…
Ashes of Creation shows off pre-alpha footage starring a curious mage and some strange ruins - Wandering around the realm of Ashes of Creation, you're likely going to run in to some interesting sights. Take, for example, the video adventures from Steven Sharif as Magey McMagerface…
Albion Online kicks off its ninth guild season tomorrow on May 16 - The eve of guild supremacy battle in Albion Online is once more upon us. Guild Season 9 is starting on Saturday, May 16th, and along with it are a few…
Star Citizen talks about new shaders, what’s next for prison, and the free fly event on May 22 - Last week, Star Citizen made a lot of noise about light in its Inside Star Citizen video series. This week, it's all about shaders, which aren't exactly related to light,…
Crowfall on Frostweaver limits, the next Dregs campaign, and what’s delaying beta - The month of May brings yet another ACE Q&A video from Crowfall and another cornucopia of player questions, which runs a pretty wide gauntlet as one would expect. In this…
Working as Intended: The big list of City of Heroes rogue servers, 2020 edition - It's been a weird and wonderful year for City of Heroes fans. In April of 2019, the expose of a secret City of Heroes private server blew up, prompting the…
Star Citizen Live highlights the creation of the music of New Babbage - If you're among the Star Citizen players who appreciate some of the ambient music made for the game, then you'll likely enjoy the latest edition of Star Citizen Live, which…
Elite: Dangerous’ second fleet carriers beta begins today – here are the patch notes - The next round of beta for fleet carriers in Elite: Dangerous is fast approaching, and with it comes a number of confirmed changes that have been outlined in a set…
Dual Universe is still not going to consoles… but it could, with these specs - With everyone all agog over the specs for the PlayStation Five and the Xbox Series X, the team at Novaquark has looked at these specs, at Dual Universe as a PC-only…
CIG’s Articles of Association reveal a partnership that might mean VR for Star Citizen or console launch for Squadron 42 - A poster on the Star Citizen subreddit has played an intriguing game of connect the dots that might mean some interesting things for the game's future, assuming suppositions are correct.…
Ship of Heroes demos the Twin Swords powerset and considers the pace of combat - How fast is too fast when it comes to MMO combat? That's the question that's currently being pondered by the Ship of Heroes devs, who took the opportunity to showcase…
Book of Travels
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.
Book of Travels (Might and Delight) – Kickstarted successfully. Closed beta.
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. Abandoned March 2020.
City of Heroes Homecoming (Homecoming) – Monthly donation rounds.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; Issue 0 delayed into 2019.
Day of Dragons (Beawesome) – Kickstarter successful.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Destiny’s Sword (2Dogs) – Kickstarter successful June 2019; demo avail now.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Abandoned in 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, then again.
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) –Â 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) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
Oath (Ready-Up) – Kickstarter funded.
Occupy White Walls (Stikipixels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early access.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) –Â Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) –Â Open donations. Pre-alpha.
Pantropy (Brain Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded.
Past Fate (Icy North): Kickstarter unsuccessful.
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.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in early access but not active dev.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas.
Seed (Klang Games) – Kickstarter launching in 2020.
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.
Starfighter Infinity (Ben Olding) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff (Kindred) – Kickstarter funded.
Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter fully funded; now in early access.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal;Â KSÂ 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.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Trials of Ascension (Dragonfire) – Latest Kickstarter failed.
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 successfully funded.
Ashes of Creation
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?
