This week in MMO crowdfunding, Crowfall blasted into beta, becoming the latest crowdfunded MMORPG to break through that barrier. In fact, it’s even extended that playtest for non-backers based on community feedback.
“Registered players, who are not Backers, can now playtest for 30-days from the date of the beta invite. This extended period will give players more time to play and provide feedback. Additionally, Beta groups will be invited back during later testing phases as we continue to iterate the game. […] Backers continue to have unlimited access to play Crowfall through all phases of Beta and the Launch of the game. There is not currently a schedule for when the registered players will be invited back again to playtest but when invited, you will receive an email (if you are opted in to hear about the Beta Test) and you will see a notification appear on the top of Crowfall.com – on the navigation bar – that says, ‘You’re In! Join the Beta Now.'”
MOP’s own Fight or Kite column ran a detailed interview with ArtCraft on the release as we push onward to launch. MMO players just want more of these ventures to actually launch!
Meanwhile, Ship of Heroes and Valiance Online both ran beta test events this week, Star Citizen brought in megabucks, Dawngate has doubled its Kickstarter ask with just a few days left to go, and Past Fate is still coming up short. 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!
Crowfall
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
ArtCraft on Crowfall’s beta release today, Eternal Kingdoms, the newbie experience, and much more
Dual Universe AMA talks about beta, sanctuary moons, and free money
Albion Online’s massive spider mount is coming in Season 10
Into the Super-verse: Early impressions of Valiance Online
ArtCraft says ‘the purpose of Crowfall is to destroy’ the themepark model
Elite Dangerous adjusts overlapping hotspots and tritium performance
Star Citizen is on track to breaking sales records in 2020 as it passes last year’s $47.7M
City of Heroes Homecoming confirms NCsoft talks continue, plans new name, domain, and launcher
Ship of Heroes is gearing up to test its ‘big battle capabilities’ this weekend
Dynamight Studios’ CEO discusses Fractured’s gameplay mechanics and features in an interview
Choose My Adventure: Shopping for classes in AdventureQuest 3D
After a brief delay yesterday, Valiance Online has kicked off its one-week open beta
Past Fate shows where players go when they die as crowdfunding continues to crawl forward
Star Citizen shows off the creation of FPS weapons in a developer livestream
Star Citizen espouses the virtues of PTU testing, takes a look at cargo deck progress, new weapons, and fires
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen offers dates and details of a systems test ahead of pre-alpha
Kickstarted PvP MMORPG Crowfall just announced it’s launching beta next week
Temtem is headed to PS5, XBXS, and the Switch, not just PC, when it launches next year
Fractured is handing out alpha keys via in-testing games distribution platform G.Round
Star Citizen brings new flight models, new weapons, and a plushie penguin in alpha 3.10
Ashes of Creation’s newsletter gets pumped for Alpha One
Shroud of the Avatar adds player town teleporters and previews new building block types
Past Fate promises new spells and skill trees to alpha as its Kickstarter marches on
Star Citizen discusses its plans for finalizing the Stanton system
Camelot Unchained works on giants, pretty trees, wyverns, and replacing Ben Pielstick
Ashes of Creation shows off gathering, spell effects, and a dungeon in its latest livestream
Albion Online’s Guild Season 10 begins August 22 — here’s the schedule of events
Dual Universe’s August beta will also see the end of NDA
Valiance Online posts two-minute gameplay video ahead of open beta
Squadron 42 news delay is chalked up to developing a new roadmap and a video that wasn’t up to standard
Shroud of the Avatar is working on a queue system for PvP
Elite Dangerous will hand out free tritium to Fleet Carriers to combat a fuel shortage
Star Citizen fans call on CIG to post an update on Squadron 42 development progress
Ashes of Creation’s Steven Sharif AMA covers monetization, endgame, and more
Past Fate
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pastfate/past-fate-medieval-mmorpg
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, Indiegogo. Beta.
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.
Dawngate (Studio Wayfinder). Kickstarter ends Aug 27.
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.
Frozen Flame (Dreamside) – Fig campaign successful. In founder alpha.
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. Launched 2020.
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. Seemingly abandoned.
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): First Kickstarter unsuccessful, second ends August 22.
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; now in alpha.
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?
