Turns out that this week you were obligated to have some testing plans ready for 2024 if your game title is structured as X of Y and your first word starts with an A. That would seem like a really small sample size, but Age of Water is planning early access for first quarter 2024 and Ashes of Creation is having its next alpha test later in 2024. It’s a real “so I’d only have two dollars, but it’s still weird that it happened twice” situation.
Meanwhile, Reign of Guilds has started its public testing. And Corepunk? Why, it’s recapping its first public alpha test for all the world to learn about. Good stuff across the board right there.
You can imagine that next week will not have a whole lot of beta news, what with next week running up right against a holiday and leading into the new year, but we’ve still got our roundup of beta events that took place over the past week just below. And we’ve still got our list of games in testing just below that. It’s not any kind of holiday miracle, but it can still be fun, right?
World of Warcraft 2024 roadmaps herald summer War Within beta and Cataclysm Classic
Pantheon boss on canceled 247 mode: ‘The community quite literally freaked out’
‘Aquatic adventure MMO’ Age of Water readies an early access release in the first quarter of 2024
Valheim targets Ashlands for the first half of 2024, shows off foods, plants, and ‘absolutely badass’ armor
Ashes of Creation confirms Alpha Two for third quarter of 2024, shows off the updated Ranger
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen delays latest pre-alpha test into 2024 over broken backend system
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen pledges extra test sessions following a cancellation of alpha backer access
Pax Dei ponders a box price with sub monetization balanced with a free trial and possible game time tokens
A fresh first impressions: Checking out Palia for the first time on Switch
Corepunk’s latest NDA-free test round sees mixed reviews, early game complaints, and survival annoyances
Nightingale’s team ‘flexes’ its creative muscles by adding fishies and grumpy critters
Wayfinder’s Eventide holiday events are live alongside Senja rework and awakening system
Palia is officially coming to Steam in 2024
Funcom’s Dune Awakening is readying another closed beta test for early 2024
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
MalingeringAbyss: Closed alpha
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Paid closed beta
Anvil Empires: Intermittent alpha
Arcane Waters: Early access
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Paid early access
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two in planning
Ashfall: Closed beta
ASKA: Closed beta
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Beta
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bitcraft: Alpha planned for 2024
Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8th
Book of Travels: Early access
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta
Chronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, again
Chrono Odyssey: Closed testing
Cinderstone Online: Closed beta
City of Titans: Alpha
Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early access
Corepunk: Early access planned for end of winter
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?)
The Day Before: Early Access going great
The Division Heartland: Closed testing
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
ECO: Early access
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Beta
EVE Vanguard: First beta test concluded
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesign
Fae Farm: Closed testing, launch planned for September 8th
The First Descendant: Crossplay beta
Fractured Online: Paid early access, back on Steam
Fractured Veil: Back in closed development, early access delayed to 2024
Frozen Flame: Early access
Genfanad: Beta
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Last Oasis: Early access (abandoned?)
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Monster Hunter Now: Closed beta
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha, public beta this weekend
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Multiversus: Returned to closed testing
Nightingale: Ongoing closed events
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Once Human: Beta on December 7th
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Open beta
Pantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceled
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Beta June 2024
Pax Dei: Closed alpha
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: Beta delayed to 2024
Return Alive: Closed beta
Reign of Guilds: Beta event in mid-December, early access planned for 2024
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
Shadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Skull and Bones: Closed beta
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing in mid-December
Spellcraft: Alpha
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Second closed beta
Throne & Liberty: Western launch delayed into 2024, live in South Korea
Trimurti Online: Stress testing
Valheim: Early access
V Rising: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
The Wagadu Chronicles: Early access
Warhaven: Early access
Waven Early access
Wayfinder Early access ahead of full launch
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.
