Have you come for adventures in yonder land of Taris? Wait, I haven’t actually been involved in the various tests; does Tarisland actually feature a land of Taris? Let me know in the comments while you rejoice that the game is launching on June 21st, when presumably I could find out if there’s a Taris or not. I won’t, but I could. I have something else to be doing around that time. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
That something else will not be playing Corepunk, but people are able to play it now… theoretically, until June 3rd. There have been issues. At least those issues aren’t going to overlap with World of Warcraft starting its beta for its next expansion on June 5th (theoretically) or MultiVersus really going into launch (no more do-overs) this time.
So now is that part of the weekly column wherein I point you to our list of stories from this week and you read it and then we have our full list of games in testing below that, I thank you for letting us know if something slipped into another test phase. Going to be honest with you, folks, last week had so many sand-related jokes to make that this week just feels kind of whatever. I can’t talk about sand and my cats are bugging me. But do check out those lists below all the same!
Throne & Liberty producer resigns as mobile version rumors surface
Tarisland announces a global release date of June 21 – here’s the new trailer
World of Warcraft starts The War Within beta next week while softening power scaling in Mists Remix
Monster Hunter Wilds’ first gameplay trailer showcases new monsters and new mechanics
Bellwright’s first content update adds new forestry building and village management improvements
Cozy MMO Brighter Shores says it’s still on track for a Q3 2024 release
Mike Morhaime’s Dreamhaven game studios open playtest sign-ups for their upcoming games
Marvel Rivals confirms launch on Xbox and PS5, two new characters, and a multi-platform beta in July
Age of Water discusses planned adjustments to weapons, navigation, combat, and economy
Digital Extremes’ Soulframe talks prelude testing, character customization, and creepy dogs
Ship of Heroes talks raid preferences, its new raid UI, and its animation system overhaul
Abyss Online studio Old World Labs seeks to hire more staff to help its flagging MMORPG
Palia’s Crafted Comforts update is live for beta players today with building and economy QOL
Corepunk is on day three of trying to get its big alpha test off the ground
Corepunk resets alpha, inviting another 5000 players and extending the test to June 3
NetEase’s post-apoc survival shooter Once Human opens mobile pre-registration
Multiplayer nautical sim Ships at Sea officially makes its way into early access
The Stream Team: Taking a peek at the closed alpha of Corepunk
The Stream Team: Heading into the early access multiplayer ocean of Ships at Sea
Wayfinder’s Echoes update goes live for founders today as the game gets Steam Deck verified
Corepunk opens its doors for its second alpha test today
Path of Exile 2 announces couch co-op plus simultaneous PC/console launches and updates
Multiplayer survival sandbox Aloft opens Steam demo for the Open World Survival Crafting Fest
SMITE 2 enters into a second alpha weekend with two more gods and gameplay updates
Past Fate adds ‘proper starting tutorials’ and makes a swamp zone ‘much more poisonous’
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
Malingering33 Immortals: Closed testing
Abyss: Early access
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Early access
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, early access on June 20th
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Second global beta
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last Oasis
Bitcraft: Alpha 2 on June 17th, 2024
Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8th
Book of Travels: Early access
Brighter Shores: Launch planned for Q3 2024, MMO scale not yet clarified
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta, planning to launch in late 2025
Chronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, again
Chrono Odyssey: Closed testing, plans for 2025
Cinderstone Online: Closed beta
City of Titans: Alpha
Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early access
Corepunk: Early access planned for 2024, second alpha delayed yet again
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?)
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
ECO: Early access, full launch planned in 2024
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enlisted: Reinforced: Early access delayed for an indeterminate time
Enshrouded: Early access
Eternal Tombs: Closed beta in April
EVE Vanguard: Second beta ongoing
Evercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesign
EverCraft Online: Weekend-long open test starts April 19th
Final Stand: Ragnarok: Early access (officially, really)
The First Descendant: Final test on May 25th
Fractured Online: Paid early access, back on Steam
Fractured Veil: Early access
Frozen Flame: Early access
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Marvel Rivals: Closed alpha
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Nightingale: Early access
Noah’s Heart: Beta
Odd Giants: Alpha
Once Human: Closed beta finally starting after delays
Osiris: New Dawn: Back from the dead, not on Steam any longer
Outlaws of the Old West: Early access
Palia: Open beta
Palworld: Early access
Pantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceled
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Alpha June 2024
Pax Dei: Closed alpha
Perfect New World: Closed beta
Pow Vista: Open beta (mobile)
Predecessor: Free-to-play open beta, yet another Paragon do-over
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: Early access
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
Ships at Sea: Early access
Sky: Children of Light: Open early access
Smite 2: Signups open, second alpha weekend ongoing
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped up
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Tarisland: Launches June 21st
Throne & Liberty: Western launch delayed into 2024, live in South Korea
Tombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this year
Tribes 3: Rivals: Early access
Trimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13th
Valheim: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
Vindictus: Defying Fate: Open testing
Waven Early access
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.
