We are now truly liberated from talking about the Throne & Liberty beta because the game has launched. You might want to point out that technically it has launched its paid headstart and the full launch hasn’t yet happened, to which I would reply that that’s a launch; it’s just a phased launch to make people upset based on their disposable income. Still, better than a limited headstart for an expansion to an existing game, and since ArcheAge 2 just rebranded to ArcheAge Chronicles while seemingly removing a lot of the things that actually made a sequel to ArcheAge sound like a good idea… yeah, y’know what, a limited headstart just doesn’t earn much opprobrium from me today. But it does count as a launch!
Elsewhere in the wild, Fragpunk has revealed that its closed beta will take place from October 10th through the 21st, complete with full crossplay. Also, Dreamworld re-inserted itself into the narrative with an October 10th date for moving onto Steam, so that’s just… so bizarre you have to wonder, right? Oh, it’s using AI tools, too, just in case your head didn’t hurt enough yet. And The Quinfall has started another closed beta test today, which means that we can all wonder what happens when Quin impacts with the ground. (That’s not what the game is about, I know.)
In hindsight, I should have saved my joke about Throne & Liberty’s fuzzy tummy for this week, but it’s too late now. But if you forgot about it, you’ll have to go back and read last week’s column… but it’s this week’s column with a full roundup of beta news down below, plus a full list of games in testing. The paralysis of choice!
XLGames rebrands ArcheAge 2 as ‘online action RPG’ ArcheAge Chronicles, but it still sounds like an MMO
Throne & Liberty officially begins its paid headstart today – are you playing?
Throne & Liberty saw over 50K concurrent players last night – and it’s only going up from there
The Day Before studio Fntastic is back on Kickstarter to try to fund a multiplayer obstacle course platformer
Co-op cozy game My Time at Evershine funded on Kickstarter in just 35 minutes
Neverness to Everness shows off more gameplay and hints at multiplayer development
Duckside is a new PvPvE survival shooter and not something I just made up I swear
Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate’s latest layoff cuts the teams down to 50 people ahead of launch
New World announces Season of Opportunity, launching alongside Aeternum
Here’s how New World’s crossplay, servers, and transfers will work when Aeternum launches
Progress Bar: Nightingale’s Realms Rebuilt update is a strong step in the right direction
Social First’s ‘social cross-platform MMO’ Nexus Station is officially announced
Palworld releases to the PlayStation 5, Monster Hunter Wilds confirms February 28 launch date
‘Infinite sandbox MMO’ DreamWorld introduces AI-powered tools as it readies for an October 10 playtest
Ultima Online will run one more New Legacy stress test starting tomorrow, its 27th birthday
Eternal Tombs ramps up interest for its October pre-alpha test
Starlight Re:Volver is a candy-colored co-op dungeon delver coming to early access soon
Scars of Honor confirms October 26 test, shows off more Undead race concepts and early gameplay
Star Wars The Old Republic opens tester signups for its native Mac launcher
Vitae Aeternum: What new and returning players need to know about New World Aeternum
The Quinfall prepares a third closed beta test for September 27
Marvel Rivals confirms Psylocke’s arrival to the roster for the shooter’s December 6 release
Ship of Heroes says it’s focusing on polish and better VFX for an ‘eventual launch’
Age of Empires Mobile prepares final global test September 25 ahead of October 17 launch
Throne & Liberty lays out three-month post-launch roadmap, promises big patches every 3-4 months
Palia’s Autumn Awakening is live for beta players with a new minigame for Maji Market
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
Arc Raiders: Launch in 2025, tech beta signups for October
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Paid early access
Ascendant: Open testing in August
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two in planning
Ashfall: Closed beta
ASKA: Early access
Battlebit: Early access
Battle Crush: Early access
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last Oasis
Bitcraft: Alpha 2 on June 17th, 2024
Blue Protocol Mobile: Closed beta in China, full game is shutting down
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
Concord: Launch for August 23rd, beta planned but unannounced
Coreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early access
Corepunk: Fourth alpha, early access planned for November 26th
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?)
Dawn of Defiance: Early access
Dreamworld: Pre-alpha, transitioning to Steam on October 10th
Dune Awakening: Closed testing, signups now
Dungeonborne>: Early access
ECO: Early access, full launch planned in 2024
Eleven: Closed alpha
Enshrouded: Early access
Eternal Tombs: Pre-alpha resumes October 11th
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)
Fellowship: Closed testing on August 15th
Fractured Veil: Early access
FragPunk: Closed alpha
Frozen Flame: Early access
Havenhold: Second alpha June 20th
Homestead: Open alpha
Ilysia: Early access
Inferna: Early access
Kurtzpel: Closed beta
Legend of Ares: Open testing ahead of relaunch
Legendarium Online: Paid alpha access
Lost Skies: Pre-alpha
Marvel Rivals: Closed alpha
Mecha Break: Open beta concluded, launching 2025
Midnight Murder Club: Closed testing this weekend
Monsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alpha
Mortal Exodus: Closed testing
Necesse: Early access
Nightingale: Early access
Odd Giants: Alpha
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, early access planned for December
Past Fate: Closed testing
Path of Exile 2: Early access November 15th
Pax Dei: Early access
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: Third closed beta
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, closed beta in September
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: 24/7 closed alpha for paying members
Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped up
The Spell Brigade: Early access
Spellfarers: Early access
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Stars Reach: Pre-alpha started
Temtem Swarm: Closed beta
Tombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this year
Tribes 3: Rivals: Early access, development slowing/stopping
Trimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13th
Valheim: Early access
Valiance Online: Closed beta
Vindictus: Defying Fate: Open testing
WalkScape: Closed beta until June 15th
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.
