It’s almost time: On December 6th, Path of Exile 2 will enter the early access club. Classes: Six. Acts: Three. Endgame: Available. And hopefully it will not be forcibly removed from the club as a result of any of that. To be fair, the total number of classes will double by the time of full launch, but it is unlikely that the full list will include Bohemian Earspooners, Wormtouchers, or Cardfarters, since I just made all of those up.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV Mobile was announced, and my reaction was basically “whatever,” but when that actually gets a beta test people might like it. Towers of Aghasba has also started into the early access journey which is not going super great for it (sorry, dudes), and EVE Vanguard is betting that third or fourth or however many-th time is the charm as it expands its tester pool once again for the shooter spinoff.
Unfortunately, Bree has informed me that I cannot end this column by recording a video of beta news being set on fire and thrust into the air while I scream “ARE YOU READY FOR A ROUNDUP OF BETA NEWS” for some reason. Possibly because I wanted a production budget comparable to that new Wicked film coming out. I guess you’ll just have to hop down below to read the decidedly un-immolated roundup, and check below that for our list of games in testing. You can still let us know in the comments if something slipped to a new test phase without our noticing!
Square-Enix and Lightspeed Studio officially announce Final Fantasy XIV Mobile
Path of Exile 2’s December 6 early access boasts six classes, three acts, and endgame
Towers of Aghasba early access fans on Steam are already issuing warnings about the state of the game
Stars Reach unveils the earliest stages of its player housing homesteading system
Pax Dei changes its existing chat system to a Discord-powered one this week
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Mobile might not be for you, and that’s fine
Here’s what’s actually making it into Corepunk’s early access launch build next week
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile devs promise the game will be more than a ‘bite-sized mobile experience’
Cozy MMO Palia teases Season of Splendor and Winterlights for tomorrow
Star Citizen confirms a full wipe is coming with alpha 4.0 as it readies for tomorrow’s IAE free-fly event
Path of Exile 2 early access hands-on: A Witch, a Sorceress, and a Ranger walk off the gallows
EVE Vanguard broadens its test pool starting Thanksgiving weekend
The Bazaar is a mash-up of roguelite, hero builder, and digital card game currently in paid closed beta
MMO sandbox Life is Feudal is being resurrected for the second time this year
Nightingale’s patch this week includes new weapons, boss rush mode, and no more dying from hunger
Whatever happened to multiplayer survival RPG Frozen Flame?
Whatever happened to the relaunched sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria Classic?
Bellwright outlines plans for a new village prosperity system coming in its next big update
Multiplayer turn-based battler Skygard Arena begins its early access journey
Temtem Swarm shows off its ‘living roadmap’ for future development
Nightingale’s latest update is live with new weapons and brand-new boss rush content
Multiplayer RTS titles ZeroSpace and Immortal Gates of Pyre plan public tests this weekend
The Stream Team: Returning to Palia for the Season of Splendor – and pond plushies
Wayfinder is planning a new nightmare mode, but it’s indefinitely delayed mods and the Xbox launch
Warframe opens pre-registration for its Android version
BitCraft adds aggressive enemies, adjusts settlement mechanics, and eases new player onboarding
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, early access delayed to 2025
Abyss: Early access
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early access
Age of Water: Early access
Aloft: Early access on January 15th, 2025
Ammo and Oxygen: Early access starts November 7th
Anvil Empires: Intermittent alpha
Arcane Waters: Early access
Arc Raiders: Tech beta live, launch planned for 2025
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Paid early access
Ascendant: Open testing in August
Ashes of Creation: Alpha two
Ashfall: Closed beta
ASKA: Early access
Battlebit: Early access
Bellatores: Closed testing
Bellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last Oasis
Bitcraft: Third alpha starts the week of November 11th
Blue Protocol Mobile: Closed beta in China, full game is shutting down
Book of Travels: Early access
Brighter Shores: Early access
Camelot Unchained: Closed beta, planning to launch in late 2025
Chronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, again
Chrono Odyssey: Closed testing, launch planned for Q4 2025
Cinderstone Online: Closed beta
City of Titans: Alpha
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
Destiny Rising: Closed alpha starts November 1st
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: Early access planned post-November
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
FragPunk: Closed alpha
Frozen Flame: Early access
Havenhold: Second alpha June 20th
Homestead: Open alpha
IfSunSets: Early access
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
Monster Hunter Wilds: Open beta
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 December 6th
Pax Dei: Early access
Perfect New World: Closed beta
Pow Vista: Open beta (mobile)
Project Crawl: Closed testing
Project F4E: Closed testing
Project Friendship: Beta signups open now
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 has ended
Return Alive: Closed beta
Reign of Guilds: Early access
Rodent Rumble: Launching next year, playtest on October 11th
SamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dude
Scars of Honor: Next test October 26th
Seed: In pre-release, test run starts October 24th
Seekers of Skyveil: Continuing alpha testing, closed beta in September
Ship of Heroes: Beta testing
Ships at Sea: Early access
Sky: Children of Light: Open early access
Skygard Arena: Early access
Smite 2: 24/7 closed alpha for paying members
Soulframe: Open pre-alpha planned for 2025
The Spell Brigade: Early access
Spellfarers: Early access
Supervive: Open testing November 20th
Star Citizen: Backer alpha
Starbase: Early access open alpha
Stars Reach: Pre-alpha started
Temtem Swarm: Early access
Tombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this year
Tower of Aghasba: Early access planned for November 19th
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
ZeroSpace: Public beta through November 24th
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.
