This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Elite Dangerous’ massive Guardians expansion went live this week, introducing new features to the space epic including multi-person crewing, NPC ferrying, new planetary discoverables, and a much improved map. Frontier’s David Braben sat for a Reddit AMA during the week as well, addressing everything from exploration to multiplayer. “Yes, it is a multiplayer game,” he wrote. “We are conscious that different people want to play in different ways and we want to support that. Personally I prefer PvE and co-op multiplayer, but that is mainly because I’m a bit rubbish on PvP. Many players have come across me in the depths of space, and I really like it that most would rather chat than kill me.”
Meanwhile…
- Shroud of the Avatar updated with Release 35 right on schedule! Expect improvements for the Path of Love, better cooking mechanics, and a rework for roving encounters.
- Project Gorgon’s latest update implemented a Halloween “loot extravaganza,” tweaked combat, and “wide-spread changes to abilities and treasure effects.”
- Hero’s Song will keep its promise to launch its backer alpha in October; it goes live on Halloween.
- Gloria Victis made plans for female toons (stay tuned for our in-depth look at the game!).
- And keep an eye on Antraxx, whose Kickstarter is due to wrap up on November 1st.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding this week and the roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on!
Elite’s Guardians of confusing colons and dashes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybO1eS8-QN0
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Elite Dangerous rolls out The Guardians expansion today - Elite Dangerous is busy rolling out The Guardians expansion today, free for folks who already own the Horizons season pass ($29.99 on Steam) and featuring multi-person crewing, NPC ferrying, new…
Shroud of the Avatar explains its skill decay death penalty - These days, most MMO players don't think about death penalties as much more than a time and/or small repair cost for gear. When it comes to Shroud of the Avatar,…
Star Citizen dishes on alpha 2.6 progress and procedural planets - This week's Star Citizen Around the Verse is ostensibly a check-in with the Frankfurt team, but there's quite a bit of teasing for 2.6 as well. "Alpha 2.6 has been…
Shroud of the Avatar delivers Release 35 to everyone - Remember back when Shroud of the Avatar's releases contained mostly line items like "implemented the most basic form of crafting" and "included a single wolf you can fight with your…
Hero’s Song schedules alpha launch for next Monday, followed by early access in November - While Hero's Song might not have raised as much money with its recent Indiegogo campaign as the studio hoped, players who did pay $15 or more into the game did…
Creating Crowfall is ‘part exploration and part iteration’ - Despite what some players might assume, developers do not begin with a game design document that can and will never be changed. It's a fluid process that, as Crowfall's J.…
Dogma: Eternal Night on project funding and making NPCs come alive through dialogue - Dogma: Eternal Night has a new dev blog out this week on something a lot of people never notice because they're too busy clicking past it: dialogue windows. In roleplay…
Divergence Online survival sandbox prequel Divergence: Year Zero hits Steam early access - Stained Glass Llama, the studio behind indie sci-fi sandbox Divergence Online, has put that game's infrastructure to work in a brand-new game that launched last week on Steam's early access platform.…
Shroud of the Avatar reworks its roving encounter system - There are plenty of dramatic combat scenes in Shroud of the Avatar with a defined purpose, but bandits and wolves are rarely polite enough to simply wait their turns and…
Chronicles of Elyria on layaway, weather, customization, and pants - "While the pants look a little silly, they do go to show you how much customization is possible with the crafting system," says Chronicles of Elyria's latest Kickstarter update about gear…
Gloria Victis overhauls animations, promises playable female characters ‘soon’ - Gloria Victis has a new video out today showcasing its overhauled combat and movement animations, done by one of the animators who worked on Geralt's animations in The Witcher 3.…
‘MMO-lite’ Tuebor makes plans to move from Steam early access to launch - "Tuebor is a 3rd person, cross-genre, competitive, multiplayer, action game set in a post apocalyptic, dystopian future." So reads the Kickstarter for Strength in Numbers Studios' "MMO lite" Tuebor. Unfortunately,…
Star Citizen procedural planets
Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching
3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k;Â hit open beta in October.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter ends November 1.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Fully launched!
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – Kickstarter canceled (site has been taken offline).
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Open donations/packages
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) –Â Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media)
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios)
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama)Â –Â Three campaigns; now in KS early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter over, donor preorder packs.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded.
Eco (Strange Loop Games)
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; EA was slated for Sept. 2016.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrionn Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, multiple times now.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guns of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched.
Hero’s Song (Pixelmage) – Kickstarter canceled; Indiegogo pulled in $94K. Alpha in Oct.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – Successful Kickstarter, now playable.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful.
Nebula Online (Mizar Games) Kickstarter canceled; November 2016 launch planned.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
Overpower (Hydrant Games) –Â Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) –Â Open donations, no end date.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Doom, mostly.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Successful Kickstarter.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game, LLC)
Pumpkin Online (Monique)
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Above & Beyond Technologies) – In middle of engine do-over.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; early access delayed to 2017.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon.
Shards Online (Citadel Studios)
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Final wipe was in July 2016.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – In middle of year-long revamp after funding surge.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.
