This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Shards Online announced it’ll kick off its alpha early in the new year, on January 13th. “Based on the feedback we’ve received from our current playerbase, there are a few things that need to happen before we can consider ourselves ready for Steam,” says Citadel’s Derek Brinkmann — and those include a bigger world map, tamed mounts, the archery skill, modding, and dev tools.
And last night, Star Citizen dropped 2.6 Star Marine for backers, along with the surprise announcement that it’s been using Amazon Lumberyard for over a year now.
Meanwhile,
- Former City of Heroes community member Je Saist has set up a GoFundMe to help him pay off medical bills accruing as a result of his early onset glaucoma diagnosis.
- John Smedley told Redditors that “money is tight” for Hero’s Song.
- Project Gorgon pulled in over $17,000 from its Indiegogo campaign.
- Grim Dawn rolled out its 1.0.0.7 patch, which includes a massive outdoor “Aetherial roguelike” dungeon.
- Elite: Dangerous raised £46,813 during its recent charity livestream.
- Descent: Underground announced its Avalanche update and GOG launch.
- Wild Terra updated with its Christmas event this very weekend.
Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on!
Star Citizen Star Marine
Recent MMO crowdfunding news
Star Citizen launches 2.6 Star Marine, announces Amazon Lumberyard partnership - It's always nice to be able to report good news about Star Citizen, as one of our readers noted when sending us this tip, and we agree, so here goes, just…
Osiris: New Dawn releases a trailer for Dawn of Aziel - On one hand, the new ice world of Aziel seems kind of appropriate for the season when it gets added to Osiris: New Dawn. On the other hand, maybe that's…
Crowfall is testing out its item imports and exports between worlds - The many worlds of Crowfall are built on a premise of risk and reward. The best materials are found in the most dangerous kill-or-be-killed worlds, and all items are crafted.…
Ashes of Creation demos caravans and villages in beautifully creepy Christmas video - Indie outfit Intrepid Studios has an atmospheric new video out for its fledgling Ashes of Creation MMORPG -- well, not so fledgling after all, as is obvious from the flyover…
Camelot Unchained recaps ‘roller-coaster’ 2016 with new pics - Camelot Unchained is wrapping up its development for the year with a recap of the team's current efforts and a top 10 list describing "the roller-coaster" of 2016. CSE boss…
City of Titans makes Santa dance to demo environments and animations - I admit that when I first saw this City of Titans video, I thought it was just a cutesy Christmas card. But nope -- it's much more. "We thought we’d…
Crowfall traces the career of Gordon Walton - When you follow the development of MMOs, do you ever find yourself wondering who these people are making the games and what is their story? After all, developers' backgrounds and…
Dual Universe team offers fans a development update before vacation - If you were hoping for more Dual Universe news through the end of the year, the bad news is that it's not happening. The development team is heading on vacation…
Project Gorgon ends Indiegogo campaign slightly shy of its $20K goal - After a solid run, Project Gorgon has closed out its Indiegogo campaign just shy of its $20,000 goal. The fantasy MMO designed by Asheron's Call alum raised $17,230 from 236…
Multiplayer sci-fi sandbox Hellion demos survival gameplay ahead of January early access - Back in November, we reported on the rollout of Hellion, a PvP-centric multiplayer sci-fi survival sandbox aiming for a Jaunary early access launch. Today, indie studio Zero Gravity has put…
Valiance Online clarifies alpha and Steam launch plans - Back in October, Valiance Online announced that it was superjumping onward from pre-alpha to alpha and revealed that it'll use a free-to-play model, or rather, continue its free-to-play model into…
Valiance Online introduces a trio of heroes and villains - Even though superhero MMOs offer us the ability to create our own characters and live vicariously through their adventures, it's good to hear about some of the developer-created NPCs to…
Exclusive: Indie sandbox El Somni Quas arena design dev diary - Last week, we covered new info about El Somni Quas, an indie sandbox from Czech studio that actually cut its teeth on Ultima Online emulators and plans to port a…
Star Citizen’s FPS module launches with update 2.6 - If you had long suspected after delays and setbacks that Star Citizen's Star Marine FPS module would launch when pigs fly, you might want to check outside for porcine aviation.…
Albion Online discusses reworking the shape of the world - It's a known fact now that Albion Online will remain in beta into 2017, but perhaps you're not entirely clear on why that's the case. The latest development video with…
Lazarus gets a new website, wipes every hour - Keeping track of the latest development for Lazarus, the 2-D roguelike space shooter, is now easier, considering that the team has put up a new website for those loath to…
Smed says Hero’s Song is ‘working through some things’ - We've had several tips this week from players concerned about Hero's Song. One, for example, suggested that several employees had left Pixelmage Games and noted that the testing and community…
Shroud of the Avatar’s world grows ever larger - With December's Release 37 out of the door, you might expect Shroud of the Avatar's team to downshift for the remainder of the month. It doesn't sound like this is…
Ship of Heroes shows off screenshots of Apotheosis City - Remember when you had a fever dream recently that there was another spiritual successor to City of Heroes in the works, only this one took place on a habitat spaceship,…
Project Gorgon launches a winter update as it prepares for its Indiegogo’s completion - There's no system in Project Gorgon that can't be made a little more weird and amusing. For example, with the winter holidays rolling around, the game's most recent small patch…
Shards Online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAA6NUyjVjk&feature=youtu.be&a
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 canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter successful; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – Kickstarter canceled (site offline).
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful, open packages.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) –Â Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; launch planned for fall 2018.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
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, now has donor platform.
Eco (Strange Loop Games)
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; now in pre-alpha.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrion 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; in early access.
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) – KS canceled; Indiegogo made $94K. Early access alpha.
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; launched in November.
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) – Kickstarted in three tries. Indiegogo ends Dec.
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) –Â alpha planned for Jan 13 2017.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Successful KS. Final wipe/soft launch 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.
Ashes of Creation environment flyover
Thanks, Cotic!
