Make My MMO: Refunds for Hero’s Song (January 7, 2017)

This week in MMO crowdfunding news, refunds continue for Hero’s Song, which was canceled the day after Christmas with the promise to reimburse all those who backed the game through Indiegogo or on Steam early access. A new Indiegogo announcement from John Smedley yesterday says that Pixelmage has finished processing all pending requests — manually — and will soon begin mailing checks. “On the PayPal front we’re awaiting having our PayPal account authorized to do this,” he writes, suggesting that will be resolved early next week.

Meanwhile, take note, future MMO devs: If our readers are any indication, Kickstarter is probably not going to be your ticket to cash in 2017.

Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last few weeks and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on!

Camelot Unchained

Recent MMO crowdfunding news

Camelot Unchained starts the year with a pair of weekend tests - Camelot Unchained is back to business as usual following the holiday break. Mark Jacobs reports that two tests are being performed this weekend with some of the game's backers, with…

AdventureQuest 3D patches in bank functionality - Let's face it, no matter how careful you are with your inventory in AdventureQuest 3D, you are going to run out of space. It's a universal law of MMOs. You…

First contact has occurred in Elite: Dangerous - For quite some time, players in Elite: Dangerous have been finding... oddities. Odd structures on planetary surfaces. Odd bits, here and there. They were obviously hinting at something out in…

Origins of Malu proclaims ‘we are not dead,’ downgrades from an MMORPG - Last April, we reported that the indie MMO Origins of Malu was suspending development as it sought investors to help fund the project. Since then, there has been movement on…

Crowfall reaches a funding stretch goal and aims for one last target - Back in November, Crowfall studio ArtCraft joined Indiegogo's fledgling equity crowdfunding platform, which makes use of brand-new laws that allow non-accredited investors to invest in start-ups online. This is indeed investment,…

Crowfall answers player questions on server size and QA work - What ever happened to Crowfall's stretch goal for a QA lead? The answer is nothing happened to it; it's still a goal for the future, but at the moment the…

Ship of Heroes demos Apotheosis City in new video - Just one month ago, we learned of the existence of yet another City of Heroes spinoff project: Ship of Heroes. And it's literally a ship -- the premise is that…

Ashes of Creation outlines its reactive player-driven nodes - So what is Ashes of Creation meant to be? Is it supposed to be more of a sandbox, more of a themepark, what? The answer is "a bit of both,"…

Star Citizen talks about the process of creating lore - "We wanted to take some time to day and talk about the process, how lore is actually made for a video game, since that's not a part of a video…

AdventureQuest 3D previews its new bank vault - Inventory woes in AdventureQuest 3D might not be going away anytime soon, but they should be lessening come next week's patch thanks to the new bank vault. In a preview…

Albion Online looks at the year in review and the year to come - A lot has happened in the past year for Albion Online. Yes, the game is still in its test phase, but it's a test phase that's adding lots of new…

Crowfall team says 2017 is ‘gonna be our year,’ shows off the Templar - Crowfall isn't wasting any time in claiming dominance over 2017. ArtCraft's J. Todd Coleman said that, "2017 is going to be our year, I feel it!" in the team's January…

Massively OP’s Weirdest MMORPG Stories of 2016: Richard Garriott’s Blood Art - We're counting down Massively OP's weirdest MMORPG stories of 2016! And the #1 weirdest MMORPG story of 2016 is... ... that time when Richard Garriott sold his blood for Shroud…

Elite Dangerous is creating a Carrie Fisher outpost in memory - Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't the only sci-fi MMO that is paying tribute to the late Carrie Fisher this month. Following community entreaties to memorialize the Star Wars actress,…

Massively OP’s 2016 Blooper Awards: Best Skill in Project Gorgon - Massively OP's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our blooper award for Best Skill in Project Gorgon, as proposed by MOP reader Agemyth. And the winner is... Literally Dying Project Gorgon took home…

Chronicles of Elyria has raised $2 million to date - In case you forgot or weren't aware, this time last year, Chronicles of Elyria was basically four devs in a basement who were being bankrolled entirely by the project founder's…

EverFeud is being ‘built by PvPers for PvPers’ - Would you like some PvP in your PvP? Then you should keep tabs on EverFeud, an in-development title that's creating a highly competitive environment in a fantasy world. Arenas and…

The Daily Grind: Will you Kickstart any video games in 2017? - I backed only one Kickstarter in 2016: Hero's Song, which you'll recall didn't fund. While I'm generally suspicious of Kickstarter and have regretted a couple of my donations, I can't…

The Stream Team: Fun times in AdventureQuest 3D’s Frost Labyrinth - It's rare that there is a holiday event that Massively OP's MJ doesn't like, and there's nothing like experiencing one for the very first time. That's exactly the holiday treat…

Hero’s Song wants you to take your money back - As Hero's Song transitions into Hero's Swan Song following this week's announcement of the game and studio shutdown, John Smedley and Pixelmage Games are encouraging backers to take advantage of…

Valiance Online demos the city of San Cielo - Crowdfunded superhero MMORPG Valiance Online has a new video out this week featuring the city of San Cielo. "This is a work-in-progress for our Alpha test and not necessarily the…

Gloria Victis brings out new character models - The "biggest update ever" for Gloria Victis has finally arrived, welcoming brand-new character models that should make the game look better than before. This is the 34th update since the game…

Shroud of the Avatar is in the final stretch before launch - Shroud of the Avatar is planning to hit the ground running in 2017, sprinting right on to the full launch of the game. The good news is that there isn't…

A ‘new chapter’ is coming next year for Worlds Adrift - Mark their words: 2017 is due to be a major year for Worlds Adrift. Now that the alpha NDA is lifted, the ball is rolling faster toward early access, which…

Smed has canceled Hero’s Song, offers everyone refunds - Pixelmage Games, the indie studio headed up by MMO veteran John Smedley, announced today that it is folding up, which means Hero's Song is coming to an end. "It's with…

Here’s why Star Citizen is using Lumberyard – and why CIG waited to tell us - Just before the holiday weekend, Cloud Imperium announced that both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are using Lumberyard, Amazon’s robust game engine, and in fact have done so for "more…

Crowfall Q&A

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; 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.) – 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) – 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. Production canceled w/ refunds.
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) – Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – 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) – 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.

Ship of Heroes video