Alphas & Betas

MMOs in various stages of testing and crowdfunding, playable and… not. Don’t forget to follow our Betawatch and Make My MMO columns for a weekly rundown. [Follow this category’s RSS feed]

Pax Dei promises another round of ‘plot clean up’ – but will not be offering character transfers for now

2
Finding a place to stake a claim and build your ideal homestead in Pax Dei is pretty important, so word of players finding less...

RuneScape founder’s MMO Brighter Shores hints at detective profession en route to Q3 launch

1
It's been a couple months since we last checked in with Brighter Shores, the RuneScape-inspired MMO by Andrew Gower that promised to get here...

Ultima Online’s New Legacy and crackdown on third-party clients have vets rioting

6
Ultima Online is a very old and fairly small MMORPG nowadays, but even so you probably knew that it has a thriving emulator community,...

Extraction shooter Arena Breakout: Infinite is coming to early access ‘soon’

0
Are you sitting slouched in your gaming chair and feeling the void in your life where an extraction shooter should be? Then sit up...

Make My MMO: Fractured’s launch, Zenith’s maintenance mode

0
It's been a weird couple of weeks in MMO crowdfunding - with both a launch and an almost-sunset. First, Fractured Online has finally launched...

Marvel Rivals debuts story trailer, adds Thor and Jeff the Land Shark to this weekend’s closed beta test

3
Today is the day when NetEase's Marvel Rivals cross-platform closed beta kicks off and it's come with a bit of a surprise in the...
Finally.

Betawatch: New World Aeternum and Ultima Online New Legacy begin closed beta

0
This weekend is all about beta testing things that are already out and you can play right now even without the beta test. That...
Supplies!

Mecha Break announces a surprise open beta test starting on August 10

3
Maybe the real breaks were the mecha we made along the way. Is that anything? No. It's complete nonsense. But if you want to...

Cozy MMO Palia teases nameplates, house tours, and a greenhouse in next week’s beta update

6
Fresh off its acquisition by no less than MMORPG company Daybreak, Singularity 6's still-in-beta cozy MMO Palia is teasing a bunch of new content...

Pearl Abyss’ ‘open world action-adventure’ RPG Crimson Desert will be playable at Gamescom 2024

2
Considering the long spans of silence that have earmarked the progress of Crimson Desert, we know it was easy to presume that Pearl Abyss...

Star Citizen’s alpha 3.24 personal hangars aren’t quite housing, but it’s a start

1
Sure, Star Citizen has showcased cargo and freight gameplay coming in alpha 3.24 already, but who's stopping it from doing so a second time?...

Homestead Online is an indie MMO that embraces character persistence, permadeath, and base building

6
An indie MMORPG developer is asking for help to test out a brand-new title that's still in its early days. This would be Homestead...

Stars Reach’s Raph Koster: ‘We’re going into space, and it’s going to be awesome’

19
Playable Worlds' Raph Koster is back with yet another batch of Stars Reach game pillars, the driving concepts behind the MMORPG sandbox's design. We've...
Swanky.

LOTRO invites everyone to play Hide-and-Seek on the new Mordor server today

1
If you're awake and have had your second breakfast already, you might be in time to check out an afternoon stress test for Lord...

Here’s what to expect from New World’s two-phase Aeternum console beta tomorrow

3
All right finally here we go: Amazon has just pushed out a big post on what exactly gamers can expect from New World's first...

X-LEGEND is bringing a classic yet ‘fully upgraded’ version of Grand Fantasia to Steam

3
It's been a little bit since Grand Fantasia crossed our collective minds, so that means we need to review for a moment: The anime...

‘Adaption shooter’ Ascendant is plotting an August open beta – with transmedia ambitions

0
What the heck is an "adaption shooter"? That was my first and really only question upon first hearing about Ascendant (fka Ascendant Infinity), PlayFusion's...

Ultima Online sets its first New Legacy open beta for this weekend

1
On the MassivelyOP podcast this week, Justin and I were speculating on when the Ultima Online New Legacy beta is happening - surely it...

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen posts an early access FAQ, says periodic wipes may happen

9
Have you wrapped your head fully around the fact that Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is coming to early access by the end of...

Scars of Honor’s July dev stream showcases the continent and races of Irongarth

0
A place that's named Irongarth kind of suggests a rugged land with rugged people living rugged lives, but as Scars of Honor pointed out...