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]

Kakao Q1 2024: ArcheAge 2 and Chrono Odyssey are apparently back on track for 2025

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Kakao Games' first financial report covering 2024 is out today, and perhaps not surprisingly, Q1 wasn't particularly great or garbage for the Korean gaming...

Kickstarted afrofantasy MMORPG The Wagadu Chronicles is sunsetting before launch

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I'm terribly sorry to report this morning that The Wagadu Chronicles is shutting down development and sunsetting. Our readers will know that Wagadu was a...
Oh, oh, oh, it's Magik.

Marvel Rivals kicks off its closed alpha test on May 10

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Is there another faintly superheroic shooter you're over so you want something new to watch? It definitely seems as if Marvel Rivals is hoping...

Valheim continues ironing out its Ashlands update with a ‘really chunky’ bug-fixing PTS patch

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The early access survivalbox Valheim isn't yet ready to release its earlier access new Ashlands biome out of its public test realm, evidently. Iron...

Quinfall offers a lore-focused overview of its game world’s ancient history

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One of the more important parts of worldbuilding is often considering its history and mapping out major events prior to the current timeline of...

Second Wind: V Rising’s 1.0 build is a fangtastic revamp of the vampire survival sandbox

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It doesn't seem possible that V Rising burst onto the scene almost two years ago, but here we are. I sometimes struggle to get...

Kickstarted multiplayer cozygame Loftia talks minigames, NPCs, and accessibility

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Mediumly multiplayer solarpunk cozy game Loftia closed out April with another dev blog about the team's progress this week. Bolstered by last year's half-million-dollar Kickstarter,...

The First Descendant preps final test May 25 on Steam ahead of global summer launch

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The days of testing for Nexon's multiplayer sci-fantasy looter shooter The First Descendant are coming to an end. Or at least that's presumably what's...

Nightingale confirms a full focus on offline mode but still calls online co-op ‘important’

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Near the end of April, Nightingale developer Inflexion Games held a live Discord Q&A between the devs and the survivalbox's players, but if you...

Legends of Aria Classic deals with a server hiccup and gathers player suggestions during its open beta

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Last weekend we all were invited to a "surprise open beta" of Legends of Aria Classic, which itself is a return of the original...

Star Citizen answers questions about alpha 3.23 and readies Invictus free-fly event for May 17

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CIG is still hoping to drive player interest in Star Citizen's alpha 3.23 as the studio focused on the upcoming new build in its...

V Rising takes down its servers today in preparation for this week’s launch

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As vampire survival game V Rising flaps its wings and flies toward this week's 1.0 launch on the PC, Stunlock Studios has taken down...

The Quinfall takes you on a tour of its villages and cities in a new video

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While the natural landscape of MMOs tends to get a lot of coverage in preview videos, one should not overlook the centers of civilization...

PSA: Pantheon Rise of the Fallen grants weekend access to new players [Update: Code’s dead now]

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Update: Looks like the fun is over - code is now nonfunctional. Hope some of y'all got in! :) The original post follows. Pantheon: Rise...
Breathe.

Betawatch: SMITE 2’s first alpha, Legends of Aria’s Classic beta

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Good morning, SMITE 2. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to enter your first testing phase this weekend. Your continuing mission...

Multiplayer maritime sim Ships at Sea delays its early access launch to May 23

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This past March saw a distinct new game cross our desk known as Ships at Sea, a multiplayer game that's all about simulating life...

Osiris New Dawn returns from the dead with ‘enhanced expedition update’ and apologies for silence

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Back in April, we were genuinely surprised to see Osiris New Dawn return from the dead, though given a name like that, we should've...

Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff puts out a quality-of-life update along with a free demo

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Quality-of-life is the name of the game for the adorably boxy multiplayer RPG Swords 'n Magic and Stuff. The game's latest update is full...

Warhammer Online Return of Reckoning begins public testing of combat updates and class tweaks

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The world of Warhammer Online rogue server Return of Reckoning is a pretty fighty place. That's not really a surprise considering the setting of...

Co-op roguelike Rabbit and Steel throws you right into raids without the MMO grind

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Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, I love me some solid MMO-style raiding, but I just wish I didn't have to engage with...