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]

ARK: Survival Evolved scores some mainstream press coverage

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ARK: Survival Evolved got some mainstream press coverage over the weekend, with a piece in the Seattle Times that focused on Studio Wildcard lead...

Devilian lands on Steam and posts server list

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It's a big week for Devilian, as the action-RPG just finished up its open beta test and will be launching in a few days....

The Division moves beta to next year, announces Xbox One alpha test this month

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Time is definitely running out for Ubisoft to get The Division's promised beta test out this month. And in fact the studio has decided...

Shroud of the Avatar details its City of Truth, conducts an R24 postmortem

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It's the weekend, which means that it must be time to peruse the latest Shroud of the Avatar newsletter. Sure enough, Portalarium released another...

HEX’s PvE mode detailed in a fresh video

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That kickstarted HEX: Shards of Fate trading card game is still a thing, and earlier this week, HEX Entertainment published a video showing off...

Gloria Victis revises combat mechanics and more

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Alpha-state fantasy sandbox Gloria Victis pushed out a press release late this week touting "massive" amounts of polish and bug-fixing for the latest build....
Test pattern.

The Daily Grind: What aspect of modern MMO testing bothers you?

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Beta testing doesn't bother me. Alpha-testing as a public thing doesn't bother me too much either. But pre-alpha? You're calling what you're doing a...
Make My MMO

Make My MMO: Spatium and Labyrinth of the Druids (December 5, 2015)

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This week in MMO crowdfunding news, we said hello to Spatium and Labyrinth of the Druids, though the former isn't actually on Kickstarter yet. The...

Leaderboard: What will you be doing most often in Star Citizen?

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I just saw Star Citizen's new trailer yesterday, and needless to say I was pretty blown away. Alpha 2.0 is looking good - so...

H1Z1’s booby traps look fairly painful

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Have you ever trapped an actual booby? It seems like that would be pretty difficult. I won't get into the hows and whys and...
We do things for you! This is a thing.

Betawatch: Star Citizen’s universe expands (December 4, 2015)

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The universe of Star Citizen is getting a bit bigger with the addition of 50,000 testers to its persistent universe. It also has a...
That's cool.

Paladins adds deserter system and Evie, the Winter Witch

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Hi-Rez Studios has released as new a video that details Paladins' 0.8 update. Lead designer Rory Newborough says it's a big patch that makes...
And here we go again.

Overwatch beta is taking off for winter break

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Everyone needs a break sometimes. It's a chance to step back, examine what's going on, take a few deep breaths, all of that good...
Just assume one of these people is Susan. I do not like Susan.

These are the stealthers who will gank you in Camelot Unchained

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During this afternoon's studio livestream, City State Entertainment revealed the three classes that will be stunlocking and PKing you from stealth mode in Camelot...
I am fairly certain that fairness due to gear parity was a point that got tossed around for this game, although I cannot find a good source for that at the moment, so I may be incorrect.

Albion’s Aurelius update to add PvE dungeons, usability tweaks, and more

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Sandbox Interactive says that Albion's closed beta launch has been "very successful," and as such the firm is now giving fans a glimpse of its near...
Unseen.

WoW Factor: Legion testing is an exercise in absurd decisions

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One of my favorite bits from The Office is when Michael is having his budget explained to him. You don't need to know the...

Ever, Jane touts new beginner experience

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Ever, Jane is anticipating being a gateway for people who have never played video games or MMOs before, which is why the team has...

Star Citizen shows off ship combat, FPS, and EVA in new trailer

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Did you see the new Star Citizen trailer yet? It debuted last night at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, after an introduction by...

516 characters died during Worlds Adrift’s first alpha test

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Back in November, Worlds Adrift ran its first alpha playtest with just 153 participants, and today's it's released a video-infographic summarizing the more interesting...

College students whip up Adventure Guild, a mobile turn-based MMO

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Who says that you have to be graduated to be a force for gaming good? A team of college students at Rochester Institute of...