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]

Albion Online’s land ownership system will run by auction

29
Sandbox Interactive is shaking things up with its land ownership system in Albion Online. In a new development diary, the studio explains that it is...
Rank 17! I am SO important to the world!

Overwatch designer Geoff Goodman on characters, balancing, and community maps

15
The experience of developing Overwatch is very different from that of other Blizzard games; it's a new IP for the company, and it's a...
That old saw.

Eternal Crusade: There are holidays in the grim darkness of the future

12
If you learn nothing else this morning, know that there are holidays in the grim darkness of the future. This means that as much...

Life is Feudal gets more stable, adds barter system

6
A new alpha patch for Life is Feudal has made living in that game a little less futile. Ahem. Anyway, the big ticket items...
We say that the world isn't dying. For some reason.

ECO shows off its development progress as it heads toward alpha

3
ECO isn't ready for testing just yet, but Strange Loop Games is aiming to change that by the time the end of the month rolls...

ARK Survival Evolved takes to the skies with the Quetzalcoatlus

36
While ARK is no stranger to flying dinos and the players crazy enough to ride them, today it's upping the aerial combat arms race...

Chronicles of Elyria dev blog: Permadeath in MMORPGs

46
Announced earlier this year, Chronicles of Elyria is a startup sandbox in a sea of such sandboxes, but some of its features are rare even...

Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 raid beta impressions

24
I don't believe I've ever been more excited -- and simultaneously nervous -- about a beta test than I was for Guild Wars 2's third beta...

Gloria Victis patches in headshots

5
Just a week after adding combat and fortress improvements into its pre-alpha, Gloria Victis is back with another patch that should make fighting even...

Novus Inceptio sorts out the first days of alpha testing

1
The sci-fi survival sandbox Novus Inceptio has launched its early access program, and the team is sorting out feedback and metrics from the alpha...
Hiss-terical.

Crowfall details Zaleena, Daughter of Snakes

4
Serpent deities are always bad news when they show up. Actual snakes aren't malicious at all, but snake deities? They're mean. Crowfall's Zaleena, Daughter...
Hey, guy.

Webzen announces beta testing for ELOA

18
So what the heck is ELOA: Elite Lord of Alliance? Seriously, that's one heck of a title. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense,...

Future Landmark improvements include build mode, mega palette, and stopping time

11
Have you been wondering what is going on in Landmark development lately? Devs took to the forums yesterday to announce some new building-related features...
Egi me on.

Blade & Soul dedicates a week to the Summoner

45
Would you consider a cat to be a faithful battle companion? If not, you probably haven't played a Summoner in Blade & Soul, the...

John Smedley’s company moves into an office, is working on a new game

94
While ex-Daybreak CEO John Smedley isn't quite ready to reveal what his new game company is all about, he did post a couple of...

The latest SOTA update ushers in Halloween and Black Friday

2
Update of the Avatar #145 is out for Shroud of the Avatar, and it is leading players right into the holidays.  There's Halloween goodies...

Jagex preps new RuneScape client, takes beta apps for Chronicle TCG

7
Jagex made bold declarations about the future of RuneScape at this past weekend's RuneFest in London. 2016 will be a big, big year for RuneScape....

Revival’s tags support ‘elements of role playing that many still believe are impossible in an MMO’

21
Just in case you thought Revival was all sex and gore, IllFonic's latest dev blog is here to discuss something relatively dry and technical: tags. Interestingly...
Boys and girls in cars, dogs and cats on lawns - from up here I can see them all.

Valiance Online moving into alpha development

5
On September 25th, the Valiance Online developers announced that the game was soon moving into its alpha testing phase with non-combat power use, crafting,...
Oh noes

Guild Wars 2’s first raid boss is downed and the beta weekend gets extended

54
Bugs are a natural part of any beta experience, so it's not exactly surprising that Guild Wars 2 would experience some bugs during the...