Well, what do you know, Camelot Unchained has declared a launch window of late 2025. It’s going to launch! Can you believe that? Can you? Do you believe that? Because I find it somewhat dubious after a decade! But the newly renamed and investor-bolstered Unchained Studio (fka City State Entertainment) has now declared that it is happening late next year, and it is also insisting that it’s second game is now its first game and it’s going into early access in spite of the fact that it went into early access several years ago, and… my head hurts. Please help me out here.
Speaking of games that have not delivered on what was promised years ago: Star Citizen layoffs have finally been acknowledged (though not really explained in a way most watchers would find satisfactory) by the studio. And the hasty spinoff Zenith: Infinite Realms has gone into full launch, although it’s also seen the source MMO’s reviews tank substantially. Hooray for crowdfunded games!
Many of the games on this week’s beta news list are not crowdfunded, of course, so you can draw your own conclusions there. You can also let us know about your conclusions down in the comments, or you can let us know about your conclusions about our larger beta list down in the comments. And as always, if you notice something slipped into a new test phase without us noticing, you will be thanked for notifying us of that.
10-year-old Camelot Unchained is launching ‘late next year’ following CSE rebrand and investment haul
Star Citizen’s CIG admits to rumored layoffs, blaming restructuring and relocation
Star Citizen followers uncover additional layoffs at CIG that reference relocation and restructuring
Ashes of Creation’s newest video explains how its questing system differs from other MMOs
Choose My Adventure: The Wagadu Chronicles’ worldbuilding is epic, but the gameplay…
Nightingale teases storage and crafting QOL plans as players build away and reviews sit at ‘mixed’
Funcom’s Dune Awakening MMO is finally promising trailers and hype as Dune 2 hits theaters
Pax Dei floods Discord with screenshots of wildlife, continues to promise alpha testing soon
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen marks progress on pet system, combat, visuals, and March 30’s Season 2
Project Gorgon’s February update buffs the in-game map and adds a Hardcore Living skill
Palworld celebrates 25M players in its first month, promises anti-cheat measures, showcases critters
Palworld races to squash bugs and balance gameplay with Patch 0.1.5
Cozy multiplayer sci-fi life sim Galactic Getaway crosses the Kickstarter finish line
BitCraft talks up gameplay features and progress for its upcoming closed alpha test
Ship of Heroes demonstrates how its character creator can be used to convey personal stories
Pax Dei marks the first anniversary of its reveal with more screenshots of items, building pieces, and lighting
Waven extends its tutorials and cleans up some guidance with its latest patch
Eternal Tombs fka War of Dragnorox announces a closed beta test for April
Freaky shooter Once Human aims for a multiplayer beta next month
ASTRA Knights of Veda finally opens pre-registration March 5 – here’s the new trailer
Sandbox MMO Anvil Empires previews chunks of its smithing and weaponcrafting systems
Zenith OARPG Infinite Realms launches today as Steam reviews plummet over MMO development halt
We consider an MMO to be in open testing if it features free, public signups and will server wipe prior to launch. An MMO is marked in closed testing if it’s running a private test phase that cannot freely be accessed by the general public; it’s often under NDA as well. Early access and crowdfunded MMOs whose tests we deem legitimate will be included. So-called “open beta” soft-launch MMOs with cash shops, no sign of launch in the west, or limited interest for our readers will not be listed, nor will games that are NFT/blockchain scams; we also do not list expansions, with occasional exceptions. Finally, we’ll mark games “malingering” if they’ve been in a certain tier of development for a long time with no clear path to launch.
Abyss: Closed alpha
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early accessAge of Water: Paid closed betaAnvil Empires: Intermittent alphaArcane Waters: Early access
Arcfall: Pre-alpha
ARK 2: Paid early accessAshes of Creation: Alpha two in planningAshfall: Closed betaASKA: Closed betaBattlebit: Early accessBattle Crush: BetaBellatores: Closed testingBitcraft: Alpha planned for 2024Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8thBook of Travels: Early accessCamelot Unchained: Closed beta, planning to launch in late 2025Chronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, againChrono Odyssey: Closed testingCinderstone Online: Closed betaCity of Titans: AlphaCoreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early accessCorepunk: Early access planned for 2024Craftopia: Early accessThe Crew Motorfest: Closed testingDark and Darker: Paid early access, legal troubles.Dark and Light: Early access (abandoned?)Darkbind: Closed beta (probably abandoned?)The Division Heartland: Closed testingDreamworld: Pre-alphaDune Awakening: Closed testing, signups nowECO: Early accessEleven: Closed alphaEnlisted: BetaEnshrouded: Early accessEternal Tombs: Closed beta in AprilEVE Vanguard: First beta test concludedEvercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesignThe First Descendant: Crossplay betaFractured Online: Paid early access, back on SteamFractured Veil: Early accessFrozen Flame: Early accessGenfanad: BetaIlysia: Early accessInferna: Early accessKurtzpel: Closed betaLegendarium Online: Paid alpha accessLost Skies: Pre-alphaMonsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alphaMortal Exodus: Closed testingMultiversus: Returned to closed testingNightingale: Early accessNoah’s Heart: BetaOdd Giants: AlphaOnce Human: Open beta planned for March 28thOutlaws of the Old West: Early accessPalia: Open betaPalworld: Early accessPantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceledPast Fate: Closed testingPath of Exile 2: Beta June 2024Pax Dei: Closed alphaPerfect New World: Closed betaPow Vista: Open beta (mobile)Project Crawl: Closed testingProject F4E: Closed testingProject Genom: Closed alpha (servers offline, abandoned?)Project Gorgon: Early access betaProject Loki: Closed betaProject ST: Closed testing, open event endedProsperous Universe: Early accessQuinfall: Beta delayed to 2024Return Alive: Closed betaReign of Guilds: Beta event through February 26th, early access planned for 2024SamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dudeSeed: Active developmentSeekers of Skyveil: Continuing alpha testingShadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)Ship of Heroes: Beta testingSmite 2: Signups open, wipe-free beta mid-2024Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped upSpellcraft: AlphaStar Citizen: Backer alphaStarbase: Early access open alphaTarisland: Second closed betaThrone & Liberty: Western launch delayed into 2024, live in South KoreaTombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this yearTrimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13thValheim: Early accessV Rising: Early accessValiance Online: Closed betaThe Wagadu Chronicles: Early accessWaven Early accessWayfinder Early access ahead of full launch
We welcome additions and corrections to this list; send your info our way via tips!
Yes, MMO gamers, you too can perform the unpaid quality-control work otherwise known as game testing! Check out Massively Overpowered’s Betawatch every week for a run-down of MMOs that are still on the road to launch, even if they appear to have set up a permanent residence in a shed called early access.
Advertisement
