Do you really want a survival sandbox to play but insist that you must be allowed to build vehicles for navigating the sky while doing so? And do you further insist that those vehicles cannot be planes but must instead be boats? Well, let me tell you, buckaroo, I like the cut of your jib. So do the folks over at Loric Games, whose upcoming Echoes of Elysium seems like just the thing to put the cerveza in your cristal in this context.
Speaking of peculiar callbacks, Bellwright is heading for early access even as Donkey Crew must surely wish that no one remembered Last Oasis existed. (We remember, and we are not going to stop bringing it up.) Corepunk, meanwhile, has delayed its next alpha until the end of May (which is wholly on-brand at this point). And Albion Online wants to pretend like opening a new server means it gets back in the beta club, but it doesn’t. You aren’t in beta, people. Your game launched a long time ago, your new server is not a beta. You get noticed a lot anyway. Why you lyin’ tho.
In summary, a whole lot of our list items earn a finger-waggling along with a Desi Arnaz-style admonition that they got some splainin’ to do. You, dear reader, do not have any splainin’ to do. You have readin’ to do, however; we have our whole roundup of news as well as our list of games in testing. Now, if you notice that something down there is wrong? Well, then you can skip to the comments and do some splainin’ to us if you want to. We’d appreciate it.
Last week’s massive Palia layoffs included waaaay too many senior Singularity 6 staff
Star Citizen kicks off an updated Jumptown event and highlights more alpha 3.23 UI updates
Mythic vets at Loric Games unveil Echoes of Elysium, a new co-op skyship survival sandbox
MOBA shooter Gigantic officially resurrects as the Rampage Edition – here are the patch notes
Wayfinder sales are temporarily halted as Airship Syndicate assumes publishing from Digital Extremes
Corepunk delays Alpha 2 until the end of May
First Impressions: Gigantic Rampage Edition’s classic Clash mode and the game’s overall plans for the future
Rumor: Bungie is (or at least was?) supposedly working on Destiny 3
Cozy multiplayer game Farm Together 2 is launching early access in May
PvP MMORPG Abyss begins signups to an upcoming open playtest on Steam
Starship Simulator’s Kickstarter unlocks VR, planetary landing, and alien structure stretch goals
Not So Massively: Final Stand Ragnarok might be the seed of a fun game, but it was set up for failure
Donkey Crew sets Bellwright early access for April 23 – still no update for Last Oasis
V Rising teases Dracula, new difficulty modes, and its Castlevania DLC ahead of the May launch
Star Citizen releases a new launcher and talks about its ongoing Overdrive Initiative missions
Boxy MMORPG EverCraft Online announces a weekend-long open alpha test starting April 19
PlayStation players are flooding the Sea of Thieves PS5 closed beta servers
After months of retooling, Evercore Heroes comes back as a three-player co-op roguelite
Co-op roguelike Inkbound pushes its exit from early access a day ahead of schedule
Valheim’s (hopefully) last patch before Ashlands upgrades Unity and addresses a long list of issues
Mortal Online 2 tests siege system updates, combat changes, and new mounts in latest PTR
Cozy MMO Sky Children of the Light launches F2P early access on Steam today
The Stream Team: Taking our first steps into the world of Sky Children of the Light
Albion Europe flings open the doors to its open beta – yes, everyone can play now
Scars of Honor shares ‘unfiltered’ player impressions and highlights chymera lore
Co-op roguelike 33 Immortals debuts new gameplay trailer and announces May 24 closed beta
Kickstarted cozygame Solarpunk didn’t make its Q1 alpha, but devs say they’re ‘making significant progress’
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, early access starts April 18th
The Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Aero Tales Online: Early accessAge of Water: Paid closed beta, early access April 18thAnvil 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: Second global betaBellatores: Closed testingBellwright: Early access April 23rd, developers of abandoned Last OasisBitcraft: Alpha planned for April 2nd, 2024Blue Protocol: Launching worldwide in 2024, technical tests starting November 8thBook of Travels: Early accessBrighter Shores: Launch planned for Q3 2024, MMO scale not yet clarifiedCamelot 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 2024, second alpha delayed yet againCraftopia: 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 access, full launch planned in 2024Eleven: Closed alphaEnlisted: Reinforced: Early access delayed for an indeterminate timeEnshrouded: Early accessEternal Tombs: Closed beta in AprilEVE Vanguard: Second beta ongoingEvercore Heroes: Paid testing, updates stopping with a focus on a redesignEverCraft Online: Weekend-long open test starts April 19thFinal Stand: Ragnarok: Early access (officially, really)The 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-alphaMarvel Rivals: Closed alpha in MayMonsters & Memories: Intermittent pre-alphaMortal Exodus: Closed testingMultiversus: Full launch on May 28thNightingale: Early accessNoah’s Heart: BetaOdd Giants: AlphaOnce Human: Closed beta finally starting after delaysOutlaws of the Old West: Early accessPalia: Open betaPalworld: Early accessPantheon: Backer alpha, 247 canceledPast Fate: Closed testingPath of Exile 2: Alpha June 2024Pax Dei: Closed alpha, week-long public test in AprilPerfect New World: Closed betaPow Vista: Open beta (mobile)Predecessor: Free-to-play open beta, yet another Paragon do-overProject 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: Early accessSamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dudeSeed: Active developmentSeekers of Skyveil: Continuing alpha testing, open testing some time in MarchShadow’s Kiss: Early access (but read this first)Ship of Heroes: Beta testingSky: Children of Light: Open early accessSmite 2: Signups open, wipe-free beta mid-2024Soulframe: “Pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha” testing wrapped upStar 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 yearTribes 3: Rivals: Early accessTrimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13thValheim: Early accessV Rising: Early access, full launch May 8Valiance Online: Closed betaVindictus: Defying Fate: Open testingThe 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.
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