Make My MMO: Squadron 42, Pantheon 247 (original) (raw)

Welcome to another blast of MMO crowdfunding news from the last few weeks! Indeed, these last few weeks have been packed with wild stories about crowdfunding games, topped by Star Citizen’s CitizenCon, where Cloud Imperium announced that Squadron 42 is “feature complete” and moving into a “polishing phase.” There’s no release date, however.

Then there was Pantheon, which suffered a leak of its 247 extraction shooter mode, which the studio hopes to monetize to fund Pantheon’s development, which itself is on hiatus until next year.

And finally, there’s Ship of Heroes, which during its Steam demo event (accidentally?) leaked a public pricing pitch that mystified MMO gamers; the studio told us the prices weren’t under discussion and that its website had actually suffered a hack, which of course would be disturbing if true and if player PID were involved, but Heroic Games declined to respond to any of our follow-up questions about any of it. So that’s how that’s going.

Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last few weeks, plus our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Ship of Heroes

Recent MMO crowdfunding news

Book of Travels heralds a content update with new locations, events, and a death system ‘that isn’t the end’

Pantheon argues 247 extraction mode is meant to satisfy replayability and runs parallel to MMORPG loops

Ship of Heroes refurbs its camera, addresses feedback, and floats another demo event

Testing Pantheon’s 247 mode won’t be cheap, according to Visionary Realms’ latest infodrop

Book of Travels releases another small fixer-upper patch as it goes on sale for its second anniversary

Temtem’s latest patch tweaks lairs, expands emote use, and fixes a huge list of bugs

Fractured relaunches early access on Steam November 8 as team works unpaid

Star Citizen’s second day of CitizenCon shows updates to character creation, FPS gameplay, flight, and frontier locations

Star Citizen shows off new ships and offers vague details of ship release timing

Star Citizen demonstrates new visual effects, destructible items, server updates, and engineering gameplay

Star Citizen’s new test server will open Pyro to goodies pack owners and ‘active testers’ on October 31

Ilysia thanks players for their support as it rolls over early access bugs in latest patches

Dual Universe hands out titles and goodies to top contributors of a PvE mission campaign

Star Citizen’s alpha 3.21 brings new missions and a new bomber ahead of CitizenCon this weekend

Pantheon confirms ‘247’ extraction play mode rumors: ‘This is not a cancellation of Pantheon’

Rumor: Pantheon leaks suggest a monetized spin-off mode is en route for testing

Elite Dangerous’ Frontier Developments readies a round of layoffs

Past Fate’s alpha refines combat, brings new cooking recipes, and celebrates Halloween

Colony builder MMO SEED returns to active development with a playtest scheduled for October 18

Pantheon Rise of the Fallen offers new screenshots of its new graphics style from recent test

Elite Dangerous Update 17 brings forth another laundry list of fixes and continued tease of ‘louder rumbling’

Ship of Heroes’ digital storefront leaks the MMORPG’s box price and subscription fee

Elite Dangerous outlines patch timing and teases October 16’s Update 17

Camelot Unchained heralds improved performance for AMD systems, AoE effects, and the patch client

AdventureQuest 3D celebrates the guild that broke the MMORPG by climbing the leaderboard at breakneck speed

Kickstarted VR MMO Ilysia rolls into early access with four servers and FreeForge characters

Fractured Online extends fall playtest to folks without founder packs

The Stream Team: Diving into the latest Ship of Heroes demo build

Ship of Heroes provides a full playthrough video of its demo’s very first mission

Fractured Veil delays its early access to next year over infrastructure concerns

Ship of Heroes’ free demo is live on Steam through next Monday

Temtem delays its esports event until November as it wrestles with persistent patch 1.5 bugs

Zenith confirms Quest 3 headset support complete with several visual upgrades

Embers Adrift goes free through November 5th for its first anniversary

Zenith

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

Holy crap it launched
It semi-launched?
In development
Dead or abandoned
Drama bomb

3001SQ (SMV) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix) – Raised 368k; beta since 2016.
Albion Online (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam May 2018.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten) – Successful KS. Launched 2016.
Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Successful KS. Alpha one.
Blast Out (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful. Originally called RUiN. In EA.
Book of Travels (Might and Delight) – Kickstarted. Early access.
Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early access.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully.
Codename Reality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Contested Space (Zon) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter successful, Indiegogo. Launched, sold, unlaunched.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter. Much shenanigans.
City of Heroes Homecoming (Homecoming) – Monthly donation rounds.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS.
Dawngate (Studio Wayfinder). Kickstarter successful, but no license.
Day of Dragons (Beawesome) – Kickstarter successful.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Destiny’s Sword (2Dogs) – Kickstarter successful June 2019; downgraded.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Abandoned in early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter. Probably dead.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dreamworld (Dreamworld Realities) – Successful Kickstarter. Dodgy af. EA.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Launched 2022.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in beta.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded. Abandoned.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and fully launched.
Embers Adrift (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Fka Saga of Lucimia. Launched.
Empyrion Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam.
Endless Trials (Fire Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
Ethyrial Echoes of Yore (Gellyberry). Kickstarter canceled.
EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Successful Kickstarter. Sunsetted 2020.
Fractured (Dynamight/Gamigo) – Kickstarter successful. EA again as of 2023.
Fractured Veil (Paddle Creek) – Kickstarter successful.
Freeland VR (Freeland VR AB) – Kickstarter successful.
Frozen Flame (Dreamside) – Fig campaign successful. In founder alpha.
Genfanad (Rose Tinted Games) – Kickstarter successful. Launched 2022.
Global Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations; early access.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, now allegedly in refund process.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched.
Guns of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched.
Hero’s Song (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds.
Identity (Asylum) – Kickstarter successful. Beta July 2022. Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios) – Successful KS; in early access.
Ilysia (Team 21) – Kickstarter fully funded Oct 2020. Closed beta.
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – Funded, launched; sunsetted 2020.
Legends of Aria/BRITARIA (Citadel/Reaper) – Shards Online. Launched 2020. Yikes.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Closed and maintenance-moded.
Loftia (Qloud) – Kickstarter. Fully funded.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled. Seemingly abandoned.
Maestros of the Anthymn (String Theory) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo successful; launched then sunsetted in 2020.
Mekria (Infinity Online Studios) – Kickstarter canceled. Seemingly abandoned.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful. On Steam but abandoned.
Nebula Online (Mizar Games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) – Open donations. Abandoned.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios) – Successful KS. Abandoned.
Oath (Ready-Up) – Kickstarter funded. Seemingly abandoned.
Occupy White Walls (Stikipixels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Launched 2022.
Odd Giants (Odd Giants) – Patreon ongoing.
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. Launched 2019.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha.
Pantropy (Brain Stone GmbH): First KS canceled, second funded. In EA.
Past Fate (Icy North): First Kickstarter unsuccessful, second successful. Alpha.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Sunsetted 2021.
Path of Titans (Alderon) – Indiegogo. In early access.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early access launched sans multiplayer.
Playcraft (Bebop Games) – Kickstarter funded May 2019; in EA.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda) – Kickstarter funded. Second one too. In EA.
Project Gorgon (Elder Game) – Three KS + Indiegogo. Early access.
Project Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Launched as Pumpkin Days.
RAW (Killerwhale) – Kickstarter canceled by Kickstarter.
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; dev ended.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter, Patreon failed. Abandoned.
Seed (Klang Games) – Kickstarter imminent?
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Ship of Heroes (Heroic) – Kickstarter canceled, launch expected in 2022. Beta.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Launch 2016 & 2018. Trainwrecks.
Solarpunk (Cyberwave) – Kickstarter successful.
Spycursion (Defun) – Kickstarter unsuccessful.
Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing funding. Backer alpha.
Starfighter Infinity (Ben Olding) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff (Kindred) – Kickstarter funded. Early access.
Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter fully funded and launched.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early access but dev halted.
The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Live game. Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Abandoned in alpha.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
The Wagadu Chronicles (Twin Drums) – Kickstarter successful. Alpha 2.
TitanReach (Square Root) – Kickstarter failed. Defunct/scam. Aka World of Titans.
Trials of Ascension (Dragonfire) – Latest Kickstarter failed. In EA as a singleplayer demo.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Abandoned without a word. Scam.
Valiance Online (Silverhelm) – Backer beta.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Website dead/abandoned.
War of Rights (Campfire Games) – Successful Kickstarter; in early access.
World Seed (Ape Egg) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Classic launched.
Zenith (Ramen) – Kickstarter successful; VR version launched, PC delayed.

Pantheon 247

Yes, some crowdfunded MMOs most definitely do succeed. But others crash and burn, and you need to hear about the whole spectrum of games that sought your money early in exchange for the promise of input and transparency. And that’s exactly what Make My MMO does several times a month. Help us keep ’em accountable, would ya?