Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 1 - 14, 2013
If it seems as if crowdfunding's gone into a turkey coma lately, you aren't just imagining things -- at least as far as funded games are concerned. News on that front has seemed scarce compared to the deluge of some other two-week spans, but the current campaigns are trying to make up for it. Life is Feudal canceled its Indiegogo campaign, but devs vowed to "survive according to Plan 'B'," so we'll keep an eye out to see whether it moves into personal funding as other games have done. (That route is working for Neo's Land, whose donations keep creeping higher.) Similarly, Novus AEterno scrapped its second Kickstarter campaign, but in a twist, it's already restarted another with a lower goal. Outer Worlds Online, however, just didn't make the funding cut.
On the successful side, manners and dinner parties will be coming to an MMO near you; Ever, Jane got an invitation to join the funded club. A few other funded titles also saw some progress, and still others joined (or re-joined) the race for your support. And topping all that, we also bid farewell to Elite: Dangerous, who leaves Make My MMO for Betawatch now that its alpha has started. You can catch all the updates below.
Dream a little dream, get a little green, and before long you'll have your very own MMO... at least that's what these developers are hoping! Games seeking funding to make their plans a reality are listed in this section.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.): Open donations, no end date
A vast, dynamic world where nothing is set in stone and each player will experience the game in very different ways
Empires of Tahn (Stormlord Games): Kickstarter campaign ends December 22, 2013
MMORTS for mobile
Fantasy world building floating empires in the sky
Neo's Land (NeoJac Entertainment): Open donations, no end date
A sandbox where the community decides development by round table discussions
Massively news: Voxel-based building demo available
Novus AEternio (Taitale Studios): Kickstarter campaign ends January 27, 2014
Persistent sci-fi MMORTS
Appearance of investors led to relaunching Kickstarter with a lower goal
Each backer who re-pledges gets a Ring Planet
Space Unfolding: Kickstarter campaign ends January 18, 2014
Cross-platform space sim with planetary travel
Open alpha version available now
Success has its privileges, like a spot in this section! Games that have reached their crowdfunding goals and are in current development are listed here. Once a game reaches the closed testing stage, it will move to the hallowed halls of Betawatch.
Camelot Unchained (City State): Official site
- Recent news: Piercing the Veil #4; Sprint 07 update; new Q&ACity of Titans (Missing Worlds Media): Official site
Embers of Caerus (Forsaken Studios): Official site
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net): Official site
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions): Official site
- Recent news: Meets goalFace of Mankind (Nexeon Technologies): Official site
HEX: Shards of Fate (Cryptozoic Entertainment): Official site
Pathfinder Online (Goblinworks): Official site
- Recent news: Spellcasting dev blogShadowrun Online: (Cliffhanger Productions) Official site
Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues (Portalarium): Official site
- Recent news: First chapter of book released; enters early-access testing; chapter 2 outStar Citizen (Cloud Imperium): Official site
- Recent news: Guild functionality; Roberts adds devs for new featuresStarCraft Universe (Upheaval Arts): Official site
The Mandate (Perihelion Interactive LLC): Official site
Like few platforms before it, Kickstarter puts the power to determine the fate of fledgling MMOs in the hands of gamers themselves. Which will live and which will die? Check the pulse of all things crowdfunded in the MMO-sphere with Massively's MJ Guthrie every two weeks in Make My MMO. And for a look at non-MMOs in the crowdfunding realm, don't forget Joystiq's Crowdfund Bookie.