Betawatch: November 1 - 7, 2014

November 7, 2014

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Trove departs the Betawatch list this week, having soft-launched with an open beta destined to go unwiped. Heroes of the Storm will head to closed beta on January 13th. And Blizzard announced Overwatch, a team-based online shooter that'll hit beta in 2015. What else is new in the world of MMO testing?

The Repopulation lowered its alpha access pledge prices from $100 to $25.
Elite: Dangerous will be emerging from beta and launching on December 16th.
Skyforge's first technical beta weekend begins November 13th.
MMOTCG HEX dropped its beta key requirement, so it's in open beta, but the studio says it's not in open beta. So yeah.
Dawngate announced a sunset while it was still in beta.
Korean MMO Echo of Soul immigrates to North America and Europe next year. Beta signups are live.
Gigantic will greatly expand its alpha test this fall.
Star Citizen passed $60 million in fundraising.
Watch two hours of in-beta Civilization Online unfold.
Indie MMOFPS Hunternet was revealed; it's currently in alpha.
The international version of Journey to the West enters closed beta tomorrow on November 8th.
Kingdom Rift began open alpha on November 3rd.

The complete Betawatch roundup is below.

Open testing phase
Massively considers a game to be in open testing if it has open, public signups and plans for a server wipe before its official launch. Self-described "open beta" MMOs that have soft-launched with functioning real-money cash shops or that have lingered in development stasis an excessive length of time will not be listed.

Archlord 2 (Webzen): Announcement, Signup
Face of Mankind (Nexeon): Signup
Legend of Silkroad (JC Planet): Announcement, Signup
Margonem (Garmory): Signup
Project Gorgon (Project Gorgon): Signup
Strife (S2 Games): Announcement, Signup
Taikodom (Gamersfirst): Announcement, Signup
Wakfu (Ankama): Signup

Closed testing phase
We consider an MMO to be in closed testing if it features either future test signups or an ongoing semi-private beta/alpha that cannot immediately and freely be accessed by the general public. Some are restricted by NDAs. Games qualify even if the testing is limited to backers or pre-purchasers and if has an active cash shop as long as the signups are restricted.

Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive): Announcement, Signup (alpha)
Argo Online (Games-Masters): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
Auto Club Revolution (Eutechnyx): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
Beasts of Prey (Octagon): Announcement, Early Access (alpha)
Black Desert (Pearl Abyss): Announcement (Korean closed beta)
Camelot Unchained (CSE): Announcement (backer pre-alpha)
Das Tal (Fairytale Distillery): Announcement, Signup (alpha)
DayZ (Bohemia Interactive): Announcement, Signup (early access)
Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople): Announcement, Signup (alpha)
Earthrise: First Impact (SilentFuture): Announcement, Signup
Eclipse War Online (Playwith Interactive): Announcement, Signup
Echo of Soul (Aeria): Announcement, Signup
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier): Announcement, Early Access (beta 2; beta 3 begins Oct 28)
Gloria Victis (Black Eye): Announcement (donor alpha)
Heroes of the Storm (Blizzard): Announcement, Signup (technical alpha)
HEX (HEX Entertainment): Announcement, Signup (unofficial open beta)
Kingdom Online (NTT Game): Signup (closed beta through July 30)
Landmark (SOE): Announcement, Signup (paid closed beta)
Legion of Heroes (Nexon): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
Line of Defense (3000AD): Announcement, Signup (early access)
MyDream (MyDream): Announcement (closed testing open to donors)
Nosgoth (Square Enix): Signup (closed beta)
Oort Online (Wonderstruck): Announcement (donor alpha)
Origins of Malu (Burning Dog): Announcement
Otherland (Drago): Announcement, Signup (taking signups)
Pathfinder Online (Goblinworks): Announcement (paid "early enrollment" alpha delayed)
Shadowrun Online (Cliffhanger): Announcement (Steam early access)
Shards Online (Citadel Studios): Announcement (pre-alpha)
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium): Announcement (in donor testing)
Skyforge (Obsidian): Announcement, signup (technical beta weekends)
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium): Announcement (backer pre-alpha dogfighting module)
Starlite (Project Whitecard): Announcement, Signup (fka Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond)
The Crew (Ubisoft): Announcement, Signup (launching December 2nd)
The Repopulation (Above and Beyond): Announcement, Signup, /r/
Tribal Wars 2 (Innogames): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
TUG (Nerd Kingdom): Announcement, Signup (Steam early access)
Valiance Online (SilverHelm): Announcement (pre-alpha early access)
Venus Rising (FoxySoft): Announcement (in internal alpha; adult MMO/NSFW)
Warlords of Draenor (Blizzard): Announcement, Signup (closed beta, releasing 11/13/14)

Betawatch is Massively's weekly report on the latest MMO alphas, betas, and other games still meandering toward an official launch. From ArcheAge to WildStar, it's covered here, complete with sign-up links so that you too can perform the unpaid quality-control work otherwise known as game testing. Drop us a comment if we've missed one, and many thanks to Steven Eyerman for the Subreddit links

In this article: alpha, alphas, beta, beta-test, beta-testing, betas, betawatch, brianna-royce-betawatch, civilization-online, closed-beta, dawngate, echo-of-soul, elite, elite-dangerous, game-testing, gigantic, hex, hunternet, journey-to-the-west, kingdom-rift, launch, launches, massively-meta, open-beta, overwatch, roundup, skyforge, star-citizen, testing, the-repopulation, trove

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