So the World of Warcraft Forever beta kicked off to insane numbers, and so many articles about the spinoff reboot. Seriously, it was a lot. And that’s pretty great, you can’t say that there is a lack of transparency. If you aren’t in the beta and/or don’t want to spend the money on the beta access, you can get a lot of info about how things are shaking down. But it doesn’t get the header image this week because it got last week’s image. We need visual variety!
That visual variety comes from Aion 2, which cracked the doors just a bit on its upcoming launch. We’ve also got State of Decay 3 soldiering on with a now-indie Undead Labs at the helm despite layoffs, and Guild Wars 2 is testing a new WvW map in the near future. That’s some variety, indeed!
Look, sometimes I have more meat to these segues than others, I’m sorry. You can still enjoy our roundup of all beta news just below, and beneath that is our usual roundup of games in testing. Let us know in the comments if something skipped to a new test phase without us noticing! We do appreciate it.
World of Warcraft Forever beta sees ‘crazy’ numbers: ‘We’ve got something really special here’
First Impressions: Aion 2 feels surprisingly familiar
The StarCraft shooter won’t just be on Xbox, but Blizzard is being kind of weird about what that means
World of Warcraft Forever lays out your choices of dual names and realm types
World of Warcraft Forever discusses beta player reactions, Skyborne, and planned future adjustments
Stars Reach talks up building updates as it promises to ‘pay attention to growth’ and ‘features, not just fires’
Brighter Shores introduces a shipwreck-centered world event in its latest update
Star Citizen is opening itself up to player questions in a new video series
World of Warcraft Forever shows off the Legacy system
Pantheon apologizes for early access wipe delay, says it will happen ‘when it’s ready’
Stars Reach paints with all the colors of the wind in its next update
Diablo V touches on caravan mechanics, its multitude of classes, and character level scaling
Throwback MMO Monsters & Memories opens early access character creation for subscribers
Undead Labs confirms indie status, developer layoffs, and continued State of Decay 3 development
‘Historically authentic tank MMO’ Steel Aces hosts an open play weekend starting today
Colorful co-op shooter Mycopunk confirms its 1.0 release date of October 20
Soulframe adds fishing, weapon epithets, and wolf puppy training in its latest Preludes build
Fish & Ships is a new friendslop adventure of fish on an airship heading to the ocean
Fellowship discusses recent quality-of-life updates, answers questions about queues and leagues
Guild Wars 2 prepares WvW players to pummel each other in a new borderlands map beta November 10
Monsters & Memories nerfs charmed NPC damage, tweaks stealth, and shares more class previews
Camelot Unchained adds ‘more flattering’ lighting with its latest early access patch
Hoyoverse’s upcoming Nodusfall provides a hands-on preview, answers questions about gameplay and gacha
EVE Frontier brings more complex flight, updated exploration, and improved enemy AI September 29
Aion Reforged will relaunch the core MMO next month with several changes
Hytale’s Update 7 brings a new dungeon and tweaks to items and enemies October 12
Pocketpair’s cozy-looking Palworld Palfarm isn’t going to be like Stardew Valley, actually
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: Early accessThe Adventurer’s Domain Online: Early access
Adrullan Online Adventures: Open alpha concluded
Aion 2: Open stress test, global launch on October 5th, 2026
Aloft: Early accessAnvil Empires: Intermittent alphaApogea: Open testingArcane Waters: Early accessArcany: Early alpha
Arcfall: Pre-alphaARK 2: Paid early accessArkheron: Closed beta, cross-platform test September 25Ascendant: Open testingAshes of Creation: Early access, entire staff apparently laid off, in limboAshfall: Closed betaASKA: Early accessAstrobotanica: Early access on February 16th, 2026Battlebit: Early accessBellatores: Closed testing, beta rolling out in South KoreaBellwright: Early access, developers of abandoned Last OasisBitcraft: Early accessBrighter Shores: Early accessCamelot Unchained: Early accessChronicles of Elyria: Pre-alpha, againChrono Odyssey: Closed beta, launch planned for 2027 after latest delays/revampsCinderstone Online: Closed betaCity of Titans: AlphaCloudheim: Early accessCoreborn: Nations of the Ultracore: Early accessCorepunk: Early accessCraftopia: Early access, launch planned in 2027The Crew Motorfest: Closed testingCrosswind: Future testing events planned on SteamThe Cube, Save Us: Early access, free-to-play usDark and Darker: Paid early access, legal troubles.Dark and Light: Early access (abandoned?)Darkbind: Closed beta (probably abandoned?)Dawn of Defiance: Early accessDrakanatos: Testing weekend running until May 24thDungeonborne: Early accessECO: Early access, full launch planned in 2024Echoes of Elysium: Early accessEldramoor: Closed testingEleven: Closed alphaEnshrouded: Early access, launch on October 15thEternal Tombs: Next demo in OctoberEtherwind: Open test on April 10thEthyrial: Echoes of Yore: Early access, 1.0 release planned for 2027EVE Vanguard: Open alpha event, early access planned for summer 2026Evercore Heroes: Ascension: Early accessEverRail: Early accessFantasy Online 2: Early accessFarever: Early accessFellowship: Early accessFractured: Conquest: Testing in 2026, full reboot of Fractured OnlineFrontier Legends: Early access May 29thFrozen Flame: Early accessGuild Wars 3: Beta coming fall 2027Havenhold: Closed betaHomestead: Open alphaHorizon: Hunter’s Gathering: First test planned for the end of FebruaryHytale: Early accessIfSunSets: Early accessIlysia: Early accessInferna: Early accessKalmia Online: First test event starts July 24thKurtzpel: Closed betaLegend of Ares: Open testing ahead of relaunchLegends of California: Alpha test starts March 26thLegendarium Online: Paid alpha accessLife is Feudal Arden: Open betaLoftia: Closed betaMarch of Giants: Closed alphaMagic to Master: Somehow, Palpatine returned in early accessMonsters & Memories: Early access on October 1stMortal Exodus: Closed testingNightingale: Early accessNin Online: Early accessOdd Giants: AlphaOsiris: New Dawn: Back from the dead, not on Steam any longerOutbound: Early AccessOutlaws of the Old West: Early accessPalia: Paid “open” beta, planning for launch in Q2Pantheon: Early accessPast Fate: Early accessPath of Exile 2: Early accessPerfect New World: Closed betaPetit Planet: Closed beta starting April 21stPioner: Early accessPow Vista: Open beta (mobile)Project Crawl: Closed testingProject Friendship: Beta signups open nowProject Genom: Closed alpha (servers offline, abandoned?)Project Loki: Closed betaProject ST: Closed testing, open event endedProject Zeta: Open testingProsperous Universe: Early accessReaper Actual: Early accessReturn Alive: Closed betaRodent Rumble: Launching next year, playtest on October 11thSamuTale: “Paid closed alpha early access” according to the developer, which is just early access, come on dudeSand: Raiders of Sophie: Early accessRF Online Next: Global launch in 2026Scars of Honor: Internal testingSea of Remnants: In testing, multiplayer not availableSeed: Early access on July 21stSeekers of Skyveil: Early accessShips at Sea: Early accessSky: Children of Light: Open early accessSkygard Arena: Early accessSmite 2: Open betaSoulframe: Founders pack for saleSoul’s Remnant: Early accessSpacecraft: Early accessThe Spell Brigade: Early accessSpirit Crossing: Closed alpha, launch in 2026SpiritVale: Early accessStar Citizen: Backer alphaStarbase: Early access open alphaStar Wrath: Closed betaStars Reach: Paid early accessSteel Aces: Closed beta, open access this weekendSteel Hunters: Early accessStormforge: Demo availableSubnautica 2: Early access May 14thSynduality: Echo of Ada: Early accessTime Takers: Closed betaTombstone: Closed testing, release planned for this yearTorebia: Beta test starting May 29th for 10 daysTower of Aghasba: Early access planned for November 19thTribes 3: Rivals: Early access, development slowing/stoppingTrimurti Online: Stress testing, open beta February 13thValiance Online: Closed betaVaultbreakers: Week-long open test through February 16th, formerly known as Project F4EVindictus: Defying Fate: Internal testingWalkScape: Closed beta until June 15thWaven: Early accessWindrose: Early accessWitchspire: Early accessWorld of Warcraft: Forever: Closed beta with paid access; launching on November 4thZeroSpace: Back in closed testing, early access on July 20th
We welcome additions and corrections to this list; send your info our way via tips!
