After a short hiatus due to travel, we're back with the MMO Launch Spotlight with a bevy of games, fresh out of the development oven. We have survival games, themepark games, and we even threw in an indie top-down fantasy for you 2D fans out there. Let's jump into this week's releases.
Tarisland
On June 21st, 2024, the long awaited cross platform game Tarisland finally released on iOS, Android and PC. Tencent’s fantasy game is free to play, and has quite a few similarities to themepark MMO’s like World of Warcraft. We previously detailed that the no-pay-to-win game was decidedly pay-to-win, but Tencent has since made some changes to address some of those issues.
With 9 classes to choose from, five-person dungeons, eight raids, and a launch promotion where you can claim a brand new pet just by logging in, this polished cross-platform MMORPG might just be what you’re looking for to whittle away some time while you await your next expansion or MMO release. There’s also good news for players that tried the game previously, but hated that the classes were gender locked – Tencent has started working on unlocking gender classes, so it’s only a matter of time before you’ll get to play your favorite class in the gender you want.
Pax Dei
Early Access for social sandbox MMO Pax Dei is in full swing as of June 18th, 2024. Mainframe Industries has cleared their first hurdle in releasing the game into Early Access after several beta tests. That isn’t to say that the game is without its problems, as the team has been dealing with regular launch issues such as server crashes, rubber-banding and log in problems.
The team is working hard to get these issues fixed as they push towards a full release state, currently estimated to be around June of 2025. With mixed review scores on Steam, Mainframe Industries has no delusion that their game needs work, recently admitting that the combat system, skill progression, and UI all need work and are in their crosshairs to be fixed soon as Early Access continues. Still, this fantasy social community builder might be just the right kind of MMO for you and a few friends if you’re really into building settlements. If you’re on the fence due to its 40 dollar price tag, feel free to await our full review headed your way soon.
Piffsy
Piffsy is a social MMO by VirtualX technologies that released onto Steam June 14th, 2024. The free-to-play game can also be played directly on their website, where you’ll experience a full 3D open world, daily quests, thousands of avatar customization, mounts, and several minigames.
The game is closer to a cozy MMO like Palia, where you’ll spend a lot of time building out your real estate, adventuring throughout the open world while completing fetch quests, and taking on some fun mini-games like football (soccer) when you’re not hanging out in a lounge or dance club with other players. As an indie game, you should expect a few bugs here and there. Despite the game being listed as a full release, it is still a work in progress.
Ding Dong Dang
The wacky world of Ding Dong Dang is now available on Steam in Early Access. As a casual MMO, Ding Dong Dang brings a ton of fun little minigames to a large-scale multiplayer setting, where you’ll explore three different islands with friends and play with or against them in races, treasure hunting, puzzles and sports.
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The free-to-play game by Brilliant Sense Technology Limited is actually a cross-platform game based on a manga series Crayon Shin-chan, but if you’re not interested in playing on PC, you can download the game on your preferred mobile device. Originally launched on mobile by 9You Group, the game has found some modest popularity with over 500K downloads. If you want something a little more light-hearted, or you’re a fan of Crayon Shin-chan you might want to see what Ding Dong Dang is all about.
Rebellion Against Rebellion
Rebellion Against Rebellion is another Indie title that released on Steam on June 20th, 2024. Built by Hungarian development studio Rebellion Game Kft, this fantasy MMORPG is definitely a little rough around the edges. You wouldn’t guess that to be the case at the price point of 33.74 (and that’s the discounted price).
The magical world of Rebellion Against Rebellion has quests, a story, pets and a dice poker game. You’ll also be able to face off against players in PvP, when you aren’t battling alongside your guild in dungeons to acquire magical crystals. Probably the most unique piece of the game is the ability to assume the form of your defeated foes. While that hook will be enough to entice players to keep playing long-term, I’m not quite sure, but if the feature sounds interesting to you, I’d still consider only adding this to a wishlist and awaiting another price drop before giving this a shot.
Coreborn
Open world survival game Coreborn has finally released as of June 19th, 2024. Originally slated as more of an MMO – hence our coverage – the team has pared it down a bit, but it is still has plenty of multiplayer survival goodness for those wanting to group up with friends and build out their own town in Tormentosia.
Developer Blankhans released their latest update, the Liquid Meadows expansion, alongside launch, so there are so many additions to the game such as new creatures, new building sets, a combat rework and tons of optimizations. The team has worked hard to come this far, so if you tried the game before in a beta or during Early Access, now would be a great time to return and check it out. Currently there’s a special promotion going on until the 27th where you can get the game for less than 10 dollars on Steam.
Swords & Crystals
Rounding out our list today is a top-down MMORPG called Swords & Crystals by solo developer Job Timmermans. The Dutch developer has released his fantasy game on Steam on June 22nd, 2024, and it’s part of a phased rollout that he has written in detail on the official website. Currently the game is in Phase 1, which means that there is a low-level cap of 55, a single EU server, and only one boss.
The later phases of development are being held hostage while the game raises funds to continue development. Phase 2 will start “3 weeks after” the 2000 Euro milestone has funded. Each phase is locked behind a funding threshold, and unfortunately the team has only raised 570 Euros so far. In its current state, Timmermans believes there’s enough content there to keep fantasy MMORPG fans busy for a while with questing, puzzles and achievements at the forefront of what the game has to offer. You can play the game for free on Steam, and contribute to further development by purchasing a multitude of in-game bonuses, such as gold bars and pets – if you so choose.
