Chronicles of Elyria's standalone sim Kingdoms of Elyria was supposed to launch its first alpha by the end of May. However, it wasn't released to backers as the month came and went.
If you need a refresher, Kingdoms of Elyria is a stand-alone management sim which according to Soulbound Studios, the developers behind CoE, plays a huge role in the development of the larger MMO. Announced earlier this year, the team has said that the first alpha, which is being released to all backers of Chronicles of Elyria as part of their pledge, was going to be released by the end of May. Earlier last month this was reiterated in both a blog post on the site, as well as in an update on the MMORPG's Kickstarter.
However, the targeted release was missed. We reached out to Soulbound Studios to find out what happened to the alpha release and why the May window was missed. A Soulbound Studios representative replied with the following statement:
"A new Inside Chronicles of Elyria episode is set to go live next week providing far more details on the Alpha and the process for joining. While the Alpha was delayed, it should be available within the next few days to backers. The primary reason was in part ensuring it's as bug-free as possible, while also testing launcher stability. We should have a firmer date on the test by the end of the week."
As far as why the studio went silent and didn't communicate this effectively to backers, we followed up on the statement. In response to our follow-up, our SBS Representative sent the following:
"In our Milestone 1 Restrospective we detailed how we were originally targeting the end of May for the first Alpha test, however, the team encountered several launcher issues that prevented that from happening. Part of the reason for our recent radio silence was to place all our time and effort into getting the Alpha test as bug free as possible, while implementing a clean installer, launcher, updates to our authentication services and an in-game feedback form. As a small team, taking time out to write, record and edit our Inside Chronicles of Elyria series (while juggling social media) is time consuming, and we wanted to utilise that time on development. Fundamentally, we wanted to ensure that the early Alpha experience was as accessible and as bug-free as possible before inviting players. Our next episode of Inside Chronicles of Elyria (which we're aiming to release next week) will provide lengthier details on the Alpha invite process, and a firmer timescale. In the meantime, an update has already been scheduled for our community for later this week. "
Kingdoms of Elyria is a stand-alone management sim that acts as a way for the team to work on the settlement mechanics that will make it into Chronicles of Elyria, as the former's design decisions will be fed directly into the development of Chronicles of Elyria proper.
Chronicles of Elyria has been a lightning rod since last year when the development team announced it was canceling the project. While that was walked back a few weeks later by Soulbound Studios' Jeromy Walsh, it hasn't stopped backers from seeking refunds in a lawsuit since then.