Betawatch: December 17 - 23, 2011

You wouldn't think that the week of Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch would be the ideal time to announce a game beta, but apparently several games wanted to get the word out before holiday vacations got underway all the same. Both DUST 514 and PlanetSide 2 began accepting closed beta applications this week, although the former is open only to EVE Online subscribers to start with. DragonSoul, currently in open beta, has announced it will be launching in early 2012, while Dominus pushed its December closed beta off until the new year for optimization reasons. Finally, Dawntide has moved from our open beta list to our closed beta list as its servers have gone offline for the next few months while the team focuses on a game-wide revamp.

Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup past the cut.


MMOs that are in open beta -- sometimes permanently, if you take our meaning:

• Aika (gPotato): Announcement, Signup
• CardMon Hero (Redbana): Announcement, Signup
• Castlot (ClapAlong): Announcement, Signup
• DragonSoul (Neonga AG): Announcement, Signup
• Drakensang Online (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• Dungeon Blitz (Blue Mammoth): Announcement, Signup
• Glitch (Tiny Speck): Announcement, Signup
• Hellgate Global (T3Fun): Announcement, Signup
• Hunter Blade (Beeboomonline): Announcement, Signup
• Immortal King (Game 321): Announcement, Signup
• Iris Online (gPotato): Announcement, Signup
• Kingdom Heroes (Aeria Games): Announcement, Signup
• KULTAN: The World Beyond (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• Picaroon (Nice Technology): Announcement, Signup
• Planet War (YooGames): Announcement, Signup
• Remnant Knights (GameSamba): Announcement, Signup
• Rusty Hearts (PWE): Announcement, Signup
• Scarlet Legacy (GamesCampus): Announcement, Signup
• Star Supremacy (Barbily Games): Announcement, Signup
• Tribal Trouble 2 (GameSamba): Announcement, Signup
• Wakfu EU (Ankama): Announcement, Signup
• War of Angels (Gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• WindSlayer 2 (Ignited Games): Announcement, Signup
• Zentia (ChangYou): Announcement, Signup

MMOs that are deep in closed beta and cloaked in some semblance of secrecy:

• Age of Wulin (gPotato): Announcement, Signup
• ArcheAge (XLGAMES): Announcement (Korean signups only)
• ArchlordX: The Chronicles (Webzen): Announcement, Signup
• Blacklight Retribution (Perfect World): Announcement, Signup
• Bounty Hounds Online (Wicked Interactive): Announcement, Signup
• Dark Eden (Ignited Games): Announcement, Signup
• Dawntide (Working as Intended): Announcement, Signup
• Diablo III (Blizzard): Announcement, Signup
• Dominus (Pitchblack): Announcement, Signup
• DUST 514 (CCP Games): Announcement, Signup
• Elements of War (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• Eligium (Frogster): Announcement, Signup
• End of Nations (Trion): Announcement, Signup
• Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet): Announcement (no signups)
• Jagged Alliance (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• Lime Odyssey (Aeria Games): Announcement, Signup
• Living After War (Alaplaya): Announcement, Signup
• Mythos Global (Redbana): Announcement, Signup
• PlanetSide 2 (SOE): Announcement, Signup
• TERA (En Masse Entertainment): Announcement, Signup
• The Mummy Online (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• The Secret World (Funcom): Announcement, Signup, Launching 4/2011
• UFO Online (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• Wakfu NA (Ankama): Announcement, Signup
• World of Planes (Gaijin): Announcement, Signup

Betawatch is Massively's weekly report on the latest MMO alphas, betas, and games still meandering toward an official launch. From SWTOR to Toenail Clippings Online, 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!