- Fan-made and dev-approved Glitch remake Eleven expanded its alpha.
- Black Desert's beta nabbed a new tamer class and banned exploiters.
- Xsyon, no stranger to MMO fans who've, er, already been playing it for several years, entered early access on Steam.
- Divergence Online's alpha is live. [Thanks, Jon!]
- Gloria Victis' donor alpha promised a new US shard, a crafting revamp, and weather system tweaks.
- MMO-ish shooter Survarium kicked off the new year with open beta in the EU.
- Nova Genesis' open beta began this morning.
- Keep an eye on Identity, Maestros of the Anthymn, Crowfall, and Revival, all of which are or will soon be in a pre-testing crowdfunding and/or hype phase.
- Finally, our own Justin Olivetti debated the ups and downs of early access testing.
Massively considers an MMO to be in open testing if it has free and public signups as well as plans for a server wipe before its official launch. We consider an MMO to be in closed testing if it features either future test signups or an ongoing private test phase that cannot immediately and freely be accessed by the general public. Some are restricted by NDAs. We will include early access and crowdfunded MMOs whose tests we deem legitimate. Self-described "open beta" MMOs that have soft-launched with functioning real-money cash shops, have lingered in development stasis an excessive length of time, have no chance of launching in the west, or have limited interest for our readership will not be listed. We realize this is confusing, but the old alpha/beta/launch paradigm is long since over.
Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive): Announcement, Signup (alpha; winter alpha begins Jan 26)
Auto Club Revolution (Eutechnyx): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
Beasts of Prey (Octagon): Announcement, Early Access (early access alpha)
Black Desert (Pearl Abyss): Announcement (Korean open beta)
Cabal II (ESTsoft): Announcement, Signup (closed beta)
Camelot Unchained (CSE): Announcement (backer pre-alpha)
Das Tal (Fairytale Distillery): Announcement, Signup (alpha)
DayZ (Bohemia Interactive): Announcement, Signup (early access)
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama): Announcement, Signup (alpha)
Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople): Announcement, Signup (closed test reopens March 2015)
Earthrise: First Impact (SilentFuture): Announcement, Signup (alpha but still alive)
Echo of Soul (Aeria): Announcement, Signup
Eleven (Eleven Giants): Announcement (closed alpha)
Gloria Victis (Black Eye): Announcement (donor alpha)
H1Z1 (SOE): Announcement (early access Jan 15)
Heroes of the Storm (Blizzard): Announcement, Signup (closed testing "technical alpha," cash shop active)
HEX (HEX Entertainment): Announcement, Signup (unofficial open beta)
Kingdom Online (NTT Game): Announcement (closed beta)
Landmark (SOE): Announcement, Signup (paid closed beta, cash shop active)
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 (in the midst of a do-over)
Otherland (Drago): Announcement, Signup (taking signups)
Pathfinder Online (Goblinworks): Announcement (paid early enrollment open now)
PlanetSide 2 (SOE): Announcement (PS4 beta begins January 20)
Project Gorgon (Project Gorgon): Signup (free, open testing)
Shadowrun Online (Cliffhanger): Announcement (Steam early access)
Shards Online (Citadel Studios): Announcement (pre-alpha)
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium): Announcement (Steam early access)
Skyforge (Obsidian): Announcement, Signup (technical beta weekends)
SkySaga (Radiant Worlds): Announcement, Signup (UK closed alpha)
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium): Announcement (backer pre-alpha dogfighting module)
The Repopulation (Above and Beyond): Announcement, Signup
Tribal Wars 2 (Innogames): Announcement, Signup (open testing)
TUG (Nerd Kingdom): Announcement, Signup (Steam early access)
Valiance Online (SilverHelm): Announcement (alpha stress testing)
Venus Rising (FoxySoft): Announcement (in internal alpha; adult MMO/NSFW)
Betawatch is Massively's weekly report on the latest MMO alphas, betas, and other games still meandering toward an official launch. From Albion to Valiance, 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
