Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Setting: Fantasy / MMORPG | Developer: Visionary Realms | Platform: PC | Status: Release on December 13, 2024 (Early Access) | Year of Campaign: 2014 | Funding via Kickstarter: $460,657 | Backers: 3,157
Also behind this Kickstarter MMORPG was an industry veteran. Brad McQuaid was a key figure in the development of Everquest and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen was intended to be a spiritual successor to these two classics, with a strong focus on old-school PvE challenges.
However, the development of the MMORPG progressed slowly, and in November 2019 there was the terrible news that Brad McQuaid had passed away at only 51 years old. However, the team at Visionary Realms did not give up, persevered, and after 8 years of development and various setbacks, was finally able to celebrate the Early Access launch on Steam.
The “celebration” applies in a double sense. The launch went “very positively”. Many players were pleased with the old-school gaming experience. Through the paid access to the EA version, the team was able to sell nearly 100,000 units in just under 2 months.
It should be noted that while Pantheon has potential and captures the experience of classic MMORPGs wonderfully, there are also many issues that the team still needs to address.
Instead of doing just that, the developers unexpectedly announced PvP servers in March 2025, which did not sit well with the community. Neither could the 2025 roadmap prevent the Steam rating from gradually declining. In the meantime, the team merged 18 PvE worlds into 2 and released a fresh-start server.
Whether the game can turn around and harness its potential before the final release, which is expected to be in about 2 years, remains to be seen. Recently, there was at least one heartwarming story from the world of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen: The developers of a new PvE MMORPG dedicate a monument in the game to their deceased boss
