SpiritVale aims to revive the virtues of classic MMORPGs on Steam and is currently raising funds from interested genre fans. The plan is working; the minimum goal has already been met after 24 hours.
Where does the campaign currently stand? The crowdfunding campaign for SpiritVale started just about two days ago, and it took less than 24 hours for interested supporters to break the minimum target of 46,058 euros. With 28 days remaining, the counter currently stands at (June 4, 2026 – 9:459 AM) 80,353 euros. Currently, 1,162 genre fans are supporting the project.
The special thing about the project: There is already a playable foundation from SpiritVale. You can currently participate in a playtest on Steam. Early access is expected in Q3 2026. With the minimum goal, the responsible developer behind Baikun Interactive wanted to secure the remaining funding. Every additional euro is meant to further advance and expand the MMORPG.
A Modern Ragnarok Online
What kind of MMORPG is SpiritVale? The developer behind SpiritVale misses the old player experience of great MMORPG classics like Ragnarok Online. With his project, he aims to bring the gameplay freedom and some of the strengths of these genre milestones into the present, with an action-packed combat system and a slightly more modern look.
The core features of SpiritVale are as follows:
- The world consists of 30+ regions with different biomes, 230+ monster types, and 20+ world bosses.
- You can choose from 7 base classes: Acolyte, Mage, Summoner, Knight, Warrior, Scout, and Rogue, each bringing their own talent trees and specializations (like Priest, Wizard, Paladin, or Berserker). You define your own build using maps, artifacts, armor sets, jewels, and more.
- By defeating enemies, you earn loot in the form of weapons, armor, pets, and exclusive items. You can further customize your look with cosmetic items. You can upgrade your equipment with crafting skills.
- The game’s economy is expected to be player-driven: they determine the supply and prices.
- The focus is on PvE, but PvP fans can compete in arenas and during events.
How does the community rate the current playtest? In a current Reddit discussion, various players share their experiences with the playtest of SpiritVale:
- TheViking1991 admits: “A few weeks ago, I jumped into the playtest expecting to mock the game. Well, I’m still playing and having a lot of fun. […] It’s a great game to just unwind and grind out.”
- Proxied answers the question of whether it’s good: “If you like games where you defeat monsters and bosses, then yes. I happen to belong to the target audience that loves this playstyle. It reminds me of the grind style of MapleStory before the boom (of course at a much higher pace, lol, so… really much faster), just with a much higher skill ceiling. However, there are no quests.”
- Aggravating-Key-2794 adds: “I’ve tried it a few times and it has captivated me for a few hours every time. The game mechanics are simple, and if you enjoy the fights, you’ll have a lot of fun.”
The depressing theme of Kickstarter MMOs: Although the balance of Kickstarter MMOs has been disastrous over the past 14 years, there is currently a kind of comeback of MMOs on the crowdfunding platform. Several MMO projects have tried their luck in recent weeks and months and have actually been able to reach their minimum goal (and often much more) in the end.
However, the (expected) poor early access launch of Camelot Unchained shows that nothing has changed about the enormous risk of burning your money on an underwhelming MMO project.
In the case of SpiritVale, we can somewhat understand the support from fans. On one hand, because the project is already quite far along, the playtest seems to show a lot of potential, and the targeted early access this year seems quite likely.
On the other hand, we have long seen through colleague Benedict Grothaus how difficult it has been for fans of Ragnarok Online. While there are constantly sequels, spin-offs, and reboots, none of these attempts can even come close to the quality of the original. This was recently demonstrated again in a playtest: In an old MMORPG, I spent my childhood; now it’s back, and even the beta tears me apart
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!