The 7 most promising MMOs and MMORPGs in 2017

Crowfall – And now for something completely different

What is Crowfall? The developers once described Crowfall as “EVE Online meets Game of Thrones.” An MMORPG with strategic elements, where players battle for dominance in a dying world in “campaigns.” After one, three, or six months, the respective campaign ends, the world has perished, and the maps are reshuffled. The player takes on the role of a vessel, a “Vessel.”

Crowfall – little money, many ideas

Best Case: In the best case, Crowfall is an experience that can bring new facets to the MMORPG genre. In many games, the initial phase when everything is new is exciting. But after a while, you know who will win and the gameplay stagnates. Crowfall wants to circumvent exactly that.

http://youtu.be/7rQlL_aGJXg

Worst Case: In the worst case, Crowfall will fizzle out – bouncing off the surface of a larger player base. They often demand innovation, but they may not be very welcoming. Many great ideas, but people may say that the game was simply not good.

How has the development gone so far? Crowfall itself says we are a “micro-budget MMORPG.” In between, Crowfall had a media appearance when they wanted to raise crowdfunding money. During that time, a larger player base took a quick look at the game, but most have long since forgotten.

Otherwise, there are good ideas and concepts, a lot of artwork – but it is still hard to really envision Crowfall at the moment. You probably have to play it to understand it.

Crowfall will probably have to be played to be understood

Is a release of Crowfall in 2017 still realistic? At least that is the plan. It will likely be towards the end of 2017. There would still have to be beta versions running; it should be playable in 2017, and we will get an impression of how Crowfall feels. At the moment, we have a lot of paper, concepts for the game – the alignment with reality is still pending.

Mein MMO says: Successful industry veterans have made enough money for the companies in their later years and want to give their own vision of an MMORPG one last shot. That is the underlying mood behind Crowfall. A small fanbase has formed around the game, who know much more about it than everyone else.

Though the “we have so little money” image is not quite accurate. They have about 10 million US dollars – which is little for a “typical mainstream MMO” or when compared to gigantic projects from the past like SWTOR, but for a purely niche game, that is quite decent.

Hopefully, enough players will also be interested in Crowfall when it eventually arrives.

Update June 2017: Crowfall now has a new look and has adjusted its aesthetics.

More about the motivation behind Crowfall can be read here: Crowfall: Coleman hunts the white whale, wants to finally do justice to Shadowbane