As we approach the end of the calendar year, game developers often want to get something to their players before Christmas, but also not release right before half the staff leaves on holidays. And so we have a few new alphas and betas from the play and earn gaming scene to look forward to in early to mid December!
December brings new alpha or beta releases from Mist, Colonize Mars, and War Park, just to name a few.
But not everything is rosy in the web3 gaming world. Splinterlands was just recently forced to lay off 45% of their staff. And Star Atlas, suddenly finding half of their funding locked away, announces four different sales, some of which feel like a desperate attempt to acquire additional funding!
Mist Pre-Alpha
Players have been waiting a while for Mist to open up their next game preview. And, at long last, news of a pre-alpha arrives. But, alas, this pre-alpha is only open to those with a heavy investment in Mist — requiring ownership of either a Tier 3+ NFT, or 100 thousand MIST tokens. Everyone else will have to wait for a later alpha or beta to try out this fantasy RPG.
Colonize Mars Closed Beta
Colonize Mars is ready to test and preview their colony development game. This closed beta test will feature construction, resource management, and community decision making as the players try to make a life for themselves on the cold, red planet!
War Park Community Playtest
War Park, a historical, tank-based MOBA style game brings us their first ever community playtest. Though this version is expected to be a bit rough and potentially buggy, the War Park team promises some fun gameplay. And with the game featuring tanks shooting up a destructible environment, I think they have a good foundation to start from!
Champions Ascension
Champions Ascension keeps appearing in these articles because they keep releasing new content! Their game previews, known as a Slice of Massina, are open for only a few hours a time, but occur several times a week at different times to allow for players from around the world to participate. Champions Ascension now includes four different mini-games, and an early version of their arena combat game!
Players can earn tickets from participating in any of the games. Use those tickets to buy Mystery Boxes with random items inside.
Star Atlas Sales
I have Star Atlas on this list not because of any upcoming alpha or beta, but because of their newly announced sales. Star Atlas lost access to approximately half of their development funds with the closure of FTX. And while there is hope that some of those funds may be returned, that likely won’t happen anytime soon. And so, Star Atlas announced not one, not two, but four upcoming sales. The biggest one (and currently active) is a ship sale that includes three Titan class ships, each one priced at $1 million dollars! And actually, they cost more now, as one week has passed and nobody purchased one. Which feels like a backwards pricing plan. If you couldn’t find a purchaser at 1 million, raising the price to 1.5 million doesn’t seem like the way to attract buyers.
