Legendary MMORPG developer Marc Jacobs (Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer) has been working on his indie MMORPG Camelot Unchained for 10 years. Since 2020, the game seemed to be in deep crisis; Fans who had poured money into the MMORPG turned away from the project in disappointment. But in November 2022 there is a glimmer of hope: A new round of investments will bring fresh money into the coffers. Apparently, Jacobs is taking advantage of the hype surrounding the Metaverse.
What is this MMORPG?
4 crowdfunding MMORPGs that really flopped
MMORPG has been in trouble for 10 years, has been in deep crisis since 2020
When was the worm in there? Camelot Unchained has a grand vision but limited resources. Jacobs actually comes from AAA game development, was at Electronic Arts, but wanted to develop the new project uncompromisingly on his own.
Founded in 2010, his studio City State Entertainment is based in Fairfax, Virginia and has always had trouble hiring developers to work from there.
So development was slow. Beta tests and development milestones were repeatedly postponed.
There was a setback in 2020 when the team announced that they would decouple and launch a new game from Camleot Unchained, also to have a release experience. The team itself saw the new game as part of the development of Camelot Unchained.
But the Battle Royale Final Stand:Ragnarok rather irked fans who wished Jacobs and his team should focus fully on Camelot Unchained.
Since 2020, the mood around the MMORPG has been really bad. some former supporters of the crowdfunding MMORPG felt cheated and demanded their money back:
Players donate millions to MMORPG, get a whole different game now
New money should now accelerate the development
This is the new message now: The company was able to raise $15 million in an investment round, and that seems to have given Jacobs a new lease of life. He says:
We definitely want to take it to the next level. We solved the hardest issues like networking and rendering and it’s running fast now.
Jacobs says they’ve already started reaping the rewards of taking the team to the next level. It is reassuring that we now have the means to hire the talent we need, especially given the difficult economic situation in the world.
According to Jacobs, development is now expected to accelerate. He also underlines that Camelot Unchained will not be a “blockchain” game, he doesn’t think this technique can add anything of value to MMOs.
In addition, the team underlines the power of the engine that was developed for Camelot Unchained and can imagine licensing it later.
In view of the 10 years of development, Jacobs says quite self-critically:
We’ve been working on Camelot Unchained for ages now, but now we’re able to hire more people and speed up development.
Steam boss Newell says: Many who rave about the Metaverse have probably never played an MMO
Camelot Unchained is probably getting money because of “Metaverse” hype
Why are they getting so much money now? From the outside, it sounds like Jacobs is taking advantage of the hype among investors for the “metaverse.” A thing that nobody really knows what it is, but that investors want to pour massive amounts of money into.
Jacobs says in an interview with Venturebeat:
At the end of the day it’s an MMO, that’s what we can deliver. With the right financial backing, we absolutely could have a Metaverse. But we will be focused. And our focus is to build an engine that can deliver big battles.
After 10 years and so much broken china, one can only wish Jacobs a good hand in putting the 15 million to good use.
When we last dug deep into Camelot Unchained, it felt like visiting a scorched land:
MMOPRG Camelot Unchained has been in development for 9 years – mood is openly hostile