Crowfall is a seamless blend of an MMO with a large-scale Strategy game, where players control the universe, to shape as they see fit. Characters are persistent, but the campaign worlds are not. players are Immortal Champions, traveling between realms to fight in an eternal War of the Gods.

Each Campaign World is a server or "realm".  It exists for a limited time – typically 1 to 3 months -- or until some win condition is met. During this time, the World will change.  Each Campaign has four stages: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. With each passing season, the World grows more deadly as the land is consumed by an unstoppable legion of undead -- The Hunger.

At the end of Winter, the Campaign is over. A victor is declared, the map is wiped and that World goes offline forever...  ...but the characters are NEVER wiped.  Instead, the participants take their winnings back home to the Eternal Kingdoms, to prepare and strategize for the next Campaign.

Invitations are being sent out to the first wave of beta testers. Successive waves of beta testers (sign up here) will be invited over the coming weeks and months.

“At the beginning of this project, we set out to make something really different,” explained ArtCraft co-founder and creative director J. Todd Coleman. “Virtual worlds have grown stale. They call them ‘theme park’ worlds for that reason; they are specifically designed to be unaffected by the decisions and actions of the players. We intend to change that, to offer a world where the players control the fate of this world. Beta is a critical step in our path to seeing that vision realized.”

Early Beta groups will be invited starting today and the process continues in sequence with increasingly larger groups invited over time. ArtCraft has added a convenient notification to ensure players do not miss this highly anticipated invitation; registered players will see a green button appear on top of the website with the words “You’re Invited!”, when their Beta group opens. Players interested in joining the battle in the free closed beta should register now at here, if they haven’t already done so.

As a reminder, all backers have immediate (and permanent) access to all phases of testing. Any Backer Pack (available at the official website) grants immediate entry to play now.

“I am proud of the effort that our team put forward to reach this point,” added Gordon Walton, co-founder and president. “It is exciting to be part of a group that is willing to take risks and push for real innovation.”

This week Crowfall released its latest game update (5.125), the Calling, which adds new layers of strategy to a game known for Guild vs. Guild conflict. With significant frame rate optimizations and a host of activities to engage in (such as castle building, merchant caravans, city sieging and divine sacrifice to earn the favor of the gods), Crowfall expands on the Alpha release that was launched successfully in May of this year.

Additionally, this update extends the new player experience, giving incoming players an opportunity to learn the many diverse, interrelated systems that tie together Crowfall’s player-driven economy, territorial and social systems.

This version also marks the launch of the first cross-continent campaign server, allowing players in North America and Europe to play together to form strong alliances and bitter rivalries as they vie for domination of the virtual world. With a shortage of strongholds and a constant need for supplies, guilds will have to use every trick in the book to gain a foothold on this map, and with players connecting around the globe, you can expect to find action at any time of the day or night!

The Worlds are made of voxels (like Minecraft, only much less blocky) – which means the entire World is destructible. Crowfall's campaign maps are procedurally generated -- meaning that the process of creating every mountain, forest, river, castle and abandoned village is automated.  Each World is different, which means that the game of territorial conquest will be different in every Campaign.

The beginning of each Campaign is like the first round of Civilization: players are dropped into a harsh environment, surrounded by Fog-of-War. The Worlds are filled with deadly monsters, haunted ruins, abandoned quarries... and the most dangerous predator of all, other players. Craft weapons, scavenge armor, secure a stronghold, forge alliances and conquer the World.

There are two types of Worlds in the Crowfall universe: the Campaign Worlds, which produce materials (stone, iron and wood) and the Eternal Kingdoms, which are barren of resources -- but last forever. If each Campaign is like a soccer match, the Eternal Kingdoms encompass the entire season!  Unlike the Campaigns, these Worlds are permanent -- and they are completely managed and owned by the players.

Players act as rulers -- they can divide up their domains into provinces and grant those lands to other players.  Benevolent monarch or iron-fisted tyrant, what kind of kingdom will you rule?

The Eternal Kingdom can be massive -- with mountains and rivers, castles and villages, dungeons and ruins.  They are also devoid of resources: stone, iron and wood.  To gain the resources necessary to build structures and craft items, players will have to participate in Campaigns... or treat with those who do.

Crowfall is currently in Beta testing and open to early access backers.