Camelot Unchained, the MMO that raised more than $2.2M on Kickstarter in 2013, actually has a release target

Remember Camelot Unchained? A spiritual successor to the old Dark Age of Camelot MMO, it raised more than $2.2 million in a just-barely-successful 2013 Kickstarter campaign, but then fell way behind schedule through alpha and beta testing, and then basically fell off the map entirely. The last we heard of it was in 2020, when developer City State Entertainment managed to irritate backers by announcing plans for a new, entirely separate online game before the one they were supposed to be making was anywhere near complete.

But now it seems that things are finally starting to come together. In a press release (via MassivelyOP), the studio—now known as Unchained Entertainment—said that second online game, Final Stand: Ragnarok, is now going to be its first, as it's set to launch into early access (more on this later) in March, while Camelot Unchained is expected to finally arrive sometime in late 2025.

The focus of the press release is actually on the Unchained Engine, which Unchained president and CEO Mark Jacobs said is «a dream I’ve been obsessing over for more than 30 years.»

«Our engine delivers massive battles similar to those seen in major Hollywood productions like Lord of the Rings, to videogames where thousands of real players interact and share an epic experience in real time,» Jacobs said. «We’re excited to launch our own games, and to share our technology with fellow dreamers in the not too-distant future.»

Unchained and its associated games have «picked up speed» thanks to investment from sources including A16Z Games, a venture capital firm co-founded by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. With the infusion of an unspecified amount of cash, Unchained Entertainment «is ramping up its financing, hiring and publishing efforts for the launches of Unchained Engine, Final Stand: Ragnarok, and the long-awaited open-world MMORPG Camelot Unchained.»

It's interesting that Unchained seems to have Unreal-style aspirations for its game engine. The field is already