Earlier this year, a brand new MMORPG started making waves with World of Warcraft fans with its Open Beta test. During the free open beta, gamers compared Fellowship to the Mythic Dungeons in WoW, offering a new way for players to enjoy the dungeon crawl. Now, the game has officially launched into Early Access on Steam, letting everyone check out this MMORPG for themselves. Provided they can get in, of course.
Fellowship‘s Early Access began at around noon EDT on October 16th, and the game almost immediately hit the Trending Games chart on Steam DB. Clearly, fans are hungry for a new MMORPG to really sink into. And Fellowship may be the debut game from Chief Rebel, but the team comes with some pretty impressive bona fides. Chief Rebel is comprised of developers who’ve worked on some big ARPGs and MMOs, including World of Warcraft and Diablo IV. That experience combines to create a game that’s full of epic dungeon crawls, minus the fluff. And clearly, fans were eager to see what Fellowship has to offer.
When I checked in on Fellowship just 30 minutes after it went live in Early Access, there were already over 15,000 players checking it out on Steam. Given that the game’s Early Access isn’t free like many players might expect from an MMO, that’s pretty impressive for a weekday. Fellowship costs $24.99 to check out in Early Access, though there’s an introductory offer that marks it down to $22.49 through October 23rd. So, jumping in is an investment, but if you like Dungeon Crawls, it may well be worth it. To get a sense of what Fellowship is like, you can check out the Early Access launch trailer below:
Since it launched into Early Access, Fellowship‘s player peak just keeps growing, topping off at over 20,000 players. That’s exciting news for a game like this, which works best with an active player base due to its multiplayer-facing dungeon run format. But it does come with a downside.
As often happens right after a game goes live, Fellowship is navigating some server challenges. This has led to an influx of negative early reviews from players struggling to access the game, leaving Fellowship with a Mixed review average. While server struggles are definitely frustrating, most negative reviews so far mention not being able to get in and not much else. For those who have been able to play Fellowship during the initial influx of players overwhelming the servers, things look pretty good so far.
“If World of Warcraft was a cinnamon roll, Fellowship would be the gooey center,” says one Steam reviewer. Much like those who played during the Open Beta, many reviewers say this game feels like WoW’s Mythic Dungeons. In other words, it offers players a way to jump right in and start the dungeon crawl, without the grind. Given that the game is just now entering Early Access, the developers have plans to keep working on making the game better. That will likely include fixes to help with the rocky servers at launch, along with new content and features.
Fellowship is available for PC via Steam in Early Access. Chief Rebel plans to launch the game in 1.0 next year, after making further changes in response to Early Access player feedback.
Have you played Fellowship yet? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
The post New Game from Former WoW & Diablo Devs Launches in Early Access (& Fans Instantly Broke the Servers) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
