Clockwork Labs has announced Bitcraft, which is described as both a community sandbox MMORPG and a "new kind of MMORPG", has just been announced. In it, players will be able to build, hunt, craft, and survive in a strange new world. Basically, players will apparently be able to build a civilization together in the wilderness while farming, trading, crafting, exploring, and empowering themselves and others. Cities and empires can also apparently be built, which is a big claim but hey, MMORPG's have always been about promising the moon and then some.
Bitcraft is part of an MMO renaissance that's occurred over the past two years. With WoW imploding, we've got other MMORPG's like community MMO Palia raising $30 million, the Action MMO Lost Ark coming to North America sooner or later, and even games like Valheim receiving MMO-sized servers as a modding project. Everyone wants a slice of the pie nowadays, and it doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon. That's not even mentioning New World, which is probably the biggest new MMO release in the last five years at least.
What's Bitcraft all about?
It's one of those 'do whatever you want to do' type of games. I know, I know, there's a sizable portion of MMORPG players that turned around (like myself) and started running to the hills. You should keep reading, though, if only to boost TechRaptor's metrics. We're all friends here, right? Right?! Well, even if you're not, check this trailer out before we start back up:
Surprisingly, Bitcraft isn't a voxel game. I know, shocker. What's also not shocking is the fact that it has freeform character progression where players can progress whichever skills they like, ala Runescape. Crafting, building, and farming are just a few of the skills you'll be able to cultivate, and you'll also be able to become active in society and contribute to the growth of cities, empires, and the infrastructure required for both.
As for the story, players will awaken as mystical beings in the middle of an untamed wilderness. While at first, it'll be a struggle to survive, players can eventually work together and build a new civilization. However, players will also discover that they're not the first civilization in this world, with ruins, artifacts, and even other travelers will be discovered and encountered.
Interestingly, there's a lot of investors/advisors for Bitcraft that players may know. These are Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games (Eve Online), Aðalsteinn "Alli" Óttarsson, Former Sr. Development Director at Riot Games (League of Legends), and Ian Livingstone, Cofounder of Games Workshop (Warhammer) and Eidos (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). There's also David Helgason, Founder of Unity, Ed Fries, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft, and Chris Lee, Several-time game studio founder and active games industry investor. That's a pretty decent list of people with some star power behind it.
If you'd like to check out Bitcraft, be sure to go to its main website. For more information on Bitcraft, stay tuned to TechRaptor.
