Embers of Caerus
Embers of Caerus was an ambitious sandbox medieval fantasy MMORPG in development by the small studio Forsaken Studios, promising a single massive persistent server where players could genuinely shape the world: crafting weapons, armor, and homes, but also building ships, establishing local and national laws, setting taxes, and founding entire nations, all set in a world recovering from a magical apocalypse. The project raised $46,050 on Kickstarter in 2013 (well above its $25,000 goal) to help fund a license for Havok's Vision Engine, but development stalled through 2013 with dwindling communication; in February 2014 the game's website and forums went offline entirely, and by March 2014 the team publicly confirmed their web host had 'nuked' the site over an unpaid hosting agreement dispute, taking irretrievable game and community data down with it. The project was never revived and never reached any public release.
Platform availability
Highlighted platforms are confirmed in MMOFinder’s current profile. Dimmed platforms have no confirmed listing.
- Status
- Cancelled; collapsed 2014, never released
- Business model
- N/A — never released
- Genre
- Fantasy Sandbox MMORPG
- Platforms
- Windows
- Developer
- Forsaken Studios
- Publisher
- Forsaken Studios
- Profile
- Researched
MMO DNA
A visual fingerprint built from MMOFinder’s current verified catalog fields—not a review score.
PvE is recorded; PvP is not recorded
Solo and group balance is not verified
Sandbox or open-world signals are recorded
Combat style is not precise enough to place
Why you might like it
- A genuinely ambitious sandbox vision, letting players create not just items but ships, laws, taxes and entire player-founded nations on one massive persistent server, represented an unusually deep take on player-driven world-building even by ambitious indie MMO standards.
- Successfully crowdfunding $46,050 (well over its $25,000 Kickstarter goal) showed real grassroots community enthusiasm for the concept, even though the project ultimately could not deliver on that promise.
- The magical-apocalypse setting, blending traditional medieval fantasy with the aftermath of a world-altering magical catastrophe, gave the pitch a distinctive narrative hook compared with more generic sandbox fantasy premises.
Things to consider
- The project collapsed entirely in 2014 when the developer's unpaid hosting dispute led the host to take the website, forums, and irretrievable game/community data offline, and the game never reached any public release, so there is nothing to actually play.
- Kickstarter backers were left in the dark for an extended period as communication dwindled through 2013 before the final collapse, a pattern Massively Overpowered and other outlets specifically cited as a cautionary example of crowdfunding risk for ambitious indie MMOs.
- As with many small-studio sandbox MMORPGs promising an extremely broad feature set (crafting, ships, politics, taxation, and more) on limited funding, the scope likely exceeded what Forsaken Studios' small team could realistically deliver even absent the hosting collapse.
Research record
- Last checked
- 2026-08-25
- Profile depth
- Full — individually researched
- Source note
- Engadget's 2014 coverage of the hosting collapse and Cliqist's detailed retrospective on the Kickstarter campaign's outcome
What MMOFinder has checked
- Gameplay featuresStructured gameplay fields were source-checked for this profile.Verified
- Gameplay mediaNo reliable gameplay screenshot is currently available.Unavailable
- Source trailA research source note is recorded, but no direct source URL is currently linked.Partial
- Last reviewedCatalog fields reviewed Aug 25, 2026.Verified
Coverage measures documentation completeness—not game quality, popularity or an endorsement.
How verification worksGame details can change. MMOFinder separates verified catalog fields from information that has not yet been confirmed.
Embers of Caerus relationship map
Follow verified catalog signals to another world.
Connections use current MMOFinder catalog fields—not review scores or paid placement.
Embers of Caerus timeline
A concise timeline built only from dates and lifecycle fields recorded in MMOFinder.
- —Released
MMOFinder records Embers of Caerus as released in —.
- CurrentCatalog status
Cancelled; collapsed 2014, never released
- 2026-08-25Research checked
Core catalog fields were reviewed for this profile.
Embers of Caerus screenshots & gameplay
Phase 4 final media decision: needs manual review. Research did not establish a direct source-confirmed asset strongly enough for safe insertion.
Source: YouTube gameplay video
Gameplay, availability and research notes
Embers of Caerus is recorded as Fantasy sandbox MMORPG. Embers of Caerus was an ambitious sandbox medieval fantasy MMORPG in development by the small studio Forsaken Studios, promising a single massive persistent server where players could genuinely shape the world: crafting weapons, armor, and homes, but also building ships, establishing local and national laws, setting taxes, and founding entire nations, all set in a world recovering from a magical apocalypse. The project raised $46,050 on Kickstarter in 2013 (well above its $25,000 goal) to help fund a license for Havok's Vision Engine, but development stalled through 2013 with dwindling communication; in February 2014 the game's website and forums went offline entirely, and by March 2014 the team publicly confirmed their web host had 'nuked' the site over an unpaid hosting agreement dispute, taking irretrievable game and community data down with it. The project was never revived and never reached any public release.
The lifecycle record is Cancelled; collapsed 2014, never released, with verified platforms of Windows. MMOFinder lists Forsaken Studios as developer and Forsaken Studios as publisher.
The guidance and platform availability above were checked on August 25, 2026 against the linked sources. Continue through Similar Games, filter the MMO database, or compare profiles side by side.
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