World-building game Landmark made the transition from alpha testing phase to closed beta today, developer Sony Online Entertainment announced, revealing that the game will now be known as just Landmark.
Director of development Dave Georgeson explained the name change from EverQuest Next Landmark to Landmark was to differentiate the title from fantasy game EverQuest Next.
"To a lot of people, having EverQuest in the name immediately implies a fantasy game," Georgeson wrote. "Landmark is anything you can imagine. Removing EverQuest Next seemed the best. This doesn't change anything we've said about Landmark or EverQuest Next. All the details of the games are still the same. We're still using Landmark to build EverQuest Next — and we'll still have areas dedicated to EQN."
Landmark entered the alpha stage in January, allowing players who bought a Founder's Pack at the Explorer or Trailblazer level to participate. The closed beta will be similar to the alpha, according to director of development Dave Georgeson, but it will run for a longer period of time and will introduce major features.
Throughout the closed beta, the developer will add combat, introducing damage, death and risk. The crafting overhaul, Player Studio, caves, water (both static and dynamic), loot and SOEMote will also be included. The phase will also see the addition of a journal to track progression, achievements, collections, an improved map, salvaging, guilds, ley lines, player-versus-player and more.
"Alpha was an extraordinary time where the players blew us away with their creations at every turn," Georgeson said in the open letter. "Time and time again, players are discovering and building things with our tools in ways that we didn't even know were possible ... we simply cannot wait to see how Landmark evolves with the start of Closed Beta."
Those interested in participating in the closed beta are invited to register via the official Landmark website. To learn more about the new phase in the game's development, watch the video above where senior producer Terry Michaels shares beta information and what's in store for Landmark.
Sony Online Entertainment is gradually phasing microtransactions into Landmark during its testing phases, and is making tweaks to the monetization model based on player feedback. You can find out more about the game's crafting system, the landmark claims system and its advanced building tools through our previous coverage.