WoW-inspired 'MODA' Fellowship sets early access release date, and it's soon

After the big multiplayer battle arena boom passed its height around a decade ago, the avalanche of new entries to the genre slowed down a bit, leaving heavy hitters like League of Legends and Dota 2 as the only real choices remaining. But there are still studios experimenting with the design possibilities inherent to the genre, which has resulted in projects like Deadlock, Supervive, and the upcoming Fellowship. Now, the latter of these games has announced its Early Access launch date, and, despite a brief delay from its creator's original schedule, it's coming out very soon.

Fellowship caught our attention for its unique spin on the MOBA genre, which is so transformative that the studio behind it, Chief Rebel, are dubbing their project a multiplayer online dungeon adventure, or 'MODA.' The genre name comes from the ways in which Fellowship uses familiar multiplayer team synergy and tactics design as the basis for a Diablo-style dungeon running game.

Though there are competitive leaderboards that track individual skill, Fellowship emphasizes teamwork above all else. You assemble a group of four players, choosing from a roster of characters sorted into tank, healer, and DPS classes, and set out into dungeons that scale in difficulty. There's loot to earn and bosses to fight, with dungeons sorted into faster 'Quick Play' options or more complex 'Ranked' versions.

Fellowship will launch in Early Access on Steam on Thursday October 16. It will also host an Open Beta on Steam beginning on Thursday September 18 and running until Monday September 23. You can add Fellowship to your wishlist right here.

While you're waiting for its arrival, there's more to play like Fellowship that you can find in our picks of the best RPG games and best multiplayer games already out on PC.

You can also help pass the time until Fellowship's launch by chatting about your favorite games and connecting with other players in our community Discord.