Wurm Online officially launches next week, after a six and a half year beta

If you thought Minecraft's two and a half year beta period was lengthy, take a look at the game Notch previously worked on. Wurm Online is a free MMO in which everything is crafted and created by players. After existing as an open beta since 2006, it will finally get an official 1.0 release next week on December 12th.

In a post on the Wurm Online dev blog , the game's team outline what that release will entail. The big new features will be character customisation, visible armour, multi story buildings and better looking creatures. They also plan to add a new server, giving any players attracted by the new update a newbie-friendly place to try the game out.

We've had a presence in the game for a few years now, and anyone tempted to try Wurm out can check out our community sub-forum for details of where to find our in-game villages.

Thanks, Reddit .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.