Best MMOs to play in 2024
Long before people obsessed over creating the metaverse, the best MMO games already provided a virtual space for strangers from all over the world to embark on epic adventures and quests, complete intense raid dungeons, immerse themselves in deep lore, and nurture life-long friendships. Getting hundreds, even thousands of players into the same shared world has been one of gaming’s greatest challenges and biggest achievements.
MMOs have produced some of the most unbelievable and gripping stories to come out of video games, reaching millions of people across the globe and impacting them on a deep level. People have made life-altering encounters inside of these games, earn their daily wages by playing them, or simply see them as a welcome escape from the usual stress of everyday life. MMOs are a second home to many players with a family they got to choose for themselves.
Here are some of the best MMOs you can play in 2024 to find your own.
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
Well, what did you expect? World of Warcraft was so popular that it dominated the mainstream perception of video games for years. Every MMO coming out after it either wanted to copy its success by using the same mechanical template, or was stylized by the public to be the ‘next potential WoW killer’ – well, we’re still kind of waiting for that, because World of Warcraft isn’t going anywhere.
Yeah, players like to complain about anything Blizzard does in a new expansion, be it related to the story or the gameplay, but they continue to subscribe. WoW’s gameplay has become iconic, its guilds have become legendary, and it has an aura of timelessness around it that few games can compete with. With the newest expansion, Dragonflight, being well received and the Classic edition of the game thriving, World of Warcraft will likely survive the heat death of the universe.
Final Fantasy XIV
Square Enix
The only game potentially deserving the legendary ‘WoW killer’ moniker is Final Fantasy 14. Getting to this point, though, took the game’s devs a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, because the launch of FF14 was a complete and utter disaster. Its subsequent revival through several big updates and expansions is largely credited to Naoki Yoshida. Featuring typical JRPG looks and storylines, FF14 made all the right decisions in a time when World of Warcraft was perceived to make only wrong ones. All the hard work and effort to bring the game back from the brink of death were worth it, with the game now being home to a thriving community and a title worthy of its fantastic forebears.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
EA / BioWare
We present one of the prime examples for games trying to copy the success of WoW by taking very heavy inspiration from it. The Old Republic’s looks and combat systems somehow feel more antiquated than WoW’s despite its younger age, but nevertheless SWTOR has survived where many other MMOs had to throw the towel. A part of that success certainly is due to the Star Wars license, which has a large appeal in the west. A few of SWTOR’s class stories and expansions offer some of the best narratives of any Star Wars media, especially on the Sith Empire’s side.
EA and BioWare never gave up on the title even when it struggled, adapting to a changing market by switching to a free-to-play model and continuously shipping new expansions. Fans so very desperately wanted SWTOR to be Knight of the Old Republic 3, and when you play through some of the class stories it reveals some of that potential, but for many the whole MMO part of the MMORPG package was never more than an annoyance. Nowadays, you can pretty much play the entire game solo, which perhaps makes SWTOR the best MMO for anyone who’s not very interested in the community aspect. And don’t get us started on those cinematic trailers. Bangers!
Lost Ark
Smilegate
Originally released in South Korea in 2019, free-to-play title Lost Ark made its triumphal entrance into the rest of the global market in 2022 – in fact, popular interest was so great it led to heavy strain on the game’s overwhelmed servers. Featuring a combat system in the style of action RPGs, Lost Ark answers the age-old question of how Diablo would look like as an MMO. With very nice graphics and lots of content, the game has carved out its own niche in this competitive genre.
Destiny 2
Bungie
We didn’t specify this list to include only MMORPGs, right? Destiny 2 is probably the best MMO shooter on the market, offering all the action of a first-person shooter and all the epicness of a RPG story. Battling dangerous bosses and collecting juicy loot is as satisfying as in any other MMO and the visuals are simply spectacular. The base game is free-to-play, but Bungie is adding content and new stories with paid expansion packs on a regular basis, so things never get boring.
Runescape
Jagex
Another classic representative of the MMORPG genre, Runescape was released in 2001 and is somehow still growing thanks to the constant addition of content. Expanding on lore and quests that are two decades old is not easy, but at this point the devs have had a lot of experience. All that might make newcomers hesitate to dive in, but worry not: Runescape’s users are quite a friendly bunch and always eager to help out, which is no doubt part of the reason why this title is still thriving.
EVE Online
CCP Games
You’ve no doubt heard about EVE Online and how its players always have an Excel sheet open on a second screen to tally all their money, invest in stocks, and basically do a second job that they’re not paid for. You’ve probably also read some of the ridiculous stories EVE Online has generated with massive wars between player factions that caused thousands of dollars worth of damage by annihilating entire fleets that took years of effort to build. You’ve read about intrigues that led to the fall of space empires, all because someone felt slighted by something a member of their former group once said to them. It’s all true.
EVE Online is basically Game of Thrones in space and you’re the protagonist, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort. But you can also just ship some minerals, hunt down pirates, do some bookkeeping, or be a low-level fighter pilot, if you so desire. The possibilities are as vast as space itself in this truly player-driven MMO.
Guild Wars 2
ArenaNet
Where many other MMOs sought to copy WoW to find success, Guild Wars 2 broke most of the game design traditions that Blizzard had basically enshrined into law. GW2 features only a few regular quests, instead relying on players to party up and play through small stories that organically pop in its world. It’s pretty much the same in terms of endgame content, which changes all the time thanks to episodic story updates. Just like SWTOR, GW2 switched to a free-to-play model during its lifetime, showing the developer’s willingness to adapt to the times – successfully so.
Lord of the Rings Online
Daybreak Game Company
With most fantasy worlds vaguely based on Tolkien’s writings anyways, it seems like a no-brainer to set a MMORPG in Middle-earth. Familiar peoples, familiar faces, and familiar places are everywhere in this free-to-play game, as you tangentially follow the same path that the characters of the Lord of the Rings books took. Expansions have added to the content and the mechanics since the original launch in 2007, making it a very rich environment to dive into. Worth a try for any fans of the books and movies just to simply walk into Mordor.
The Elder Scrolls Online
ZeniMax Online Studios
A difficult launch period is something that a few of these entries have in common, and The Elder Scrolls Online is certainly part of that group. Once those growing pains were behind the game, however, it became a great way to explore the past of the world you know and love from hit games such as Skyrim – the MMO is set around 1,000 years before the single-player RPG. More and more areas of Tamriel are added to the game with the developers having plans to bring even more content to the game in the future.
You play on PC, but don’t like MMOs? No problem, we have also listed some of the best PC games to play right now.
You play on PC, but don’t like MMOs? No problem, we have also listed some of the best PC games to play right now.
