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It was Ultima creator Richard Garriott who first coined the term MMORPG–massively multiplayer online role-playing game–to describe 1997’s Ultima Online. Flash-forward to 2024, and many of the best MMORPGs to play today are ones that embody the same elements that made early classics like EverQuest, Asheron’s Call, and Ultima Online so popular: namely, long-term character progression and persistent online worlds filled with hundreds or even thousands of other players to meet, compete against, or interact with.
World of Warcraft helped break MMORPGs into the mainstream when it first released in 2004, making many of the genre’s signature ideas more appealing to a wider audience. For a few years after its release, it seemed like every major video game publisher wanted to copy Blizzard’s formula (and monthly subscription-based revenue), and MMORPGs became a hot new genre.
Unfortunately, few of the games that chased WoW’s success found much of their own. Publishers soured on the genre before too long, resulting in a draught of new MMORPGs over the last decade when compared to other popular game genres (even if many of them, like some of the best survival games or multiplayer shooters, now borrow heavily from MMORPGs). As a result, many of the most popular games MMORPGs today are the same titles that were popular in the early-mid 2000s. Some have existed for decades and require subscriptions to play, even as others have more recently shifted to a free-to-play model.
In 2025, MMORPG fans have a few more options than in recent years, in part thanks to Amazon’s continued interest in the genre. Amazon recently published Throne and Liberty and retooled its internally developed MMO, New World, to be playable on consoles in the form of New World: Aeternum. There’s also plenty to look forward to as the year progresses as well, with Dune: Awakening set to make a sandworm-worthy splash in May and even a Star Wars Galaxies spiritual successor, Stars Reach, slated to launch in early access this summer. Ashes of Creation, another MMORPG fans of the genre have had their eyes on for quite some time, just might receive a wider release this year as well, with a 24/7 alpha test set to go live in May. And in the wildest development of all, there’s even the possibility of a Nintendo MMO, with a secret Nintendo Switch Online playtest in October 2024 having been revealed as a test for “mass multiplayer” functionality.
There’s never been a better time to get lost in a living, breathing online world, something only the best MMORPGs can provide. Below you’ll find a list, in no particular order, of some of the top MMORPGs to play in 2025, ranging from tried-and-true classics of the genre to hybrids that combine the best of traditional fantasy-themed MMOs with elements of shooters, space exploration, and more. Some of the games below also happen to be some of the best free-to-play games available.