Regarding the free-to-play market for online games, there’s nothing bigger or anything with a larger player than massively multiplayer online role-playing games. With the opportunity to take on the role of somebody else and enter a whole new world in search for thrilling adventures, these games offer something that has been engaging PC gamers for nearly two decades since such titles as Ultima Online (1997) and EverQuest (1999) pioneered the genre. It’s almost certain that there aren’t many members of the gaming community who didn’t gave an MMORPG a shot some time or other, lots of them probably jump from one newly released game to the next, while others remain faithful to a particular title throughout the years, enjoying continuous updates and additional content.
Lots of MMORPG titles belong to the F2P category, although there are a few that adopt the P2P business model which requires players to buy the game before being able to play it online for free (as it is the case of, for example, Guild Wars 2). Others, e.g. WildStar and EVE Online, try more novel approaches and let players opt for either paying a subscription fee while also enabling them to earn in-game currency while playing in order to pay their monthly fee. There are just a few games that managed to successfully maintain a pure game purchase and paid subscription model as it is the case of World of Warcraft, whereas, for example, Star Wars: The Old Republic (also featured on this list) also tried to follow this path before finally becoming a free-to-play game, which is our major focus with this list.
So we hope you’re ready for the selection of our favourites of the currently available free-to-play MMORPGs! Although some of them are already around for quite some time now, they manage to conquer lists like ours time and again due to what they have to offer.
The oldest MMORPG on our list and a fantasy epic that always makes its way onto this kind of lists is Lineage II which was originally released in South Korea in October 2003 and later on, in April 2004, in North America. Although appearing a bit dated and its graphics would deserve some in-depth overhaul, it simply is a classic when it comes to gameplay and still retaining a huge user base since more than a decade, in particular thanks to its faithful Asian players. The game’s popularity is that great that a tremendous success is already predicted for its spiritual sequel Lineage Eternal, the release date of which is still pending.
Another game that, back in 2008, first saw the light of day in South Korea is Aion: The Tower of Eternity. After launching in North America, Europe and Australia in September 2009, it quickly became the bestselling PC game of that time and another staple of the MMORPG genre. Aion’s key feature, which widely popularised it, is the ability to fly in free-form 360° movement, something that hadn’t really been explored to this point. The title is still going strong and regularly receiving patches and updates that add new content and classes to the game.
The year 2011 was the big time for MMORPGs that spoilt players with a huge selection of new releases to choose from players, particularly with the likes of The Exiled Realm of Arborea (TERA), Rift, DC Universe Online, Forsaken World and Star Wars: The Old Republic, all of which have made it onto our list.
Featuring a class-based character system, crafting, questing and PVP, TERA is a fully-fledged MMORPG with action-based combat gameplay and a massive seamless world to explore including open world combat zones to give normal questing and travelling a thrilling edge. The game’s developers got some help from CCP Games (developers of EVE Online) in introducing the same PLEX currency allowing players to earn game time by collecting in game "Chronoscrolls" to originally pay for the monthly subscription. However, in 2013 the title adopted the increasingly popular "freemium" option which allows players to join the game for free but only provides them with the entirety of features when purchasing a premium account.
Due to their similar fantasy themes and time of release, TERA and Rift are quite comparable with each other, the latter being a similarly fantasy-based MMORPG that offers all the trimmings one could expect, but rather focusing on a faction-based conflict with its rival factions locked in an endless war. The game’s main premise are the Rift portals opening up across the lands of Telara allowing invading creatures of all kinds into the world which players have to defeat in order to seal the rifts; if left unattended, these enemies actually occupy large portions of the map. In 2013, Rift eventually went completely free to play.
Forsaken World was released by Perfect World (actually already launched in 2010 but only reaching North America and Europe in 2011), a company specifically focusing on F2P MMORPGs. It’s another Asian MMORPG with an anime graphical style similar to some of its predecessors that offers another venture into a magical fantasy world. The game doesn’t try to redefine the genre but very well succeeds in creating a solid MMORPG that, in addition to strong PVE questing, also offers social and chapter features. Belonging to a genre dominated by World of Warcraft, you easily see the similarity when playing Forsaken World.
The other two MMORPGs on our list released in 2011 are both tremendously popular franchise titles; DC Universe Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic; the latter probably creating the biggest buzz. Attracting many Star Wars games enthusiasts including the previous MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies (Sony Online Entertainment), SWTOR once more offers players the chance to step back into George Lucas’s Galaxy. Developed by BioWare that had created the previous single player Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as well as other big RPG titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect and more, this new online RPG experience offers all the classic MMORPG features and more (AI companions, fully voiced NPCs). The game launched as a subscription-based MMORPG, presumably seen as a golden goose due to the Star Wars franchise. Although receiving largely positive reviews and accolades, SWTOR saw a huge drop in players, only able to ultimately recover from when going freemium in Nov 2012, which allowed players to individually purchase the features they wished to access in the game while still supporting an "all access" subscription model.
DC Universe Online also allows fans to step into a familiar setting to visit such well-known locations as Gotham City, Metropolis and other famous places from the comic books, cartoons, movies and TV shows. Under the guidance of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, players can side with the good or get help from Lex Luther, Joker or Circe when deciding to play a villain. The game had an extremely detailed storyline that stay true to the current canon lore of the DC Universe and also allows for the sudden appearance of new heroes and villains. DC Universe is an entertaining MMO featuring sandbox exploration and great questing elements along with wide selection of heroes, villains and supporting characters.
In 2013, we witnessed the launch of Neverwinter, also published by Perfect World and developed by Cryptic Studios that had previously developed the hugely successful Star Trek Online. The new Dungeons & Dragons title largely benefited from their STO experience and additionally sports the amazing Forge system that allows players to create their own instance-based dungeons and quests complete with traps, monsters and quests giving NPCs. With games such as Baldur’s Gate (from the same D&D Forgotten Realms setting as Neverwinter) and Neverwinter Nights (another MMORPG), the game offers the next step back into the setting that tabletop RPG gamers have loved for years.
Just a month after Neverwinter’s release, the action-based MMORPG Age of Wulin / Age of Wushu was launched. Also originating from China and inspired by "wuxia", the MMO tells the story of the China’s ancient martial arts clans (as seen in the film Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon). Players get to fight in one of eight different factions, focusing on levelling up their character and learning new skills and combat manoeuvres. This classless MMORPG offers PvE and PvP focused gameplay as well as some unique features such as kidnapping other players to sell them or getting imprisoned for committing crimes.
This list lost ALL credibility once you guys said Age of Wushu was a good F2P game. I have heard nothing but terrible reviews about that game and Ive even experienced how bad the game was myself. Their customer support is so bad, they make Nexon and EA look like 5-star customer service companies.