Confirmed MMORPGs Releasing in 2021

There are a lot of MMORPGs currently in development: Blue Protocol, Ashes of Creation, TL: Origin, ArcheAge 2. But how many MMOs are we actually going to be able to play this year, in 2021? That’s what we’re here today to discuss. 5 MMORPGs that have 100% confirmed releases slated for 2021. 5 MMORPGs that you’ll be able to register, download and play this year, no waiting required.

Swords of Legends Online is a beautiful wuxia themed action MMORPG being published by Gameforge. SOLO features absolutely stunning graphics, has a large, open world for players to wander and explore and has an expected release date of Q2-Q3 2021. It will have a buy-to-play business model, requiring players purchase the game once to play it without any type of recurring fee.

Elyon is a gorgeous steampunk-fantasy themed hybrid action MMORPG being published by Kakao Games. Elyon features beautiful graphics, but is developed on Unreal Engine 3 which might highly limit the performance you can achieve with the game. It has a large, open world without loading screens for players to explore and has an expected release date of Q2-Q3 2021. It will have a buy-to-play business model, requiring players purchase the game once to play it without any type of recurring fee.

Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis (PSO2: New Genesis) is a futuristic Anime-inspired action MMORPG being published by Sega. Unlike each of the aforementioned MMOs, PSO2: New Genesis is being built on the back of an already established MMO: Phantasy Star Online 2. Not only is it entirely interconnected, but you can play characters from PSO2 in New Genesis. PSO2: New Genesis features absolutely gorgeous Anime graphics, has a significantly larger, open world than what PSO2 presented players but from what I can tell is still segregated (like Blade & Soul/Guild Wars 2/Final Fantasy XIV,) and has an expected release date of Q3 2021. It will have a free-to-play business model, allowing players to sign up, log in, download and play the game without any fees.

New World is an action MMORPG being published by Amazon Game Studios. New World features some good looking environments but lacks quite significantly in terms of abilities, animations and character models. But don’t let that dissuade you from playing, as this graphical style will appeal to a certain demographic of players. New World has a large sandbox world allowing for seamless travel without any loading screens, allowing for players to freely explore what the game has to offer at their own pace. It has an expected release date of Q3 2021, and will have a buy-to-play business model, requiring players purchase the game once to play it without any type of recurring fee.

Lost Ark is a top-down isometric action MMORPG being published by Amazon Game Studios. This is the only upcoming MMO of this type releasing this year, and admittedly will not appeal to everyone. Yes, Lost Ark features an absolutely beautiful world to explore and incredible character models. It has some of the best action combat I’ve seen in an MMO of its type. But at the same time, the game can feel a little linear at times, as the world is segregated (but fairly open and free to explore after a certain point in the game.) Lost Ark has an expected release date of Q3 2021 and will have a free-to-play business model, allowing players to sign up, log in, download and play the game without any fees.

While there are other MMORPGs scheduled to enter Alpha testing (Ashes of Creation,) Beta testing (Corepunk, Perfect New World,) and will have releases in their native regions (Blue Protocol within Japan,) these are 5 MMORPGs – the only 5 MMOs confirmed to be releasing as of April 2021. While we might get lucky and end up with additional MMO releases over the course of 2021, we finally have several games to look forward to.