The Best New Upcoming MMORPGs Of 2018 You Need To Play!

With it being August 2017 already, I thought it would be a good idea to get the head start on the new year early by listing the best upcoming MMORPG of 2018 in advance. 2018 is only a few months away so what better time to start than now, am I right? Read on below to find out what the best new upcoming MMORPGs of 2018 are that you absolutely have to at least try once!

Now, 2017 was a pretty terrible year in terms of MMORPG releases with big release, and equally as large a failure after failure, delays, cancellations. Mmmm. However, 2018 looks like it may very well be a little brighter!

I’d like to preface this though by saying that this list is one hundred percent personal and therefore will likely not reflect your own personal opinions or thoughts on each game.
Nor are any of the games in this list arranged in any particular order of best to worst or vice versa.

Now, Pantheon was originally scheduled for a 2017 release. And it did very well go into Aplha testing this year however has yet to release a fully playable version of the game up until this point. Pantheon is a different kind of MMORPG, claiming as opposed to traditional MMORPG gameplay and mechanics, it instead focuses on challenging content and the social aspects behind normal MMORPGs. Although a 2018 release of the game has yet to be officially confirmed, the progress made on the game along with the overall state of the game hints towards a 2018 release.

Dauntless isn’t so much an MMORPG as it is a Co-Op Multiplayer RPG similar to Monster Hunter. It is expected to go into Alpha testing in August. Unlike Monster Hunter, though, Dauntless offers much larger areas to navigate and explore, housing many unique islands to traverse and hunt on. Similarly however, it doesn’t offer a traditional class system, instead opting to give each weapon type its own unique set of attacks, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Dauntless has a release date set for Fall 2017, however a more realistic date would be the first quarter of 2018 at this juncture.

Maplestory 2 is the 3D sequel to the incredibly popular MMORPG, Maplestory, and up until this point did not have a confirmed English release date, ever. Unlike Maplestory, Maplestory 2 ditched its Anime style to go for a more 3 dimensional, less linear side scrolling style of gameplay while retaining more or less the core mechanics of the original Maplestory game. Most monsters, NPCs and locations featured in Maplestory 2 carry over from the original Maplestory game as this is connected as a prequel to the main Maplestory. Now, as of August 8, 2017, a user found translated English files for Maplestory 2 hinting at a possible 2018 English release.

Crowfall is a huge budget MMORPG being crowdfunded by hundreds of thousands of players slated for a closed beta release during 2017. Referred to as the “Throne war simulator,” Crowfall is designed to provide a very different kind of gaming experience, having a large open world, and elements shared with traditionally stragety games, political simulators, and survival games. Crowfall has a set release date of 2017, but judging by the fact that it’s currently in Pre-Aplha 1, and we have Pre-Alpha 2, Alpha 1, 2, 3, Beta 1, and Beta 2.. we’re looking at a 2018 release.

SkySaga is a colorful, heavily Minecraft influenced MMORPG currently in Alpha testing, with a Beta testing period set for fall 2017. SkySaga allows players the ability to possess their own unique, highly customizable home island where they can build huge castles, dungeons, lairs and.. whatever else they can think up. The interesting thing is that in SkySaga, players are given the option to teleport through portals located on their home island to procedurally generated, instanced isles where you can level up and attain gear such as weapon and armor. SkySaga initially had a 2017 release date but since Beta testing begins towards the end of 2017, a 2018 release date is far more reasonable and therefore likely.

Another Minecraft inspired MMORPG, Boundless is.. well it’s a little different. It has been in Early Access for quite a while now, being fully playable. However it has also yet to officially launch, renaming itself from Oort to Boundless and planning a relaunch of the game under said new title. Again, Boundless is reminiscent of Minecraft, but is more likely comparable to SkySaga than it is Minecraft, really. It utilizes the same voxel-based graphics, it allows players to hop through portals to other worlds, open exploration. Yup – reminiscent of SkySaga. That doesn’t mean it’s the same game though, or even the same kind of game. Boundless is its own beast and I’m looking forward to seeing where it ends up. Boundless is technically in Early Access, therefore it is out of Alpha and Beta testing however at the same time it has not officially launched. If we’re lucky, we should be receiving word of it hitting the shelves next year.

Chronicles of Elyria was supposed to go into Alpha and Beta testing during 2017, with a scheduled release date of Quarter 4, 2017, however that did not pan out and is looking unlikely at this point. Touted as “The most dynamic and immersvive MMORPG to date,” the Chronicles of Elyria team are actually trying something unique in so that they are giving you a character that you can craft like any traditional MMORPG, but a character that also dies. Your character ages, and your character dies. It is an attempt at encouraging you to think beyond your current character, giving you a larger sense of purpose and giving your character a role in a larger unfolding story. Chronicles of Elyria is one of the few upcoming MMORPGs that offer a closed economy, finite resources, and fully destructible environments, meaning that every player will likely have a slightly different experience. Chronicles of Elyria was slated for a release this year but looking at it in its current state, a 2018 release is much more likely. I’m not saying it won’t come out within the next few months but it is quite the gamble to assume so.

Ashes of Creation was originally expected to release in 2017 but that turned out to be a far, far off expectation. Now, probably one of the two most hyped MMORPGs of recent memory, Ashes of Creation has people drooling at the mouth with every new piece of information or new footage released. One of the things that sets Ashes of Creation out from the majority of the MMORPGs is that it has an entirely player driven world with a unique node system that will allow players to build the entire world from the ground up, around them. This gives Ashes of Creation somewhat of a uniqueness to it as you can build up large defenses to protect your creations, or instead band together with other people to destroy other players’. Now, Ashes of Creation was thought to have a 2017 release, but after how much progress has been made, a 2018 release is much more likely, possibly even a 2019 release.

Camelot Unchained had an estimated release date of 2017 however due to how long it’s taken thus far to even get into Beta testing (only being in Alpha so far), the game will not be making it to release this year. Now, Camelot Unchained is a much more traditional fantasy MMORPG than the rest of the MMORPGs on this list, coming from the former designer of Dark Age of Camelot, and is generally considered to be its spiritual successor. Unlike most the games in this list, Camelot Unchained is actually one of the only PvP focused titles in this list, having a significant focus on PvP with large scale battles as its main focus. Due to how long it has taken to go into Beta testing, along with the response from developers, Camelot Unchained is expected to go into Beta testing early 2018 with a release set for later in the year.

One of the more recently announced titles, Wild West Online had an initial release date of mid summer 2017, but has since failed to deliver. Wild West Online is likely one of the far more unique MMORPGs in this list as we have literally, and I mean literally zero cowboy themed MMORPGs on the market right now. So with its release, Wild West Online will allow you to become a lawman and hunt down bandits, an outlaw where you can rob trains and banks, a pioneer where you explore and gather resources, to name a few. Regardless of which option you pick – being given the ability to have such a diverse selection of identities is one of the best parts of Wild West Online. While it will not make its original 2017 release, it will very likely make its release in 2018.

Lastly, like Dauntless, Star Citizen isn’t traditionally an MMORPG. And like most the MMORPGs in this list, it was originally slated for a 2017 release which it will no doubt miss. Another unique game in this list, Star Citizen takes you directly into space – as it places you into a self proclaimed “living, breathing science fiction universe with unparalleled immersion,” blending space exploration, combat sim, and FPS into one game. This makes for an absolutely amazing looking game from what I’ve seen allowing you free exploration of the games universe, giving you the ability to not only have your own ship, but multi-crew another ship making for some amazing fights and encounters, giving your choices meaning to name a few. Now, as it was expected to release in late 2017 and it is probable it will miss that mark, an early to mid-2018 release is far more likely to happen.