It is well known that MMORPGs are probably the most difficult type of genre to become successful. It probably is the genre with the most failed, closed and unsuccessful projects and there is a good reason for it. To create such a game you need a team with a lot of experience in this area, you need a huge budget, you need to create tons of content to satisfy tens of thousands of different players and you need to ensure that you will be able to support it after years and years.
A decade and a half ago Blizzard made the standard for MMOs that stands to this day. World of Warcraft was such a breakthrough in the online world in 2004 it continues to be as relevant and probably still the biggest MMORPG in the world. There hasn’t been a single project that has surpassed this title with popularity, concurrent players or amount of content.
However, there are still quite a few of them that have succeeded and are becoming more and more popular every single day. Both The Elder Scrolls Online and Black Desert Online have several million concurrent players. Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2 and even Old School Runescape have a few hundred thousand active players every month. There are probably many others that are not as popular, but still very successful and fun.
This shows us that there is definitely a huge potential in this genre to create the next big thing. We believe that 2024 is the year in which we will see a boom in this type of games. Here are our top 5 upcoming MMORPGs in 2024.
1. Magic: Legends
Every single card gathering player in the world has heard of Magic: The Gathering. It is considered to be the most popular card collecting game right next to Pokemon Trading Card Game and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Well, fortunately for all of those lovers of card gathering, we are going to see a Magic: The Gathering MMO game named Legends.
We do not know a lot about it, but we do know that it is going to be on both consoles and the PC platform and there will be a beta available in 2024. Although, we are not exactly sure in which quarter of 2024. It will be developed by Cryptic Studios which are famous for their products such as Neverwinter, which is quite a successful MMO, Star Trek Online and Champions online too. The idea that Magic: Legends will be developed by a team that already has more than enough experience in this genre gives us a lot of hope.
2. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
We can’t make a list of the most anticipated and upcoming MMORPGs without mentioning the legendary World of Warcraft. It is still considered to be the number one in the genre, and for a very good reason. After the release of WoW Classic, more and more people are anticipating a new expansion for the world. People are especially excited to see a continuation after the release of Battle for Azeroth since it is considered to be one of the more disappointing expansions.
But, we are constantly filled with information that Shadowlands will bring in features that we have been waiting for so long. We will see a lot of changes and fixes that will bring a balance between the classes. The new zones Revendreth, Ardenweald, Madraxxus, and Bastion look like they will bring amazing new adventures, raids, and dungeons. However, all this new content can be quite difficult for some people to handle. If you do not have the time or the patience to go through all of these new zones, click here to find yourself a WoW Shadowlands carry.
3. New World
This is definitely something new and unique that we haven’t seen ever before. It might not be World of Warcraft, but the idea of playing in an alternate universe of the 17th century in America is definitely very exciting. By the information we have gotten about New World, we believe that it will be filled with magic and magical wild monsters.
The teaser for the game showed us that you will be able to be anything you want in the world. Whether you want to be a raiding soldier or just a simple farmer or an explorer, it is all up to you.
What’s more interesting about New World is the fact that it will be developed by Amazon Studios. This newly formed developer studio will be backed with an Amazon sized budget which is always a good thing.
4. Chronicles of Elyria
Through the trailer, we saw that there are a lot of interesting ideas in the Chronicles of Elyria. Ideas such as your character aging like in the world and finally dying. This game first showed up as a project on Kickstarter and now since it has reached its Kickstarter goal of $900,000 the development process is about to start.
The developers of this project take a whole different approach to in-game characters. The character you create will age as a real person in the span of 10 to 14 months. The actions you will take with the characters will heavily influence your lifespan. If you make a huge impact in the world, you might live a lot longer than the others. You can start as a simple peasant and build your way to become a king that can own his own kingdom.
We love to see new and brave ideas being formed every day and we believe that there is a bright future ahead for Chronicles of Elyria.
5. Project TL
Many people are bored from the same old dull look from MMORPGs and are looking for something that will look exceptional. The trailer for Project TL showed us a bit of gameplay and showed just how graphically advanced this game is. Of course, not everyone will be able to play this game because you will need to own a powerful computer, but it did spike our interest.
It is interesting to see an MMORPG with a top-down perspective in these modern times.
