Best free MMORPGs May 2023
If you’re looking to sink yourself into an immersive world without sinking into your funds, there’s plenty of free-to-play MMORPGs to get your hands on. Here are some of the best free MMORPGs to play in May 2023.
Not all MMORPGs are created equal. Some are easy to pick up and just as easy to lose hundred of hours to, others require a massive commitment in both body and mind. But some can only be played by those with an active subscription which, with the cost of living rising for pretty much everyone, feels like less and less of a practical choice.
Thankfully, there’s a huge variety of decent MMORPGs that aren’t such a burden on your wallet. Some are completely free to play and enjoy, locking only cosmetics or the occasional convenience behind a premium paywall.
So which ones are worth trying out?
Best free MMORPGs May 2023
Lost Ark
Tripod Studio and Smilegate’s Lost Ark is still relatively new by most MMORPG standards. Launching first in 2019 in South Korea, Lost Ark only hit western markets at the beginning of 2022. It contains all of the tropes one expects to find in an MMO: classes, customisable skills, weapons and armor, PvP — all utilising the game’s ARPG-style combat across its vast world.
Lost Ark is completely free-to-play via Windows PC, and still maintains a health player count.
Players can choose to spend real money in the game for some premium currency or additional cosmetics, but nothing that will hinder your journey through Arkesia should you choose not to purchase.
Destiny 2
A bit of a different story for Bungie’s Destiny 2. Originally starting out as a pay-to-play game as a sequel to 2014’s Destiny. Bungie later made the decision to transition to a free-to-play model, opening up access to the base game, Leviathan raid, PvP modes and the game’s two expansions for free.
Since its launch back in 2017, Destiny 2 has seen a huge amount if post-launch content, the latest being the Lightfall expansion. As expected, access to the more recent expansions can be purchased as additional DLC but players don’t have to spend a single penny to get a taste of what Destiny 2 has to offer.
As an additional plus, Destiny 2 is available across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
RuneScape
With humble origins back in 2001 as a browser-based MMORPG, RuneScape has evolved into a whole different beast over the years. Gone are the low-quality, polygon creatures and characters from days gone by, RuneScape has since taken on the form of something more closely resembling modern gaming.
The game still maintains a healthy player base, regularly clocking an average of around 1.5 million monthly players.
Of course, if you’re feeling nostalgic, RuneScape as you knew it back in the early 2000’s is still alive and well under the banner of ‘Old School RuneScape.’ Both versions of the game are still free-to-play and enjoy on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and Amazon Prime Gaming.
Final Fantasy XIV
Square Enix’s monster MMORPG,Final Fantasy XIV has continued to go from strength to strength. Its latest expansion, Endwalker, saw a huge boost in the game’s popularity with the studio having to halt sales of the game and free trial periods in an effort to combat queues.
Thankfully, things have settled down a bit since then and Final Fantasy XIV is once again running its free trial. While this means that the game isn’t exactly free-to-play, the trial allows players to reach level 60 with no limits on game time. That’s a huge amount of content to sink your time into, and a great way to see if the full subscription is right for you in the long run.
Free trial players gain access to 14 different job classes, each with their own set of perks and skills to master. Square Enix has rolled out a lot of support for new players, too, such as the Mentor System that allows new players to seek out more experiences players for help, answers and general guidance.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.