Our Most Anticipated MMORPGs For 2018 (Releases & Early Access Tests)

November has arrived, and in no time at all, some of the most anticipated MMORPGs for 2018 will be stealing all the headlines. It’s only reasonable that we get started on our list now – things can change real fast in the industry and who knows what other news we might get! We’ve put together a bunch of titles that are established in addition to those that will have alphas and betas in 2018. Of course, we also have a few (hopefully) 2018 releases in here as well. We’ve categorized them accordingly for your reading pleasure. Without further a due, let’s get the ball rolling!

2018 Potential Releases

Bless Online

A lot of us in the office are excited about Bless, because we’ve followed it closely when it came up in Korea. Its struggled a lot, and Neowiz has to be given some credit for keeping the ship afloat. The decision to delay any potential NA/EU release to re-work the game is very bold. At the same time, the game isn’t doing too well in its home country, Japan and Russia. So why are they adamant about bringing it to the west? Because from what we’ve seen, Bless was made for the west. Everything from its combat system, graphics and gameplay simply screams Western market, and we finally get the news last month that we will see it on Steam sometime in 2018. Let’s hope it sticks to that timeline.

Wild West Online

Wild West Online took everyone by surprised when it announced itself earlier this year. It showed us the Red Dead Redemption MMO we never knew we wanted, until now. Pre-orders are already going up, and we’ve also seen a couple of alpha tests that shows us the potential. While we know it isn’t set in stone that WWO will be out anytime 2018, we have a feeling that work the team is putting in right now, it definitely can be ready. If you’re a founder/backer, hold on to your horse. 2018 will be a wild ride for this cowboy MMO.

Dauntless

This monster hunting MMO is currently playable in alpha early access as a founder, but that will all change come the new year. Dauntless to the surprise of many will be going free to play. The caveat of that is of course, there will probably in-game microtransactions of some sort to get players to cough up some moolah. Regardless, from what we’ve seen, the game looks like a blast and F2P will bring in a lot more players. This could be the title to finally bury Evolved.

2018 Most Anticipated Early Access Hands On



Ashes of Creation

Do we really need to elaborate? AoC is one of the most hyped MMORPG of our generation – the last time that happened would have probably been either ESO or SWTOR’s announcements, which was ages ago. With a very successful Kickstarter campaign in the bag, the team behind AoC have all the funding they need to release a massive, industry busting MMORPG for the ages. The official website is always being updated with upcoming ideas and content, and the alpha 0 tests are only a month or so away. We are very much anticipating seeing this game being played, or playing it for ourselves. As for a release date? We don’t think it’ll be ready for 2018. It’s more likely to be out late 2019 or early 2020.

Crowfall

“We don’t expect or actually want 50% of the WoW players to come. All they would do is torture us to change the game to make it like WoW and we would not like that.” – CrowfallWhen a game sets a statement like that as a precursor, you can immediately tell that they mean business. Crowfall is so different to World of Warcraft in every way imaginable. For starters, there’s permanent death and dying worlds. The game centers around PVP among players, and they get to age their characters. You can even die from old age, or watch your world burn from death and destruction. The awesome part is how when that happens, you start all over again on a brand new world with a brand new character. The game is about 70% done and we’re hoping to see this one open up a lot more come 2018.

Camelot Unchained

Up next is an MMORPG that needs no introduction. Well, at least its spiritual predecessor doesn’t. Dark Age of Camelot is a classic MMO that is still around. I’ve had so many great memories playing and will remember it forever. The brutal difficulty, the amount of sandbox adventures my friends and I went on, they were all awesome. So when Camelot Unchained was announced I followed its campaign closely. The promise of huge realm versus realm PVP is mouth watering. The developers have also reiterated that it’s a core of the game, not just some mechanic added in just for the sake of having PVP. But what else is there to expect? Player driven-economies and races based on history too, such as the Vikings, Celts and the Arthurs.2018 could see more important updates and a closer step to a full release.