MMORPG.com Game of the Year Awards 2024

2024 has been a very good year for gaming. With massive titles such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a few new MMORPGs with Tarisland and NCSOFT's massive hit Throne and Liberty, as well as quirky indie titles that have captured our attention like Balatro, this year is one to remember. 

Like every year, we polled our staff about the highlights from the year for the games we cover to determine what was 2024's best in each category. We had a few changes this year, namely the dropping of our Best Cozy Game from 2023 (there really were no new entrants in that category this year) to the addition of the Biggest Surprise for 2024. Also, we finally renamed the Best Persistent World category, a name I absolutely hated and that really didn't have a good definition but rather was used as a catch-all for many of the games we cover that aren't traditional MMOs. The category is now named Best MMO Lite, which we feel is a better descriptor of the games found within its nominees, from No Man's Sky, Warframe and online multiplayer experiences such as Grand Theft Auto Online. 

We also continued our new trend of splitting out the Best MMO Expansion from the MMORPG of the Year award, as we wanted to continue to highlight the expansions that companies release that might have been stellar, even if another MMO had a better overall year, all things considered. 

So, without further ado, here are the winners of our MMORPG.com Game of the Year Awards!

Best Battle Royale of 2024: Fortnite

Runner-up: Fall Guys

Fortnite still continues to dominate the battle royale scene, though the argument can easily be made now that it's so much more than just its Battle Royale mode. From launching LEGO Fortnite earlier this year, adding in its Rocket Racing mode and so much more, Epic Games' flagship and utter cash cow continues to pull in millions of users every month with a consistency most online games would give their left arm for. 

Best MMO Lite of 2024: No Man's Sky

Runner-up: Warframe

No Man's Sky has come a long, long way from its less than stellar launch across PC and PlayStation 4 years ago. Hello Games has continued to support its sci-fi exploration sandbox with massive free updates, bringing everything from a graphics overhaul, new expeditions, cross-saves and so much more. With the ability to tweak your experience for exactly the type of game you want to play, from hardcore survival sim to a more relaxed, creative exploration mode, No Man's Sky has something for everyone. 8 years on, the team at Hello Games is clicking on all cylinders, giving me so much hope for their next game, Light No Fire.

Best Indie MMO of 2024: Albion Online

Runner-up: Embers Adrift

Albion Online continues to ignite the imagination of our writers, year in and out, winning our Indie MMO of the Year award now two years running. This year was a good year for the team at Sandbox Interactive, with multiple updates bringing new content and balancing to the sandbox MMO, from its Crystal Raiders update to the more recent Horizons update which sets things up for 2025. With a great mix of both PvE and PvP content, its player-driven economy, and its interesting setting, Albion Online feels poised to continue to impress into the future. 

Most Anticipated: Ashes of Creation

Runners-up: Stars Reach, Dune: Awakening, Riot's League of Legends-based MMO

Deep in the throes of its Alpha 2, Ashes of Creation is still capturing our attention as Intrepid Studios keeps plugging away at its MMORPG. In development for years after a successful Kickstarter campaign, the MMO is one of the more ambitious titles on the horizon, and while it still feels a ways away, we're excited at the prospect of finally playing this game we've followed now throughout the eight years since its 2016 Kickstarter. When it actually releases is anyone's guess, but we're eagerly awaiting the day when we can jump into its Unreal Engine 5-powered world, take part in a caravan, and build a lasting foundation inside the world of Verra.

Most Improved MMO of 2024: New World: Aeternum

Runner-up: Embers Adrift

New World: Aeternum's near-complete overhaul of the 2021 MMO from Amazon injected new life into the Eternal Isle this year, with its launch across Xbox Series S|X and PlayStation 5, as well as bringing new endgame activities to long-time PC players. Nearly every aspect of New World has been improved with the Aeternum release, from improved storytelling and a more dynamic approach to questing to quality of life improvements which took some of the pain points out playing the MMO. PvP still feels a frenetic and exhilerating as ever, with influence races and Wars being utter highlights - assuming you're lucky enough to get into the latter. It's not a perfect experience, but it feels like it's in a much healthier spot overall as we enter 2025 than it did even after the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion turned the calendar on 2024.

How Amazon follows this up with compelling content to keep its now larger playerbase returning to the Eternal Isle remains to be largely seen, though the upcoming roadmap has some interesting inclusions that are sure to pique any adventurer's interest. 

Best Mobile MMO of 2024: Albion Online

Runner-up: Zenless Zone Zero, RuneScape

Albion Online is another winner here at our GotY awards, bringing home the award for Best Mobile MMO, dethroning our previous two-time winner, Genshin Impact. For many of the reasons listed above as to why it's the best Indie MMO of 2024, bringing all that gameplay to a mobile platform is no easy feat, yet Sandbox Interactive had done so in a way that does not feel like it's a cheapened version or pared down version of its MMORPG. I have drained my phone battery to Albion quite a bit this year, finally getting me more into mobile gaming than before, and I daresay that will continue well into 2025 as the team moves to a faster update cadence with its new seasonal model.

Biggest Disappointment of 2024: Blue Protocol's Cancellation

Runner-up: Games Industry layoffs continued at a record pace

Blue Protocol's cancellation is one of the most disappointing pieces of news in a while, as the MMO was well on its way to launching in the West thanks to a publishing deal with Amazon. Many of us here at MMORPG.com were looking forward to jumping into a true Anime MMO, especially one made by the same team that has brought the Tales JRPG series to life over the years. So when Bandai Namco Online's insolvency issues became known and Amazon's tight-lipped silence on the status of the MMORPG here in the West, it was clear the future of the MMO was murky. 

It's certainly disappointing to see an MMO sunset after years of operation. Still, something about Blue Protocol being sunset well before it really had the chance to see if it could thrive, especially with a broader audience, made this news feel even worse. Thankfully, in a year that saw record layoffs once again, Amazon being able to absorb this cancelation and not lay off any of the developers working on the game is a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing outcome.

Biggest Surprise of 2024: World of Warcraft Is Getting Player Housing

Runners-up: Palworld's Meteoric Rise, Palia and Singularity 6 Saved By Daybreak, City of Heroes Homecoming Officially recognized by NCSOFT

It's been a year full of surprises, and there were plenty of great choices, as evidenced by the long list of runners-up above, but World of Warcraft finally getting player housing shocked many of us when it was announced during the Warcraft 30th Anniversary stream this year. This is a feature the denizens of Azeroth have been asking Blizzard for over the years, and while it's still a ways off as it will be a part of the next expansion, Midnight, it's exciting nonetheless. As so many millions of players have made Azeroth their long-time online home, being able to get an actual place to call home in the world is utterly exciting and, frankly, a long time coming. 

ARPG of the Year 2024: Path of Exile 2

Runner-up: Diablo IV

As one of the highest-reviewed games on the site this year, Path of Exile 2 utterly enraptured us. The long-in-development ARPG from Grinding Gear Games is just in Early Access, but the version offered is as robust an experience as many fully released titles on the market today. Its satisfying gameplay, more streamlined mechanics that make it easier to get into but still offer the complexity that many long-time fans of the series crave, and an utterly fascinating setting make it a must-play for any RPG fan. The team at GGG are already responding to feedback and working to make the existing experience as rewarding as possible, while still setting up the eventual 1.0 down the road. Path of Exile 2 is definitely a game that is going to keep many of us occupied as we move through 2025 and beyond. 

Survival Game of the Year 2024: Palworld

Runners-up: Valheim, Fallout 76, Enshrouded, Once Human

Palworld took many of us by storm early in the year, becoming one of 2024's first major hits when it released on PC and Xbox consoles. Affectionally dubbed "Pokemon with Guns," Palworld's satisfying mix of creature collecting, creature battling, building, and survival mechanics made it an instant hit. Still in Early Access, the team at Pocket Pair Inc. are bringing new story, battles, creatures and more to the survival game, and have even launched across new platforms this year, adding PlayStation 5 players into the mix while an upcoming MacOS build is slated for February 2025. It's a survival sandbox that doesn't take itself too seriously -I mean, you can buy a Pal from a black market connection if capturing one in the wild is proving too difficult, for example, and it even features a Grand Theft Auto-style Wanted system if you commit a crime within the Palpagos Islands. And it only feels like it's getting started as we move into 2025. 

MMO Expansion of the Year 2024: Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds

Runner-up: World of Warcraft: The War Within, Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

As the highest-reviewed MMO expansion on the site this year, Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds takes home our MMO Expansion of the Year Award for 2024. With a story that delivered on so many fronts, paying off many of the storylines set up in previous expansions while laying the foundations for Guild Wars 2's future, Janthir Wilds kept our reviewer enthralled from start to finish. Additionally, the new maps are beautiful and a joy to explore with plenty of activities to keep MMO players happily busy each time they jump in. The new Homesteads feature is also compelling, with our reviewer Robin maxing out her Homestead masteries before anything else in Janthir Wilds. Like any good MMO expansion, Janthir Wilds is being expanded upon with post-launch content, the first of which, Godspawn, went live late November, bringing even more content to an already amazing expansion experience.

It's a good year to be a Guild Wars 2 fan, and Janthir Wilds continues ArenaNet's trend of pumping out stellar expansions, going back to 2022's End of Dragons release. 

RPG of the Year 2024: Metaphor: ReFantazio

Runner-up: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Metaphor: ReFantazio is ATLUS Games at the height of their powers. A thrilling story from the first time the cutscene plays before the loading screen till its credits roll almost 100 hours later, Metaphor is one of the best RPGs to come out in recent memory. It's a game that wears its worldview on its sleeve, expounding on themes such as equality in a society, anxiety, oppression, and even what role religion should play in government, just to name a few, Metaphor: ReFantazio masterfully weaves these topics into the fabric of its game world. Told from the perspective of a storybook, narrated and presented by the author, it also asks a question central to its theming: can fiction truly help shape the world around us? 

Metaphor is a more grounded take on fantasy, though it still retains much of what makes ATLUS games great, from its utterly stylish menus, exciting and enthralling music, some of the best voice acting of the year, and more. Additionally, the team behind the JRPG have taken the already stellar combat system found within Persona 5 Royal and somehow made it better with the incredibly flexible and satisfying Archetype system. Even adding something as simple as real-time combat outside of dungeons helps to improve the overall exploration experience, making those times you do have to jump into one of its turn-based bouts more meaningful. 

Metaphor: Refantazio is a masterclass in RPG design, and sum of its parts make for one of the most compelling and complex RPGs I've played in recent memory. It's a masterpiece and a game I will be thinking about for years to come. - Joseph Bradford

MMORPG of the Year 2024: World of Warcraft

Runner-up: Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, New World: Aeternum

This year has been a wild and crazy year for the 20-year-old World of Warcraft. Blizzard built on their successes in Dragonflight and delivered another banger of an expansion with The War Within, kicking off their trilogy World Soul Saga. There are many questions regarding where the story is going and what Xal’atath is really up to, and it would be very strange to know those answers already. Additionally, Blizzard has managed one of the best representations of PTSD I have seen with Anduin’s story. I am looking forward to seeing how he struggles and hopefully overcomes as we move further into the expansion.

Adding solo-focused content where players can experience real gear progression made Delves a huge success and added a much-needed pillar for players. There were some issues with balancing them early on, but the team got everything stable and in a good place reasonably quickly. As a completely new system, it would have been astonishing if it was perfect right from the get-go. Delves are the ideal addition for solo players and will be a system that will move with us into future expansions. 

The addition of Warbands also was a huge boon for players, especially those who have been playing for a long time. This new system immediately made leveling alts easier and more fun and allowed for the much-needed loosening of the rules regarding learning transmogs on characters. The warbank alone was a gigantic quality of life update. It’s a work in progress, but at one major patch in, TWW has left a significant and lasting mark on WoW.

Additionally, we saw the team experiment with two new game modes: Plunderstorm and MoP Remix (Pandamonia was a better name). Plunderstorm brought battle royal gameplay to WoW, which wasn’t on my bingo card. I’ve never been a fan of Battle Royales, but it was a massive hit for a significant portion of the playerbase. Not everything will be for everyone, but seeing the team taking real risks and trying something completely different was fantastic. Mists of Pandaria Remix was much more my speed, and I had a ton of fun with it. Running through old raids and being wholly overpowered, in a very different way than I am when I run old raids at max level, was a blast. I loved borrowing abilities from other classes and mixing and matching them. Additionally, both game modes were so successful that they will return next year.

World of Warcraft Classic also had a great year with the launch of Cataclysm Classic, which went well and has been solid all around, with the Firelands update launching a couple of months ago. Revisiting this old content as if it were new has been an incredible joy. Even with Chromie's time in Retail, the experience doesn’t compare.

We’ve also finally reached the max level in Season of Discovery, and it’s also been interesting to see where that has been going. I’ve seen it referred to as “WoW Classic, but if it had been released today,” which is an interesting perspective, I can’t disagree. With the 20th Anniversary, we also got brand new Classic and Classic Hardmode realms. Players have been asking for this, but I didn’t think we’d see it. It certainly sparked my interest in rolling new hardcore characters; there’s just something about starting on a new server that can’t be recreated any other way. I agree that Classic is all about the journey, and there is no rush. However, starting new on a server that has already undergone all the phases feels less exciting. Starting everything new again together is a blast. 

At times this past year, I’ve almost felt there was too much World of Warcraft content. In general, I can easily play other games without falling behind in WoW. This year, I’ve wanted to play more than I have in a while. Part of it is there are so many options, and part is the joy of seeing Blizzard trying new things. This year has been one of the best for World of Warcraft players and one of the best times to start as a new player.  - Robin Baird