I think it’s probably safe to say that the big releases for MMOs in 2017 have come and gone. Unless Blizzard shocks the world and magically puts out an expansion to WoW as a surprise Christmas gift, we’re already looking forward to 2018. So strap on your hype-belts, and board the hype-train, as it’s time to look forward to 2018 and hope it’s far, far better than 2017. This is our list of the 10 Most Wanted MMOs of 2018.
For this article, we’re going to focus on not only the games we expect to launch in 2018, but also games we expect to enter some form of early access, public beta, and games we expect to see expansions from. After all, it’s common now for a beta to be treated as a release, and even more common for a veteran MMO to have a stellar expansion that gets everyone playing again. That said, it’s nebulous whether the next FFXIV expansion will be in 2018 or in 2019, so we left that off for now. Could it hit for Christmas next year? Possibly! Consider this it’s honorable mention, but now, read on.
Project W
While it’s still completely an unknown, we expect great things from Kakao Games and Bluehole Studio. TERA, to this day, is one of the best F2P traditional themepark MMOs on the market. We’re hoping that Project W not only offers up the gorgeous visuals the studio is known for, but some true depth to its systems beyond the stellar combat that’s expected. How much has Bluehole learned about making an MMORPG in the years since TERA’s launch? We’ll find out soon as it’s revealed at G-STAR next month.
BLESS
We’re anxious about this title. To say it’s been a rocky start for BLESS’ overseas launch would be an understatement. While visually gorgeous, its technical hurdles have made Neowiz’ game an absolute bear to get footing. In 2018, it finally comes west being published by Neowiz themselves. Will it fair better here, or will it be a game better left off Western shores?
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New World
Gods, we still don’t know much of anything about New World. But we do expect 2018 to change that. While it’s uncertain what sort of release window Amazon’s ambitious MMORPG will have, we’re all but certain that we’ll be learning a lot more in 2018. The Western MMO is slowly building up for a resurgence, given the top four games on this list, and you can bet that the AAA money behind Amazon will want a piece of that pie.
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