Defiance
It is cursed hard to publish an MMORPG that runs successfully for many years. A challenge is also to start a series that can build a sufficiently large fan base over diverse seasons to justify the production of further episodes.
The plan of Trion Worlds seemed as revolutionary as it was megalomaniacal: The MMO Defiance was to stand in constant interaction with the eponymous TV series. The events shown on the pay TV channel SyFy were supposed to first affect the game world. Afterwards, the progress and actions of the players would shape the second season of the series.
As exciting as the project sounds, the responsible parties ended up doing very little with it. Defiance turned out to be a mediocre MMO shooter that initially suffered from AI issues, technical problems, generic missions, and graphics recycling. Moreover, hardly any player had followed the series on SyFy. It was already canceled after the third season.
The game Defiance experienced tumultuous years afterward, with the relaunch Defiance 2050, Gamigo as the new owner, the shutdown of servers in April 2021, and the surprising comeback in April 2025: MMO shooter was Destiny before Destiny existed, is now making its comeback: “I missed it so much”
The idea of linking an MMO with a series is likely something no studio would come up with now. And if they do: Just don’t. Remember Defiance!
These were 10 MMORPGs from which upcoming online role-playing games should absolutely learn if they want to be successful. If you think of more examples from which important lessons can be drawn, please share them in the comments. What the wish-MMORPG of genre enthusiast Karsten Scholz looks like, you can find out here: When someone announces such an MMORPG, I take a front seat on the hype train
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!