Josh Strife Hayes has been dealing with MMORPGs on YouTube and Twitch for many years. He does not hold back criticism even on sponsored videos, as a German studio has recently experienced.
Who is Josh Strife Hayes? The well-known YouTuber (999,000 subscribers alone on the main channel, via YouTube) and streamer (215,144 followers on Twitch) is one of the biggest content creators when it comes to MMORPGs. His video series “Worst MMO ever” is particularly popular, in which Hayes summarizes his personal impressions from various genre representatives in an entertaining way.
Again and again, he takes on video assignments from MMO developers for his channel. What is important to him is that despite the sponsorship, he can still express his honest opinion freely. A studio from South Korea had a problem with this later and banned the release of the actually finished video a few years ago.
However, this article is supposed to address a criticism that has just gone live…
You can also find more about the best genre in the world on the YouTube channel of MeinMMO. Recently, a video about the biggest MMO release of 2026 has been released there:
German Successful MMORPG Under Review
What is the new video about? The officials from Sandbox Interactive based in Berlin apparently approached Josh Strife Hayes to get the YouTuber to give a video assessment of Albion Online again – and this is despite the fact that the creator had already published a critical video about the game on YouTube three years ago.
The MMORPG from Germany is one of the very few genre success stories of the past decade, as it has been growing and thriving for years. With great confidence, the developers agreed that Hayes could express criticism even with sponsorship.
The MMO enthusiast played Albion Online for about 100 hours during a special community event, and what he experienced in that time was enough for a 58-minute video that you can watch on YouTube or in the following:
What does the creator praise? The variety of content in Albion Online is now very rich. This allows theme park fans to have some fun with the sandbox MMO for a certain time – for instance, in solo dungeons or during arena PvP.
The thoughtfully designed crafting and trading systems also receive praise. Albion Online is the best example of a community-defined in-game economy, as all items in the goods and loot cycle have ultimately been crafted by a player.
In addition, there is the freedom to mix equipment parts and weapons freely, allowing for various different builds to be played. This system is now supported by one of the best features Hayes has seen in a game so far: the Armory.
The Armory offers diverse build recommendations from the community for all in-game activities, which are also provided with a lot of useful information. Newcomers can save the chosen build as a blueprint to automatically equip themselves with the appropriate equipment parts in the marketplace. It couldn’t be easier and more convenient.
What does Hayes criticize? You can tell that the Brit is actually more a fan of theme park MMOs, story presentation, and PvE content. He describes the resource grind for leveling crafting skills as exhausting. The PvP requirements in many areas frustrate him.
On top of that, he finds that players take pleasure in tracking down and eliminating well-known creators during their streams (stream-snipe). Therefore, he had to forego various open-world activities during the streams.
The premium currency Gold receives the most criticism, as you can purchase not just cosmetics but also items that directly affect a character’s strength:
- The paid premium status grants bonuses for learning points, earned fame, or obtainable focus per day. These primarily help you to reach your goals faster in crafting or character progression.
- Gold can be exchanged for silver. With silver, you can not only buy the best possible equipment but also booklets, allowing you to make progress very quickly on your Destiny Board (to maximize your knowledge of a weapon or armor type, for example).
Those who invest money in gold and silver can completely bypass the long grind behind progression. This saves many, many hours of gameplay. His conclusion about this model:
I can already feel the Albion Online fanboys shouting at their monitors demanding that I call it Pay2Progress and not Pay2Win. Because there is nothing here that a free-to-play player couldn’t eventually earn for themselves. And indeed, 50 or 60 hours of PvE in a black zone could yield the necessary silver and fame.
But let’s be honest here, folks – we’ve had this discussion already and we can gladly have it again: Pay2Win doesn’t mean that you can’t win at all if you don’t pay. It means, rather, that there is a direct connection between money and gaining in-game power. Invest more money, become stronger. Albion Online is EXACTLY THAT.
This Pay2Win aspect also impacted the community event that took place on the live servers, where participating guilds had an advantage by bypassing the grind through investments in gold and silver, allowing them to rush into the content that yielded the most points with the best possible equipment.
How does the expert’s conclusion look? Although Albion Online has gained accessibility over the past years and increasingly more content for PvE fans, casuals, and solo players, the core experience still revolves around PvP in a sandbox world where guilds fight for resources and territories.
Those looking for a new theme park PvE MMO experience might have only a brief amount of fun in Albion Online before moving on. However, those who play an MMO to win and dominate as part of a guild can have the time of their lives in Albion Online, especially if they’re willing to invest a lot of time or money.
In an interview for the 8th anniversary of Albion Online, Christoph Hombergs, Head of Operations at Sandbox Interactive, revealed why the team continues to be pleased with rising player numbers after all these years, while many other MMORPGs from the last decade disappoint: Developer reveals which feature of Albion Online is a “stroke of genius” for the genre of sandbox MMORPGs
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