At the start of the big MMORPG theme week, we asked you which upcoming genre representatives you are looking forward to the most. Now it’s time for the evaluation!
On the last day of our big Grindfest theme week for the MMORPG genre, we have something nice prepared for you: the evaluation of the survey about the online role-playing games of the foreseeable future that you are most looking forward to!
We focus on the top 10, the ten games that received the most votes from you. What stands out:
- Major licenses continue to fuel the excitement of many fans.
- Many games that have not yet been finally released, but that are already available in Early Access, have not yet managed to establish a noticeable hype for the upcoming launch – such as Pax Dei, Pantheon, The Quinfall, or Corepunk.
- Although our survey included more than 35 games, 126 participants of the survey chose the option “A completely different MMORPG.” In the comments on MeinMMO and GameStar, titles like Light No Fire, Star Citizen, and Soulframe (none of which are true MMORPGs) or the Blue Protocol spinoff Star Resonance were occasionally mentioned. The name WoW: Midnight also came up here and there – but the survey was not about expansions.
Through our table of contents, you can jump directly to the individual games that interest you:
If you don’t like the future of MMORPGs, perhaps it’s worth taking a look at the history of online role-playing games:
Rank 10: Camelot Unchained
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Unchained Entertainment | Platform: PC | Status: Alpha, release planned for late 2025
Actually, the MMORPG,for which there was one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in gaming history in 2013, should have been released long ago. However, the team led by industry veteran Mark Jacobs repeatedly got distracted, faced financial problems, or was sidetracked by other projects like the PvE MMO Final Stand: Ragnarök.
In the meantime, allegations of scams even arose. Hardly anyone believed that Camelot Unchained would ever be finished. However, after a long development time and many delays, in March 2024, there was a surprising status update from the lead developer: Camelot Unchained is expected to be finally released in late 2025.
Typical for Camelot Unchained, the next piece of bad news wasn’t long in coming: In early 2025, Andrew Meggs, co-founder of the studio, wrote that layoffs had occurred. 24 out of 55 employees had to go.
As a result, some supporters of the project even considered taking legal action against the developer if there wasn’t a detailed timeline for Camelot Unchained in the foreseeable future. Studio head Mark Jacobs took three months to talk about the current status of the MMORPG.
According to Jacobs, the layoffs do not mean the end of Camelot Unchained. Instead, they now finally have a real game that can serve as a foundation for a great MMORPG experience. After 12 years of development. It didn’t help that the latest gameplay material from the new zone was not well received by many players.
It’s all very unfortunate when you consider that veterans are at the helm who have significantly contributed to MMORPG classics like Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online. You can find a detailed summary of the turbulent development here: What’s going on with Camelot Unchained, the great hope for true MMORPG veterans?
