An important point in any MMORPG is the number of active players. We at MeinMMO have therefore looked at which MMORPGs had the most players on Steam in September.
How was the list created? MeinMMO looked at a specific value of the games on Steam for the list: the “Peak-Players” value on steamcharts. This value reflects how many players of the MMORPG were online at the same time at most over the last 24 hours.
If the peak value of players is 1,500, it means that a maximum of 1,500 people were logged into the game simultaneously in the last 24 hours. We believe this value provides the best basis for such a top list.
What else should be noted? We only refer to the Steam player numbers here. All MMORPGs on this list also have their own launcher and partially console versions. Unfortunately, we cannot view the numbers from the game-specific launchers and thus cannot consider them.
The Steam numbers are still a good indicator to determine how lively an MMORPG currently is. All exact numbers come from steamcharts.com. However, keep in mind that the actual player count may be much higher for some titles.
These are the results
Which MMORPGs perform well? We would like to briefly introduce you to ranks 10 to 4 in a list before we delve deeper into the top three spots.
- 10th place – Swords of Legends Online (2,624 players)
- 9th place – Star Trek Online (2,886 players)
- 8th place – EVE Online (4,757 players)
- 7th place – RuneScape (6,291 players)
- 6th place – Albion Online (10,718 players)
- 5th place – Star Wars: The Old Republic (10,933 players)
- 4th place – Black Desert Online (24,034 players)
3rd place – The Elder Scrolls Online
- Focus of the MMORPG: Story and world exploration
- Player count: 24,849
- Player count trend: Mostly increasing in 2021
- Business model: Buy2Play and optional subscription
- Mein-MMO user rating: 8 out of 10
What kind of game is this? Since April 2014, you can experience the world of The Elder Scrolls online together with others. Since then, the MMORPG has been continually expanded and recently brought a whole bunch of new content with the addon Blackwood .
Even aside from the major expansions, ESO regularly receives new content, updates, and exciting events. One of the current events, for example, is about being as “Heavy Metal” as possible. Apart from that, you get the full MMORPG experience in ESO.
In PvE, you can expect an exciting story, challenging raids, and a lovingly designed world with areas that you may already know from other Elder Scrolls titles, but also completely new locations. In PvP, on the other hand, you can look forward to exciting battles in various modes and with different player counts.
Where can you play? In addition to Steam, the MMORPG is also available in a standalone launcher, as well as on Mac, PS4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S, and also Google Stadia. Except for the Switch, the title is practically available everywhere.
PC, Mac, and Stadia fans can even play together. However, the consoles still have their own servers, so complete crossplay is unfortunately not yet possible.
If you are not yet convinced, MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has 5 reasons for you why you should start playing the MMORPG now.
2nd place – Bless Unleashed
- Focus of the MMORPG: Open-world and PvP
- Player count: 30,246
- Player count trend: Decreasing, but this is also due to the recent release
- Business model: Free2Play with real money shop
- Mein-MMO user rating: 4.8 out of 10
What kind of game is this? Bless Unleashed was released in March 2020, but only for consoles. However, it is not a simple remake of Bless Online, whose name still seems to boil the blood of many MMORPG fans. .
However, Bless Unleashed is from a new studio and is a new game; only some assets from Bless Online are reused, and indeed, Bless Unleashed is received much better by the MMO community.
Since August 6, you can also play the MMORPG on PC and Steam. You get some adjustments, but basically, it’s a console port that is by no means poorly done.
With Bless Unleashed, you get a graphically appealing, new MMORPG with exciting mechanics and two major problems. One of them is definitely the game’s PvP constraints.
Starting at level 30, there is open-world PvP, so any other player can simply attack you, and you cannot turn off this feature unless you are willing to pay about €2.50 to get a one-hour exemption. Although Bless Unleashed seems to focus on PvP content, this is a significant point of criticism for the community.
Where can you play? You can play Bless Unleashed on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as on Xbox One and Series X/S. There is no crossplay, and each version of the title has its own servers and plays for itself.
However, the game is Free2Play on all consoles and PCs, so in the best sense, checking it out costs nothing. If you are now intrigued, we have 15 tips for Bless Unleashed that I wish I had known earlier.
1st place – Final Fantasy XIV
- Focus of the MMORPG: Story and open-world
- Player count: 50,470
- Player count trend: Rather increasing
- Business model: Buy2Play with subscription model
- Mein-MMO user rating: 9 out of 10
What kind of game is this? Final Fantasy has experimented with MMORPGs with the 14th installment of the series. What initially started off not very successfully was then canceled and reborn under the name “A Realm Reborn”. Since the restart over 7 years ago, the MMORPG has been running smoothly and receives new content regularly.
On November 23, the next major expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, Endwalker, will arrive and bring many new contents, including two new jobs for your character.
The special thing about Final Fantasy XIV is that you only need one character to play all classes. Here, classes are called jobs, and you can have as many as you want. You just need to level them separately.
Gameplay-wise, Final Fantasy XIV offers you everything you could hope for from an MMORPG. PvE content with exciting stories, player housing, raids, and dungeons of varying difficulty levels, as well as various PvP content, offer something for every player to enjoy.
In addition to the major expansions like Endwalker or the recently released Shadowbringers, the game is also continuously updated with new content every 3 to 4 months.
Where can you play? Final Fantasy XIV is available through Steam, as well as in its own launcher, and for Mac, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. Unfortunately, the title is currently unavailable on Xbox consoles.
There is also a crossplay feature included. However, this only works if you and your friends are on the same data center. If you want to start playing FFXIV now, it’s better to ask your friends which server they are playing on.
Our FFXIV expert Irina Moritz also explains to you why you should better start in Final Fantasy XIV before the Endwalker addon appears.
Bonus: MIR4
- Focus of the MMORPG: Auto-play and loot
- Player count: 34,285
- Player count trend: Decreasing
- Business model: Free2Play with the opportunity to earn money
- Mein-MMO user rating: Not available
What kind of game is this? MIR4 is, by name, an MMORPG with many players; however, we have some issues incorporating the game into the standard ranking. Nevertheless, it has many people actively involved, which is why we mention it here as a bonus placement.
MIR4 was originally released for Android and iOS and has now been ported to PC, but you can still clearly see from the PC version that it was designed for mobile devices. The game also offers the option to automate all significant tasks and thus play entirely on auto-play.
The MMORPG consistently receives negative reviews from both players and the press. Even the reviews marked as positive are often written very sarcastically and negatively.
However, the game offers you the opportunity to convert the in-game currency Darksteel into the cryptocurrency Draco and thus earn real money by having the MMORPG simply run by itself. Many users utilize it for that purpose.
These were the 10 MMORPGs with the most players on Steam in September 2021. What do you think of this list? Are there games on here that you play yourself, or are there any that you would like to see here? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
Do you perhaps simply not know what you should play right now? These MMOs have already been released this year.
