Top 10 Most Anticipated Free-to-Play MMO Games in 2018 - Part 1 Article

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Top 10 Most Anticipated Free-to-Play MMO Games in 2018 - Part 1

Jan 27, 2018 | 1 Votes

by Aethyna 10 rate Your vote We're back again - albeit a bit late... sorry! - with this new year's most anticipated free-to-play MMO games, and boy! Do we have an incredibly exciting lineup of games for you! WWGDB - Top 10 Most Anticipated Free-to-Play MMO Games in 2018 - Part 1

WWGDB - Top 10 Most Anticipated Free-to-Play MMO Games in 2018 - Part 1

The trend in the free-to-play gaming industry of last year has been dominated by Fortnite Battle Royale, which, if we're all honest with ourselves, should thank its meteoric rise to fame to Player's Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG). After all, if not for PUBG's breakout success, Epic wouldn't have garnered so much attention for both Fortnite BR and the co-op tower-defense-like base game itself, Fortnite, which is slated to be released this year.

Anyway, if you’re huge fans of free-to-play MMO games, you're definitely in for a great treat this year! Here are 10 exciting free-to-play MMO games that you can look forward to in 2018!

#1 Ascent: Infinite Realm

I’m actually quite surprised that there are no other F2P Battle Royale games that are dominating the list for this year considering how much of a hype it is even until today. However, if there are any game to “dominate” this list, I’d rather have this incredible MMORPG from the very people behind TERA and PUBG, Ascent: Infinite Realm.

At its core, it seems pretty much like every other “huge” MMORPGs like… well, TERA, Aion and the like. It has a massive world that is set in a unique steampunk theme for you to explore… using cool airships, of course. In this game, you can play as one of five classes, namely the Warlord, Assassin, Gunslinger, Sorceress, and Mystic. The classes in this game are typical of an MMORPG that uses the “tank, dps and healer” format. Combat is very likely to be action-based, meaning that timely dodges and blocks are crucial to… well, not dying.

Interestingly, this game, being steampunk and all, will allow you, the player, to utilize awesome machines and mechs to do battle as well as to travel in. There will be tons of mechs that you can use, and each of them can be enhanced and customized to increase the combat ability of your machine and to outfit it so as to match your play style.

Now, although the company has yet to officially announced the game’s business model, many MMO games outlets have already been touting that it’ll be free-to-play. We at WWGDB weren’t able to confirm this, but we’d like to think that it’s going to take a page out of Black Desert Online’s book (The game doesn’t seem to be doing as well as expected despite barely reaching its first anniversary) and be a free-to-play MMO.

Currently in closed beta, Ascent: Infinite Realm will be first released in Korea, with its eventual North American and European release hot on its tail.

#2 Fortnite

If you have not heard of the name “Fortnite” in the past year, then you must definitely have been living under a rock for all this time… Well, if so, welcome back to modern society and make sure to get yourself a good PC to play Fortnite Battle Royale on!

Jokes aside (it’s a lame one, I know), Fortnite is Epic’s highly anticipated co-op base defense game where players get a short amount of time to gather resources and build a shelter for incoming waves of zombies. Naturally, players will get some respite from the onslaught from time to time to improve their base with better materials. Players will also get to use an arsenal of weapons, be it ranged or melee ones, to do battle with and lethal traps to place all around your shelter.

Being huge fans of tower defense and tower defense-like games, Fortnite has been on our watch list for quite some time, but after long last, the game is going to be released… this year! Although we think that Fortnite Battle Royale might have taken some of the limelight off its base game, Fortnite, we still hope that Epic Games stick to their schedule and release Fortnite for those of us who have been waiting for this game for ages.

The “Save the World” part of the game’s campaign will be free-to-play, while assumingly any other campaigns or DLCs will probably be buy-to-play. Regardless, at least we can still experience the campaign for free and for that, we are grateful. Fortnite will be launched sometime in 2018, but if you’re interested, you can hop in its early access by buying a founder’s pack.

#3 Ironsight

Featuring a cool futuristic theme, Ironsight is the thrilling MMOFPS developed by Wiple Games in South Korea that will be releasing its open beta version on the 1st of February this year. The game looks somewhat similar to games like Ghost Recon: Phantoms and Blacklight: Retribution due to its militaristic feel and also the cool gadgets you can use, such as a machine gun-fitted drone.

Like most MMOFPS games, Ironsight will be mainly team-and-objective-based where the K/D is secondary. Gameplay-wise, the game looks every tactical-based, and pretty fast-paced and intense. The maps in the game look amazing though. There seem to be tons of objects scattered around for you to take cover behind, and amazing alternative “flanking” routes and camping spots. This makes situational awareness more important than ever in this game.

Best of all, this game has some insane weapons for you to play with. As mentioned, there are drones that you can launch into the sky and control, but there are also mortar-like guided missiles and guided grenades that you can use, along with some pretty heavy weaponry like RPGs. Let’s not forget about the crazy amount of cosmetics you can use to not only personalize your character but also give him the perfect camouflage, especially if you plan on being the sniper in the squad.

Sounds like fun? Well, you can hop in by purchasing a Founder’s pack right now, but if you’re okay with waiting for a while, the game will be out before the mid of this year. Players in Asian regions can expect to play the game via Aeria Games, while players in North America and Europe will need to head over to Gamigo instead.

However, please take note that we have not been able to confirm whether this game is truly free-to-play. Many other game news outlets have reported Ironsight as being free-to-play, but we have not received word directly from the developer of the publishers, so you might want to take this news with a bit of salt.

#4 Black Desert Mobile

Are you one of those gamers who are hugely disappointed when you realized that you can’t play Black Desert Online in your country? Well, fret not – the developers, Pearl Abyss, are coming out with a more globally inclusive mobile version of the game, aptly named Black Desert Mobile, this year!

To make the transition from PC to mobile, the game will be subjected to several major changes, such as the addition of an auto-mode as well as some changes to the gameplay and player’s perspective. The game will still retain all its classes though, with the main five classes, namely the Warrior, Ranger, Berserker, Valkyrie, and Witch, being launched alongside the app during release. The Sorcerer class will be released in a later patch.

Black Desert Online Mobile will also contain a more simplified version of its namesake, but the game features seem to be quite sufficient for a mobile MMO. There will be tons of PvE content, ranging from open field PvE to World and Guild Boss fights, and a few PvP ones. The mobile version will also contain a feature called Domain where you can recruit workers and generally order them to do stuff for you.

Pearl Abyss is planning a simultaneous launch globally early 2018. They already have over 1 million players from Korea alone who have pre-registered for the game, and it was done in a record time of only 1 week.

#5 Dead Maze

If you have not heard of this game, Dead Maze, we wouldn’t be at all surprised. It is an upcoming free-to-play, isometric zombie survival MMO game that is being developed by indie developers, Atelier 801. The game is set after a zombie apocalypse has hit the western United States and as such, players will need to cooperate to survive. Players will need to scavenge for food and resources, craft items and even build themselves a nice shelter in the woods.

In other words, Dead Maze would probably end up being a more cartoonish version of Last Day on Earth: Survival that actually has a multiplayer gameplay. The game will be available on Steam in early 2018.

Part 2 of this article will be coming real soon. Be sure to stay tuned!