Battle Royale, MOBAs, Loot Shooters, MMORPGs - among the best online games there is something for almost every taste.
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Nowadays, online games are a dime a dozen - and they clearly dominate the gaming world. Sure, single-player titles are still very successful, but games with a multiplayer focus are the ones that generate the most revenue - even though some of them are even free to play. We present you with the absolute top hits that will provide you with many hours of gaming fun and appeal to a wide range of tastes.
Among Us
- Genre: Deduction game
- Developer: Innersloth
- Publisher: Innersloth
- First release: June 15, 2018
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android
- Business model: buy to play, free mobile version with ads
The hype around the deduction game Among Us, which is based on analog board games like "Werewolves of Bleak Forest", may be over by now, but it is still popular - and rightly so! Technically, Among Us may be extremely simple. However, the concept is great. Four or more players form the crew of a spaceship or research station, and at least one of them is an impostor who must secretly kill the others. He is the one to unmask, but he will do anything to make the others accuse each other. This makes for extremely funny, but also exciting situations.
Apex Legends
- Genre: Battle Royale Game, Hero Shooter
- Developer: Respawn Entertainment
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Initial release: February 4, 2019
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
- Business model: Free to Play
Apex Legends came out of nowhere in early 2019 and took the world by storm. Today, it's one of the great battle royale games and even the best of them in terms of game design. Its special feature: you control heroes with unique abilities like in Overwatch. One can turn invisible for a short time, the other can call in an artillery strike or heal his teammates. These skills promote team play enormously, which is why you can't play Apex Legends solo like the other Battle Royale titles. If you need a bit of a change from fighting for survival on large maps, you can jump into the Arena mode, which is slightly reminiscent of Counter-Strike.
Call Of Duty: Warzone
- Genre: Battle Royale Game, First-person Shooter
- Developer: Infinity Ward / Raven Software
- Publisher: Activision Blizzard
- First release: March 10, 2020
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
- Business model: Free to Play
While the main parts of the "Call of Duty" series are still paid games, there has been a free spin-off since 2020 with Call of Duty: Warzone, which is always linked to the latest part of the series. The online game offers battle royale action with the proven CoD gameplay. If Fortnite is too colorful for you and Apex Legends is too fast, you'll be in good hands here. In addition to the classic battle royale mode, Warzone also offers the "loot money" variant, in which the goal is to collect as much cash as possible and get it out of the area.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Genre: Tactical Shooter
- Developer: Valve
- Publisher: Valve
- Initial release: August 21, 2012
- Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Business model: Free to Play
Counter-Strike is THE multiplayer shooter classic par excellence. Sure, there are still people who play the 1.6 or Source version, but Global Offensive has basically replaced them both. The action game is an excellent choice for those who like battles with a high tactical demand and can live with a not quite fresh look. However, owners of the current consoles are left out. On PS3 and Xbox 360, Cpunter-Strike: Global Offensive has simply not been able to establish itself, which is why Valve has developed further ports, not without reason. However, the game also requires very precise inputs, which are not possible with a controller.
Deep Rock Galactic
- Genre: First-person shooter
- Developer: Ghost Ship Games
- Publisher: Coffee Stain Studios
- First release: May 13, 2020
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One
- Business model: Buy to Play
Dwarves are cool. Rocking dwarves are even cooler. Rocking dwarves digging and blasting their way through the levels of one of the best co-op shooters of all time is even cooler. You play the latter in Deep Rock Galactic. Here you'll explore the procedurally generated underground of a planet, where there are plenty of mineral resources. It could almost be a paradise for dwarves, if it weren't for the aggressive, insect-like aliens who object to you roaming around in their caves and digging for resources. Thanks to four very different classes, a lot to unlock, and a decent range of mission types and biomes, you won't get bored very quickly.
Destiny 2
- Genre: Loot Shooter
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Bungie
- Initial release: September 6, 2017
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
- Business model: Free to play with paid expansions
The first Destiny established the genre of the loot shooter - and the modern life service approach that many manufacturers now follow. But it wasn't until the expansions that it became a game that kept a wide range of people glued to the screen for several hours. Destiny 2 has followed a very similar path. In the meantime, it has become a really good action game, which is characterized by its great gunplay and the motivating loot spiral. You can play the basic version for free, but if you want to really dive in, you can't avoid buying the add-ons (and Season Passes).
Dota 2
- Genre: MOBA
- Developer: Valve
- Publisher: Valve
- Initial release: July 9, 2013
- Platforms: PC
- Business model: Free to Play
League of Legends (see below) may be the undisputed number 1 in the MOBA genre in terms of player numbers. However, Valve's Dota 2 has been proving for years that there is still room for a second major title that is also one of the most played PC games. This is the official successor to the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft 3, which is not considered the birth of the MOBA genre, but made the principle world-famous. Valve has recruited its creator IceFrog (real identity not publicly known), to develop the big LoL competitor that Dota 2 has also become. Unlike Riot Games' game, all heroes here are free to play, you don't have to unlock them first. Due to more micromanagement, however, it is also less beginner-friendly. Professionals, on the other hand, will be happy about the greater depth.
Eve Online
- Genre: Space game, MMO
- Developer: CCP Games
- Publisher: CCP Games
- First release: May 23, 2003
- Platforms: PC
- Business model: Free to Play
EVE Online is a fascinating game. In the huge virtual space, the players decide how the hare runs. There is probably no other title that realizes the vision of a sandbox MMO more consistently. The economy is completely community-driven, and large-scale wars between corporations (the game's guilds, so to speak) may not be the order of the day, but they are not uncommon and have repercussions throughout the galaxy. However, if you think that EVE Online has long since become what Star Citizen is supposed to be, we'll have to rein you in a bit: For one thing, you're only on the move in your spaceship here and can't run around aboard space stations or even on planets. Secondly, the controls are very indirect. You don't sit at the controls and experience dogfights like you might know from the classic Freelancer or modern alternatives like Everspace 2.
Fall Guys
- Genre: Jump and Run, Battle Royale Game
- Developer: Mediatonic
- Publisher: Epic Games
- First release: August 4, 2020
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
- Business model: Free to Play
When Fall Guys was released in 2020 (subtitled "Ultimate Knockout" at the time), it turned out to be a fun game, but it quickly ran out of steam. It simply lacked scope. By the time of the free-to-play conversion two years later, things have looked quite different. Developer Mediatonic has been regularly adding new game rounds to the online game, which is reminiscent of TV shows like "Takeshi's Castle", since its release. Meanwhile, it offers a wide range of levels, so it's always fun to fight for the crown. The game mechanics are so simple that everyone quickly finds their way around, and the slapstick factor is enormously high. When 60 bean-like figures run along a course and everyone tries to reach the finish line before everyone else, the result is hopeless and very entertaining chaos.
Final Fantasy XIV
- Genre: MMORPG
- Developer: Square Enix
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Initial release: August 27, 2013 ("A Realm Reborn" version)
- Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4
- Business model: buy-to-play plus subscription model, free trial version with all content from the main game and the first expansion.
Final Fantasy XIV was actually released in 2010, but this first version was so bad that Square Enix took it out of circulation and completely redeveloped it. Three years later, the MMORPG was relaunched as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and from then on it really took off. Today it is one of the most successful online role-playing games. Its greatest strength is the story, which has only gotten better with each expansion and surpasses various single-player titles (especially the most recent "Final Fantasy" solo adventures). In addition, there is a gigantic selection of classes, all of which you can play with just one character. Twinks are virtually superfluous in Final Fantasy XIV.