Massively-multiplayer games can be huge moneymakers for the developers who make them, and like with anything that has huge moneymaking potential, there are a lot on the market. As a gamer, you might be wondering if, somewhere out there, there's an MMO that's just for you. Some magical, virtual world where you'll feel right at home hitting a boar with a mace so you can give it's spleen to a pixie. We've done the legwork to bring you a soon-to-be-comprehensive list of all the major (and probably some of the minor) MMOs of the past, present and future. Hopefully with this list you can, at a glance, figure out if there's an MMO that is calling your name.

There are still many, many more games to be added to this list -- including swathes of popular free-to-play games -- so we'll do our best to keep updating this list. In the meantime, we fully expect you, the reader, to tell us that were horrible people for skipping a game. Enjoy!

Last Updated 4/22/11: Moved Rift and DC Universe Online into the Out Now section. Moved APB Reloaded into the In Development section and added Salem, Gods & Heroes and Dead Frontier. Updated the latest versions of all applicable games and added a whole new section -- "You'll love it if." I'm totally ready for you to tell me how wrong I am!

Release Date: May 2008

What you'll pay: Price of the game (varies) and a monthly subscription ($14.99 US).

Age of Conan was warmly received by hundreds of thousands of players and then promptly dropped by almost as many. Despite being set in the dark Conan universe and touting a cool combo-based combat system, AoC was mostly considered revolutionary for including boobs – meaning players didn't have to track down a third-party nudity patch. Thanks, Funcom!

You'll love it if: You're dying for a darker, more mature game atmosphere, or a more complex fighting system.

Version/latest additions: Funcom is continuing the Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer storyline and has just introduced "The Refuge of the Apostate," a level 80 solo dungeon.




Release Date: September 2009

What you'll pay: $39.99 US for the game, plus $14.99 US a month for a subscription.

Aion, developed in-house by NCsoft in Korea, puts players in the shoes of really, stupidly beautiful angel-people known as Daeva with functional wings. Gameplay and combat is similar to other MMOs, except now flying is an option. When it was released last year it was met with strong sales, but in response to what many players perceived as "way too much grinding," numbers dropped off. Since then, Aion has lowered the amount of grinding and streamlined a lot of the less fun bits of the game.

You'll love it if: You highly value graphics and freedom of movement.

Version/latest additions: Aion has a major patch forthcoming that will introduce an ongoing arena battle, where players see just how long they can last against increasingly difficult enemies.




Release Date: September 2009

What you'll pay: Free-to-play! Gold membership costs $14.99 US a month.

Once upon a time, Cryptic Studios made a game called City of Heroes in which players could create a super hero and fight crime. Then they sold the game to NCsoft. A couple years later Champions Online hit store shelves and eStore eShelves, and ex-CoH veterans held high hopes that this would be a return to the game they loved. CO is based on the Champions pen-and-paper roleplaying game and features extremely robust character and hero creation.

You'll love it if: You're looking to get into a new Superhero-themed universe for no upfront cost.

Version/Latest Additions: The most recent major update introduced a new character Archetype (the Tempest) and a reworking of the Electric power set.