MMORPGs are some of the most popular games available on the internet, but it can be difficult to find quality Mac games within this genre. Today I am going to break down a list of the Best MMORPGs for Mac so you can enjoy hours of fun playing some of your favorite free and paid MMOs right on your Apple computer.
MMORPGs, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, are a staple genre of video games. They are one of the most popular genres around and are played by millions of people all over the world. There are many options when looking for a great MMORPG – or “massive multiplayer online role playing game” — on a Mac.
I remember getting my first Mac years ago, and was a bit nervous about finding games to play because I didn’t have anything Windows compatible for games.
Thankfully, over the years Mac gaming has grown exponentially into one of the most popular ways to enjoy video games on your computer. You can be assured that there are many great MMORPGs available for Mac users who want to take on enemies and challenge themselves with online gaming fun.
Taking a break from your hectic schedule can be incredibly refreshing. There are plenty of ways to relax, but one of the most enjoyable is through playing games. MMORPGs tend to offer a variety of options and allow you to create an identity that can express yourself.
A personalized character created through your own preferences and imagination can be both more exciting to play and a reflection of your personal characteristics. And you can also bring your game character to life by Custom Keychains, or even add a few more ideas to the design template that aren’t even in the game.
This one-of-a-kind keychain can not only be worn as a decorative item, but can also be used as a work of art and a souvenir for your family and friends, or as a collector’s item.
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When discussing the best massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) to play on Mac, the conversation often revolves around three major titles: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
While there are great MMORPGs to play on Mac in addition to these three, I’d like to focus on free MMORPGs for Mac. Not only do free MMORPGs for Mac offer an escape from reality for hours on end, but they also allow you to gain valuable experience with your Mac.
For Mac users, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game space is dominated by free-to-play titles, though there are a couple of fully paid games and expansions.
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These visually stunning games feature a wide array of quests to complete as well as thousands of players to interact with. Which is why they have such a large player base and make for some of the best free Mac games.
So, if you’re interested in some hardcore online gaming but don’t want to spend a cent (or just want to try something different), these seven MMORPGs for Mac should be high on your list.
Here are some of the top MMORPGs for Mac gamers.
1. World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft, sometimes referred to as the game that brought the MMORPG genre into the mainstream, was released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. It has over 8 million players worldwide and is still a huge success. World of Warcraft is currently one of the fastest growing MMORPGs both in terms of sales and subscriber numbers.
It is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game that involves a combination of dungeon crawling, questing and player versus player battles. There are 10 distinct player races and 4 different classes per race you can choose from, there are over a dozen zones to explore and an amazing lore behind the game.
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All these features together led to record sales as World of Warcraft has become one of the most popular Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) in the world.
Blizzard’s efforts to continue expanding the content available in World of Warcraft have led to some decidedly strange places. But even the coolest new zones can be a little strange or unfamiliar if they haven’t been sufficiently detailed in-game and on the official website.
With this beginner’s guide book, you can become an expert in the Shadowlands―with sections on planning your trip through realms like Oribos, Bastion, and Voidmist―and help ensure that your adventures there are as good as they can possibly be.
Around Azeroth, we’re accustomed to seeing blue skies, untainted by haze, and vibrant green fields. Even the Twilight Highlands are a distant relative of the familiar forests of Elwynn and the Barrens. But the Shadowlands are like nothing you’ve ever seen before on Azeroth, taking the vistas Blizzard has used as “flavor” zones in Outlands and Northrend to an entirely new plane.
With Legion, World of Warcraft manages yet another successful expansion by doubling down on what makes the game great. More varied and accessible content, streamlined gameplay, and a more cohesive story gives even newcomers to WoW a chance to see the wonder that is Azeroth.
If you haven’t ventured out beyond the borders of Azeroth in World of Warcraft yet, now is a great time to start. The latest expansion, Legion, offers a new hero class, powerful artifact weapons, and several new zones filled with challenges to overcome.
And that, in a nutshell, is what transports us to the Shadowlands. I found that I couldn’t stop myself from gawking at the sights and sounds of this new world. I was constantly staring up at the sky, down at my feet, and even behind me to bask in the myriad details.
It feels like the developers have learned from previous expansions and years of experience, creating a sense of diversity and dynamism that we haven’t really seen since Vanilla WoW.
While the lack of traditional “starting zones” means you may have to absorb some lore through questing, it’s worth it for these fantastical landscapes and creatures. And it helps that you can do all this without flying right away as well! If you want to explore life after death, or just see some uniquely haunting sights and sounds, then check out the new Ghostlands—you won’t regret it.
2. Final Fantasy XIV
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV is one of the best MMORPGs in the genre. It has about 30 million subscribers and a very dedicated fanbase. The game also has a ton of content for MMO players to explore with or without friends along the way.
Having been gone from the game for a couple years and not being entirely up to date with what has changed in the game since then, I figured the best way to get back into it would be to review this popular and well-received title from a fresh perspective by playing through the entire game from start to finish and recording my experience as I played it live on Twitch.
With its numerous endgame enhancements and a more action-oriented facelift, Final Fantasy XIV offers a seamless experience like no other when it comes to MMORPGs. It boasts one of the most vibrant game worlds around, backed by beautiful visuals rendered in stunning HD quality.But it all comes down to the story.
Final Fantasy XIV has been around for almost nine years, and that’s way longer than all but the most committed of role-playing game fans—the kind who buy blitzball uniforms in Final Fantasy X, or collect every Pokemon in a handheld series—are signed up for. And in those eight years, Final Fantasy XIV has made some changes.
Early on, it built a sprawling world that told entertaining stories and required players to spend time leveling up their characters to progress through them. It introduced an ambitious raid system, where dozens of players would group up to take on massive enemies outside of any regular multiplayer activities.
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It created job classes like tanks and healers, which allowed players to build their characters from the ground up with specialized skills of those types. And it didn’t always succeed; 2014’s Heavensward expansion was overstuffed with content-rich dungeons and raids that could be completed by single players, meaning that a lot of potential party members were at loose ends when they couldn’t find groups.
Final Fantasy XIV is a story about the bonds of friendship and what it means to serve a cause greater than one’s self. A lot of great things happen over the course of the approximately 50 hours it takes to complete the main story, but I don’t want to spoil anything for others who might not have seen it all yet.
The production values are top-notch, there’s a ton of variety in terms of gameplay, and up until around level 35, enemies never feel like bullet sponges. Plus, the price tag on Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood is extremely fair when compared with many other big name games out there.
Does Endwalker deliver on its promises? In my opinion, yes it does, though with a few reservations. The story is delivered in a way that’s rewarding if you’ve spent hours on your character and have some sense of the context he or she is coming from.
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Some may argue that the story unfolds to hit too many of the same beats we’ve seen in previous entries, but I found that familiarity actually helped in some ways. If you’ve poured enough time into this game and know this world well enough, there are plenty of callbacks and references to standard Final Fantasy tropes to reward you for your time.
There will be those who don’t think this final story arc is good enough for the biggest MMORPG around, but the unexpected twists and turns really got me invested. From what I can tell, this is by far the best storytelling job Square Enix has ever done with its flagship series, even more than my beloved Final Fantasy VII.
If you haven’t played FFXIV: Stormblood because of how long it’s been since it released, now is definitely the time to jump back in. And hey, while you’re at it, maybe take some time after the new patch to experience one last adventure with your old adventuring buddies.
3. League of Legends
Since the days of EverQuest, World of Warcraft and a legion of other MMORPG games, gamers have been searching for a game that will bring the best of both worlds.
A game where you can technically ‘grow stronger’ in real life using your online abilities. A game where you can conquer the new world of cyberspace and not just by your keyboard but also with your ability to strategize. Oh, and this game needed to be free!
Well, many people would argue that such a game has been produced in the form of League of Legends.
Still going strong, League of Legends is one of the world’s biggest games, and one of the best free-to-play games out there. With its regular updates, huge player base, and constantly growing pool of Champions to play as, it’s not just an excellent arena brawler, but an engaging competitive experience throughout.
One of the first free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena games, League of Legends is a fun, frantic game that pits two teams of five against each other.
Champions must battle their way through monster-filled maps and team up with other players to destroy towers and ultimately win. League of Legends breaks the mold by featuring only one map (Summoner’s Rift) but never feels limited or stale—it’s constantly being updated with new content, events, and modes.
League of Legends is highly aware of that when it comes to controls. There’s no crosshair or aiming reticule, rather your champion moves where you point your cursor. So aiming farther away is slightly more difficult than aiming straight at an enemy; yet it feels natural.
Also with the lack of a crosshair, your true aim (where you’re actually moving your character) also changes depending on what zoom level you’re looking at, so you need to account for that as well! It seems like a bit too much explaining about the controls for such a point-and-click style game, but it works, and I’ve fallen in love with this system over many games.
League of Legends is the most played PC game in the world, and the internet’s greatest source of memes. If you care about either of these things at all then you should probably get your butt onto League ASAP so you can share in the fun, too.
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But it’s not that easy to jump in and start playing, because League is insanely complex. There are dozens of Champions with complicated abilities and synergies between one another, entirely different rules governing how you generate and spend gold, specialised roles for your team to fulfil…
Over the years, developers Riot have done a great job at easing players into the game with tutorials and practice modes, but if you’re beyond that stage and ready to play League on an uncompetitive level, here are my five tips for getting started.
Beyond its basic no-cost structure, the game offers a ton of ways to without breaking League’s core gameplay. There’s a simple in-game shop where you spend Riot Points, which are earned slowly through play or purchased with real money, on Champions and cosmetic items that have no effect on gameplay at all.
There’s also an Honor system that lets people who enjoy League in the free-to-play rotation earn upgrades for their account and other bonuses just for playing (in addition to earning Influence Points and unlocking new Champions). And yet all of this optional spending doesn’t distract from League of Legends as a competitive endeavor.
I was able to buy pretty much every Champion I wanted to try out and still be competitive with players who had unlocked everything.
For me, though, League of Legends is not about the destination: It’s about the journey. Yes, I play to win, but I admit I’m extremely addicted to the process of acquiring new Champions, unlocking their abilities and discovering what works best for me.
If you’re anything like me, you will struggle to find a more rewarding gaming experience, because there are few things in life that are as satisfying as unlocking a new character or team and handing your hapless opponents a glorious loss.
All in all, League of Legends is one of the best free-to-play games you can play.
4. Dota 2
Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Valve.
Dota 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and released by Valve Corporation.
The game is the stand-alone sequel to Defense of the Ancients, which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with both teams occupying their own fortified bases on opposite sides of a map.
Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a “hero”, who all have unique abilities and differing styles of play.
Dota 2 is considered by its creators to be a “complex” game, but is presented to the player in the form of a very simple interface. The player does not need to learn complex combos to be able to play the game effectively; most new players are able to pick up the basics of the game very quickly.
Dota 2’s learning curve is mountainous. It has to be, because on the other side of it is the peak that everybody wants to reach. The people at Valve have given themselves an impossible task: make a game that will keep you busy for years to come, but doesn’t hold your hand along the way. You’ll learn this by throwing yourself in over and over again until you can figure out how to improve.
And that’s awesome. You’ll make mistakes, progress, and then progress again. That’s how skill at Dota 2 works. At first, it’s just learning that adorable little frog is named Pudge and you should buy him a hook.
Then you learn to land the hook, then to hook by pulling the enemy right next to your teammate so they can stun them both.
Then you learn how items work, which ones are best in which situations, why one side is losing badly if they didn’t buy a magic stick or heal on time, and why your carry is hopelessly over-farmed and can barely kill anything anymore.
Then you start running into people who know these things already and have their own tricks—you have to tell them from experience whether Batrider can be made unstoppable through stacking attack speed items up to 25%, or if they’re actually doing it totally wrong because the math adds up differently after 6.83 or whatever.
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To call it a first-person shooter might be technically accurate, but that doesn’t come close to capturing the complexity of the real thing.
Each player occupies a stronghold at the corner of the map and works together to defend it while building up their own base to attack their opponent’s.
The map constantly shifts and changes, as territory can be claimed by planting a Flag into it, or purchased by an item called the Mekansm, or lost in an instant if the enemy manages to break through your defensive towers and destroy your Ancient, which is like your house’s alarm system combined with your home’s plumbing and electrical systems combined with half-a-dozen major arteries.
So that’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Dota 2 is an intimidating game. The skill ceiling and the amount of information you need to learn at the start are both incredibly high, and it can all seem like too much. But take it slow, and before long you’ll be figuring out whether or not you’re getting roflstomped every time you play.
And then maybe, if all goes well, you’ll want to jump into ranked matches and see how well you could do against players who are much better than you. Who knows? You might even get good enough to give those pros a run for their money one day.
5. War Thunder
War Thunder is a cross-platform MMO military game that has captured the hearts of aviation and tank aficionados worldwide by resurrecting the sensations of aerial and armored combat as they were experienced in the mid-20th Century.
The game came out of a successful open beta testing in June 2013 and is winner of many awards and honors, including “The Best Game of Gamescom 2013”. This award has set a new milestone for the game.
From it’s humble beginnings an unlikely mix of World War II flying and tank games, War Thunder continued to be developed with new planes, new modes and now naval forces.
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The game takes place in a World War II setting and currently boasts over 100 players at a time. Players can research, build, and upgrade vehicles at their own pace unlike other MMOs that are point based. To help with research and building, the player can buy blueprints so they don’t have to spend experience on upgrading their vehicles. Some maps can be destroyed during intense multiplayer fights giving the game an extra feel of realism.
From its accurate gameplay, to its fervent community, War Thunder is one of the best free-to-play MMOs available. While the game’s completely free to play, with most of its content accessible without any purchase, you can also buy premium vehicles and experience. However, spending money is not required to enjoy War Thunder.
6. Realm of the Mad God Exalt
As you may know, Realm of the Mad God Exalt is an MMORPG released in 2010 by Wild Shadow Studios. A novel feature for the game is that it’s completely free to play and one of the most popular Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Games.
Other similar games are often found boring and repetitive, but Realm of the Mad God Exalt stands out due to its riveting fast-paced action that never lets go.
Over the past few years, Realm of the Mad God has become one of the most popular games on Steam. However, not all new players are aware of some of the important features which set it apart from other MMORPGs.
The game features extreme cartoon-like graphics depicting a fantasy world ruled by chaos and cosmic forces. Combining intense graphics with a highly imaginative artistic style, extensive weaponry options and rich character customisation, the game offers action packed, fun filled gameplay for players at every level.
In the innumerable iterations of multiplayer dungeon crawlers, there is always a basic concept: kill monsters, make loot, play with friends. It’s understandable, then, that many games fall into the same rut of hack ‘n slash gameplay and it doesn’t take long before the game feels tired. But Realm of the Mad God manages to be different.
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There are several reasons for this – novel gameplay mechanics, a solid community, tight design and labyrinthine dungeons that encourage exploration and make each play session memorable.
And then there’s the mission event system – an ingenious way to integrate time-oriented objectives (i.e., “beat Oryx today”) into a non-linear dungeon crawl experience where one quest might lead you to another which leads you to yet another.
The Realm of the Mad God has reached a milestone as one of the most popular browser-based MMOs ever. It is easy to see why it has been able to garner such a large base of players. The game is addictive, and falls in line perfectly with what are often called “casual” games.
These games are very much like other RPGs out there, but intended for playing immediately if you have the time. While many MMOs take hours of effort and investment just to reach level 10 – and even longer to venture into high-level content – Realm has you battling enemies that are far above your level almost in no time at all.
This helps give it appeal to those who just want to fire up the game for a few minutes, have some fun with their character, and log out. As you continue playing, you unlock new classes that allow you access to different areas of the game map (which has so many individual scenes – ooohhh) that help give you access to better items.
Once again, accessibility and quick playtime is a plus here, while other MMORPGs demand an enormous amount of work before they become worthwhile.
7. Dungeons and Dragons
The world exists in the imagination, and can take any form you want. That’s what makes Dungeons and Dragons compelling. You create a character and play through a story dictated by a Dungeon Master.
When playing, you can make all kinds of choices for where your character goes, who they become friends with, who they fight, and who they put an axe in their face.
But the coolest part is when you’re sitting there playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons with your friends, it never ends unless everyone wants it to end.
The primary focus of the game is math, reading, writing, and decision-making while involving a fictional scenario.
The game takes place in the “Dungeon Master’s world” where roles are created. One player acts as the moderator and referee called DM or Dungeon Master. In addition to the different roles, there are different races such as Dwarfs, elves, humans, halflings, etc. However, these races aren’t defined by physical characteristics but by their role in the game as well as certain stories and conflicts involved with each race
It’s tremendously fun, and it takes advantage of the Dark Alliance license to include some authentically atmospheric locations from Salvatore’s books—the Underdark and the pirate city of Luskan in particular are great environments that lend the game some serious flavor.
It has a really nice atmosphere, too.
The game makes good use of ambient sound and features some excellent music by Neverwinter Nights composer Jeremy Soule. It sounds really epic, particularly when you’re fighting alongside party members Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Catti-Brie.
MMORPGs often encapsulate the best and worst qualities of the genre. If you like the thought of diving into a fantastical world full of monsters and loot, you’ll love your time in Dark Alliance. But if you don’t, it’s not for you.
Don’t come looking for a rich world to explore, or long-winded quests to complete, or deep character classes to master; Dark Alliance doesn’t have time for that nonsense—it’s about killing monsters and progressing through levels before the next monster shows up and kills you. And honestly, isn’t that the best part of all fantasy games?
Despite its flaws like being too short and padded and the characters not getting enough depth, it’s still one of the most fun PC games I’ve played in years. I recommend this to anyone who really wants to slay some monsters while collecting loot, while also being a huge fan of the D&D lore. The best part is that you can enjoy it with your friends thanks to multiplayer co-op which was quite revolutionary at the time.
Some History
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game capable of supporting large numbers of players simultaneously. By definition, an MMORPG is a persistent game world that has a large multiplayer base, typically requires a subscription fee to access the game, and allows players to control virtual characters.
The constant interaction required in some games makes them particularly suited to the creation of social networks. Some games emphasize cooperative gameplay, while others emphasize competitive gameplay.
There have been many attempts to try and pin down the true inventor of Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) style games. Some have placed the origins of MMORPGs with Dungeons & Dragons using the term as far back as 1974.
Although, this is not technically a video game, it was an early so-called MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) that led to the creation of more features within the style. Another is the creation of a title called Empire which was created in 1985 before being reworked into LegendMUD in 1990.
The Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) genre is one of the most popular video game genres today, allowing hundreds or thousands of players to interact with each other in persistent online worlds.
While MMOs existed long before the term MMORPG was coined, it was Dungeons & Dragons creators TSR who released Meridian 59 in 1996 that brought about the modern definition of MMOs. Followed by Ultima Online, released by Origin Systems in 1997, this led to a third wave of MMOs which would see a significant rise in popularity over the next decade.
While it is generally accepted that multi-user dungeons (MUD) were the first type of MMORPG, it was the success of Meridian 59 in the year 1996 that popularized the term.
The game marked the advent of 3D and TCP/IP connection in MMORPG, which made possible not only true multiplayer gameplay but also benefited from being a client based game, meaning that it could operate on local area network such as schools and universities, unlike MUDs which required dedicated servers.
The game also had an IRC interface allowing players to chat with fellow adventurers via real time chat.
Wrapping Up
Making quality MMORPGs for Mac has been rather difficult for developers because of the specific requirements needed with your typical MMORPG. This, then, is what makes it so alluring for players, because you will see a lot of them released and then disappear as some of the time you’ll find that it wasn’t made purposefully to be played on a Mac, or simply doesn’t work. That’s why I’ve put together this list of the best MMORPGs for Mac.
While some MMORPGs do require a monthly subscription fee, the best of them are free to play, relying on micropayments for in-game items, costumes etc. While there are only a couple of truly great MMORPGs for Mac, the list isn’t as limited as you would have expected. As long as you are willing to look beyond the most obvious names, you will find plenty of action-packed RPG action to be had on your Mac.
The above list features some of the best MMORPGs for Mac. Now it’s up to you to find out which game matches your personal preferences and budget. Happy playing!