Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Best MMO Music of 2020

December 24, 2020 12:00 PM

MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Best MMO Music of 2020, which last year wasn’t directly awarded; instead, we gave out smaller music awards to multiple games and people, including World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Astellia Online, and composer Bill Champagne. This year, we decided to let the staff in on the fun. The only caveat here is that the music must be new in 2020, even if the game is old. Don’t forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end!

And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Best MMO Music of 2020 is…

FINAL FANTASY XIV

Andy McAdams: I voted for Shadowlands because I love the sound design and music of this expansion.

Carlo Lacsina: Final Fantasy XIV. I was doing a Dungeon Run in WoW and I’m surprised how soft the music is. It’s beautiful, but seriously. Put it next to the Twinning’s theme song or the Cruise Chaser theme and it’s a pretty easy clap.

Chris Neal: Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy XIV. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I know, I know, I know, I know. Genshin Impact isn’t a “real” MMO, but it is a multiplayer game that undoubtedly has a lot of people playing it and it scratches a number of MMO itches. And those who dismiss this game purely on classification hairsplitting nonsense, gacha monetization hatred, or even simple aesthetic leanings are doing their ears a disservice by denying them some of the sweetest aural candy I’ve ever heard in any MMO, let alone a free-to-play one. Composer Yu-Peng Chen, together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, have created some absolute magic.

Eliot Lefebvre: Final Fantasy XIV. This year Final Fantasy XIV has a fan-made remix of a track that was requested by the game’s composer. How can you not love that?

Justin Olivetti: FFXIV, RuneScape, LOTRO. I’m still making my way through a pile of music from 2020’s releases, but you can never go wrong with FFXIV’s soundtrack. Soken and his team are flat-out amazing, producing original works alongside remastered pieces from nostalgic Final Fantasy games. It’s in the top five of my “greatest MMO soundtracks of all time” list, that’s for sure.

Mia DeSanzo: Black Desert Online, No Man’s Sky.

MJ Guthrie: If I could remember which game it was whose music I just sat and listened to for hours that was so relaxing, I’d nominate it. (And go sit and listen to it every day just for some good relaxation!)

Sam Kash: Guild Wars 2’s music is amazing.

Tyler Edwards: World of Warcraft, hands-down.

Final Fantasy XIV took our award for Best MMO Music of 2020. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: What MMO offered the best new music in 2020?

Final Fantasy XIV (48%, 177 Votes)
World of Warcraft (10%, 38 Votes)
Genshin Impact (5%, 18 Votes)
LOTRO (7%, 25 Votes)
RuneScape (1%, 4 Votes)
Black Desert (1%, 4 Votes)
No Man's Sky (1%, 5 Votes)
Guild Wars 2 (11%, 39 Votes)
Elder Scrolls Online (7%, 25 Votes)
EVE Online (3%, 11 Votes)
RuneScape (1%, 2 Votes)
Star Trek Online (1%, 2 Votes)
TERA (1%, 2 Votes)
Star Citizen (1%, 5 Votes)
DC Universe Online (0%, 1 Votes)
Something else (tell us in the comments!) (3%, 11 Votes)

Total Voters: 324

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How does MassivelyOP choose the winner?

Our team gathers together to nominate and discuss candidates and hopefully settle on a consensus winner. We don’t have a hard vote, but we do include written commentary from every writer who submitted it on time so that you can see where some of us differed, what our secondary picks were, and why we personally nominated what we did (or didn’t). The site’s award goes to the staff selection, but we’ll include both it and the community’s top nomination in our debrief in January.

How does MassivelyOP populate this poll?

Poll options include all MMOs and tracks nominated plus a few others we thought should be included.