Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Most Anticipated MMO

December 29, 2020 12:00 PM

MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Most Anticipated MMO, which was awarded to Book of Travels and Torchlight Frontiers last year. (Obviously, Frontiers lost that crown when it stopped existing.) As has been the case for the last few years, this award has become frustrating since many of the games we’re picking from here year after year are the same because they still aren’t out, and their hype has long since fizzled. Will this year be different? 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 Most Anticipated MMO for 2021 and Beyond is…

NEW WORLD and CRIMSON DESERT

Andy McAdams: I’m not really looking forward to anything. I would say Camelot Unchained, but it has languished so long that it’s approaching Star Citizen levels of apathy for me. I voted for Elyon only because it was something different, though I generally don’t enjoy Eastern MMOs. New World could be fun, but I wouldn’t say I’m looking forward to it. As I’m not a fan of BDO as a whole, I’m not. expecting Crimson Desert to offer me anything

Brianna Royce: New World, Book of Travels, The Wagadu Chronicles, Crowfall, Elyon, Ship of Heroes, Corepunk. Probably more that is not coming to me. We have a lot to look forward to, but if I had to narrow it down to just one, it’s New World. I am not sure it will wind up being a home game for me, but it’s the biggest release we’ll have had in our genre for a long time, and it’s right on the horizon. We need more like this.

Carlo Lacsina: Crimson Desert. I have no idea what that game is going to look like, but I cannot wait to see what Pearl Abyss has ready for the MMOjority. I know Black Desert has taught the company some great things, and I’m excited to see what they’ll do. I really think this is going to be one of the games that will define this new decade.

Chris Neal: New World, Pantheon Rise of the Fallen, The Wagadu Chronicles. It’s hard to know if Amazon really has adjusted its course correctly (especially since I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet), but the opinions of a lot of trusted folks that I’ve read or spoken to have made me a convert. I don’t know that this one is necessarily going to rock my world, but it is taking a shape that has me a lot more interested than I expected, and that’s a pleasant surprise.

Eliot Lefebvre: New World seems like it’s shaping up to be a pretty darn good game, and my own time spent playing it impressed me with at least the bones of a fun experience. Whether or not it’ll get the rest of the way there remains to be seen; then again, it’s second in my heart to Blue Protocol for no reasons that I can fathom beyond looking at least a little bit like Peria Chronicles.

Justin Olivetti: New World, Pantheon, Burning Crusade Classic, Book of Travels, Ship of Heroes. New World definitely has my attention thanks to strong word-of-mouth reports, a willingness to delay in order to add more content, and an enjoyable hands-on demo that raise my estimation of a title that I once completely dismissed as being DOA.

Mia DeSanzo: I am torn between Crimson Desert and Blue Protocol.

MJ Guthrie: Is it really sad I am no longer anticipating anything? Like, I seriously am not eagerly looking forward to anything now. Either I am just not feeling any real pull of excitement, or I am tired of disappointment when things either come out butchered from what was expected or ditched completely. I’ll just wait and enjoy something when it comes out if I can, or not; I don’t have the energy to waste on an anticipation/disappointment cycle.

Sam Kash: Crimson Desert. That trailer was really cool. Having played New World I am no longer most anticipating it.

Tyler Edwards: For me this is a tie between New World and Magic: Legends. Magic: Legends appeals to me a little more strongly, but New World is a bigger deal for the genre as a whole. Both are launches I’m looking forward to.

New World and Crimson Desert took our award for Most Anticipated MMO for 2021 and Beyond. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: What's your most anticipated MMO of 2021 and beyond?

New World (6%, 317 Votes)
Crimson Desert (2%, 116 Votes)
Elyon (1%, 50 Votes)
Book of Travels (1%, 39 Votes)
Blue Protocol (2%, 108 Votes)
Crowfall (0%, 20 Votes)
Ship of Heroes (0%, 19 Votes)
Corepunk (1%, 63 Votes)
Pantheon (15%, 797 Votes)
The Wagadu Chronicles (0%, 18 Votes)
WoW Classic Burning Crusade (3%, 164 Votes)
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons (2%, 96 Votes)
FFXIV Forspoken (2%, 107 Votes)
Magic Legends (1%, 30 Votes)
ESO's next arc and chapter (1%, 42 Votes)
Raph Koster's unnamed MMORPG (0%, 25 Votes)
Dual Universe (0%, 18 Votes)
Amazon's LOTR MMO (4%, 196 Votes)
Lost Ark (1%, 76 Votes)
PSO2 New Genesis (1%, 36 Votes)
Ashes of Creation (43%, 2,361 Votes)
Star Citizen (7%, 404 Votes)
Fractured (0%, 8 Votes)
Ultima Online New Legacy (0%, 17 Votes)
Project TL (0%, 23 Votes)
City of Titans (1%, 33 Votes)
Valiance Online (0%, 4 Votes)
Camelot Unchained (1%, 54 Votes)
Past Fate (0%, 0 Votes)
Saga of Lucimia (0%, 7 Votes)
Mad World (0%, 11 Votes)
Profane (0%, 1 Votes)
Ilysia (0%, 6 Votes)
Temtem (0%, 13 Votes)
Bless Unleashed PC (0%, 7 Votes)
Elite Odyssey (1%, 42 Votes)
Zenith (0%, 2 Votes)
The secret MMOs Daybreak are working on (1%, 56 Votes)
The secret MMO CCP is working on (1%, 30 Votes)
The secret MMO Jagex is working on (0%, 26 Votes)
Something else (tell us in the comments!) (1%, 48 Votes)

Total Voters: 4,203

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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 nominated plus a few others we thought should be included.