Not every year sees equal releases in the MMORPG genre. We’ve had years of starvation and years of plenty. Every so often it’s fun to zero in on a slice of time where it seemed as if the industry was in production overload, and for us today, it’s 14 years in the past.
Indeed, 2011 was a pretty significant year for online game launches. In fact, there were more new games coming onto the scene than MMO expansions, which almost never happens. I thought it would be pretty cool to stroll through the time tunnel and revisit the launches of 2011, including the enduring champions, the lost loved ones, and the forgotten losers.
DC Universe Online
With the superhero scene absolutely exploding in Hollywood around this time, DC Universe Online got in while the getting was good. This console-friendly action MMO looked and played quite differently than Cryptic’s games and enjoyed a major boost from the DC brand. Everyone could cosplay as a lesser Batman or Krypto, thanks to costume swaps. There’s no doubt that DCUO ended up being an absolute smash hit for the studio which continues to generate great profits today.
Earthrise
Chances are that very few people even remember Earthrise, but that’s not your fault. This post-apocalyptic MMO was in operation for only about a year, dying in 2012. There were some brief attempts to revive this three-faction PvP sandbox, but the effort didn’t get much traction. It’s a shame because this could’ve been the next EVE Online… but it wasn’t.
RIFT
Trion Worlds came out swinging really hard with RIFT, attempting to create the everything-in-one MMORPG. It looked incredibly promising, especially at the start, and boasted a lot of amazing user friendly features such as housing, free server switching, and instant adventures. However, after three expansions, the MMO fell into the hands of Gamigo and has been in a maintenance mode limbo for many years now.
Xsyon
I guess 2011 was the year of post-apocalyptic sandboxes because here came Xsyon as well. It’s had an exceedingly weird run, staying in early access for most of its lifespan while striving to flesh out its content into a full-fledged product. Believe it or not, it’s still alive in 2025 with a very small dev team making improvements here and there.
Black Prophecy
Amid all of the fantasy releases this year was an honest-to-goodness spaceship MMO — one that underwhelmed and barely made it to 2012 before shutting down. Black Prophecy looked pretty, at least, and offered a range of PvE and PvP gameplay, but the hunger for this kind of space sim simply wasn’t there.
Allods Online
Memories of its launch might be a little faded, but Allods Online made kind of a decent splash when it arrived. This fantasy MMO offered unique races and a colorful, WoW-like world — albeit one with flying ships! Allods’ free-to-play translation didn’t go so well, and over time this title’s faded far into the background, at least for western players.
Super Hero Squad Online
Believe it or not, Gazillion had another superhero MMO(ish) alongside of Marvel Heroes. Super Hero Squad Online was more kid-friendly and had a great time plundering the Marvel catalogue for characters and settings. It might not have been as well known as its bigger brother, but SHSO lasted all the way to 2017.
Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising
Originally developed by Perpetual and then later picked up by Heatwave, Gods & Heroes invited players into a version of ancient Rome stocked with mythological creatures and deities. You could actually recruit and use “minions” — pets — in your adventures, which was a big selling point of the game. However, it didn’t do so hot, even after a free-to-play transition, and gradually Gods & Heroes whimpered to a stop after a few years.
Glitch
Tiny Speck produced what was undoubtedly the most unique title of the year in Glitch, a non-combat 2-D MMO where you adventured inside the heads of several imaginative giants. Despite its promising premise, Glitch experienced a rough life, starting with a launch that actually reverted into a beta. After a couple years, the studio called it quits and released many of Glitch’s assets to the community for revival projects.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
At the tail end of 2011, BioWare produced the expensive and long-awaited Star Wars: The Old Republic. Sporting fully voiced quests, eight major class stories, a morality system, and a whole lot of adventuring in a galaxy far, far away, this MMO exploded onto the scene before simmering down into a respectable title that’s churned out several expansions over the last decade-and-a-half.
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”
