MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: Most Anticipated MMO

December 28, 2022 11:00 AM

Welcome back to Massively Overpowered’s formal end-of-the-year awards!

Today’s award is for the Most Anticipated MMO, which was awarded jointly to Palia and Guild Wars 2’s End of Dragons last year. This award can be frustrating since many of the games and expansions we’re picking from here haven’t changed much as we’re still waiting on them. We’ll see how it goes in the future. 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 2023 and Beyond is…

SOULFRAME

Andrew Ross: Palia. Palia looks like Landmark had a baby with Animal Crossing. I know it won last year, but it’s still looking interesting without any gross monetization, and the hiring page makes the studio sound like a pretty nice place to work. After the past few years, those mean something to me.

Andy McAdams: Palia.

Brianna Royce: Soulframe, Raph Koster’s MMO, Nightingale, Wayfinder. OK, Nightingale and Wayfinder aren’t really MMOs, and Raph Koster’s MMO doesn’t have a name, so that leaves me with Soulframe. Frankly, I liked the idea of Warframe more than I liked playing it, so I’m curious to see what DE can do when it starts with an MMO base rather than trying to add it later. I’m hoping it’s one of the bigguns a few years from now.

Carlo Lacsina: The Riot MMO.

Chris Neal: Soulframe. While the word “anticipated” might be doing a lot of heavy lifting for me personally, I have to admit that I am extremely intrigued and curious what Digital Extremes will do to the fantasy genre, especially when one considers the absolute Heavy Metal levels of creative madness it does with sci-fi. Color me extremely curious.

Colin Henry: Soulframe. Generally when I’m excited for an upcoming MMO, that’s a sign that it’s going to launch straight into the ground, so maybe I should just abstain from this one from now on, for the good of the genre. That said, while it’s hard to get excited for a game from a cinematic trailer, the idea of the Warframe devs building a new game from the ground up as an MMO from the start, rather than hacking it in after launch as they did with Warframe, is an interesting one. The aforementioned cinematic trailer still has that weird and unique Warframe feel to it, and I’m interested to see how that translates from sci-fi to fantasy. And if it flops, I’m sorry, it’s totally my fault for cursing it with my vote.

Eliot Lefebvre: I am absolutely expecting to be totally wrong in looking forward to Blue Protocol, not just because I am the last person who still cares, but I steered my ship into dangerous reefs betting on Final Fantasy XIV years ago and so I continue to bet on the longshot. Soulframe is still an enticing prospect, though.

Justin Olivetti: Ashes of Creation, Palia, The Riot MMO. Right now my gut says that there are three titles that I want very much: Ashes of Creation (to see if this team can meet its own expectations), Palia (because a cozy MMO sounds so perfect), and Riot’s MMO (which has the potential and budget to be the next big thing). Can I pick just one? That’s unpossible!

MJ Guthrie: Soulframe. I am most looking forward to Soulframe! Warframe is the one shooter that completely enthralled me, and I have been impressed with the talent and creativity of Digital Extremes. I am excited to see how Soulframe turns out, especially after the trailer.

Sam Kash: Harry Potter Magic Awakened.

Tyler Edwards: Corepunk. My vote goes to underdog option Corepunk. Not sure if it will ultimately be to my taste, or if it’s even going to launch, but it’s got some neat ideas, and the art style scratches at my WoW nostalgia.

Soulframe took our award for Most Anticipated MMO. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: What's your most anticipated MMO for 2023 and beyond?

Soulframe (7%, 47 Votes)
Palia (8%, 54 Votes)
The Riot MMO (13%, 93 Votes)
Blue Protocol (9%, 66 Votes)
Raph Koster's unnamed MMO (2%, 15 Votes)
Ashes of Creation (15%, 103 Votes)
Corepunk (1%, 10 Votes)
Throne and Liberty (5%, 37 Votes)
ArcheAge 2 (2%, 13 Votes)
Funcom's DUNE MMO (3%, 24 Votes)
Wayfinder (0%, 2 Votes)
WoW Classic Cataclysm (0%, 3 Votes)
ESO's next arc and chapter (2%, 14 Votes)
Star Citizen (2%, 15 Votes)
Pantheon (7%, 47 Votes)
Harry Potter Magic Awakened (1%, 8 Votes)
Monsters and Memories (0%, 3 Votes)
Wagadu Chronicles (1%, 9 Votes)
Ultima Online New Legacy (1%, 5 Votes)
The secret MMO CCP is working on (0%, 3 Votes)
The secret MMO Jagex is working on (0%, 2 Votes)
Camelot Unchained (2%, 12 Votes)
Diablo IV (5%, 32 Votes)
Ilysia (0%, 2 Votes)
The secret MMO ZeniMax is working on (1%, 10 Votes)
Sims 5 aka Project Rene (0%, 2 Votes)
Ship of Heroes (1%, 4 Votes)
Bitcraft (0%, 3 Votes)
Crimson Desert (0%, 3 Votes)
Path of Exile 2 (1%, 10 Votes)
Mad World (0%, 1 Votes)
Blizzard's survival game (1%, 9 Votes)
Spry Fox's cozy MMO (0%, 2 Votes)
Project Magnum (0%, 0 Votes)
Fractured (0%, 3 Votes)
Daybreak's likely EverQuest 3 (2%, 15 Votes)
Annex (0%, 0 Votes)
Age of Water (0%, 0 Votes)
Past Fate (0%, 0 Votes)
ARK2 (1%, 4 Votes)
To Jin Yong (0%, 1 Votes)
Project Gorgon (1%, 6 Votes)
Profane (0%, 1 Votes)
Something else - tell us in the comments! (1%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 459

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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 commentary from writers so that you can see our thought process. 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.