MMORPGs are experiencing a renaissance of sorts. Many have adopted some version of free-to-play, which certainly helps entice players to come in and at least try the game. Given the massive success of MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft, MMORPGs aren’t going anywhere, so let’s take a look at the most popular titles, ranked by their total daily active users.

Note: It’s irregular for companies to publish hard numbers on active daily users for MMORPGs nowadays. Therefore, this list’s rankings are based on data from several different sources, including Steam Charts, online censuses, past population reports, as well as population trackers. In the end, we do have to speculate a little to determine a ballpark for the most popular MMORPGs.

Nintendo has kept the Zelda franchise going for decades—almost 40 years, in fact. In that span of time, we’ve been graced with dozens of games, though some admittedly feel like bunts rather than homeruns. With Tears of the Kingdom being a massive success, let’s take a look at the Legend of Zelda series and rank the games from worst to best.

Note: Due to the expansive nature of the Legend of Zelda series, spin-offs have been omitted from the ranking. This includes: BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets, Wand of Gamelon, Faces of Evil, Zelda’s Adventure, Link’s Crossbow Training, Hyrule Warriors, and Hyrule Warriors Legends.

While we’re still waiting for the next great new MMORPG to take the world by storm like World of Warcraft did years ago, there are still plenty of great active ones to choose from. These are the 10 most popular MMORPGs on PC in 2023, ranked specifically by their peak concurrent players.

Editor’s Note: Hard data for concurrent player counts do not exist for MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. Therefore, it has been excluded from this list. We are aware that they would undoubtedly be right at the very top of this most popular MMORPGs in 2023 list if we had access to reliable data from which to source.

Like its predecessor, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a lot of secrets hidden in the skies, the surface, and the very Depths below. Run in any direction and you’ll always bump into something interesting to see, but let’s step away from the big picture and observe a few aspects of the game. If you focus on the small, you’ll find tiny details that get easily overlooked in Tears of the Kingdom.

10. Lightroots Lead to Zonai Shrines

Tears of the Kingdom had just as much to do with the sky as it does the deep, dark depths beneath the surface. Aptly named ‘the Depths,’ the underground caverns are equally as vast as the lands above, but it’s dangerous down there. It’s a good idea to make regular trips into the Depths for Poes, items, and Zonaite.

The original Xbox was punching well above its weight class back in the day. Sure, it didn’t sell nearly as many consoles as Sony did with the PS2, but Microsoft created one helluva foundation for the future, especially with its online gaming with Xbox Live. It started a legacy that many think back on with nothing but love, so let’s take a trip down memory lane and check out some of the best original Xbox games, shall we?

10. Halo 1 & Halo 2

If there’s one game that’s synonymous with the original Xbox, it’s Halo, and for good reason. For starters, Halo: Combat Evolved launched alongside the console. Secondly, it revolutionized first-person shooters in such a way, you can still see its influence on franchises like Call of Duty.

One of the most impressive aspects of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the exhaustive list of creative ways to solve your problems in both combat and puzzles. Some enemies are easy to deal with while others are downright annoying, like the Horriblins. Luckily, one fan came up with a simple, yet effective way to end their reign of terror with just a handful of berries.

Reddit user Naydog101 demonstrates their mastery over the cold, but delicious Ice Fruit by using it as a weapon instead of a delicious treat. They made short work of the Horriblin in mere seconds.

Witcher 3 has no shortage of romance options, but whenever I inevitably go to replay it, I can’t help but notice a few missed opportunities. Some characters only gave us a brief, but impactful look into their life and left us wanting more. Sure, you’re meant to roleplay as Geralt and by this point he’s essentially a one-woman man, but it doesn’t hurt to imagine other characters we wish could have been romanced in Witcher 3.

10. Tomira, the Herbalist of White Orchard

It’s clear Tomira has no love for Nilfgaard (Get in line, right?), but she certainly cares for White Orchard and its residents. Then there’s her expertise in herbalism, which some people tend to associate with witchcraft. Geralt even manages to unintentionally impress her with his own knowledge, and she also helps him locate buckthorn for baiting a griffin.

During the Starfield Direct, Game Director Todd Howard clued us in on a minor, yet important detail of Starfield’s in-universe technology and how space travel works. To put it simply: if you plan on exploring all one thousand worlds, your starship needs to be up for the challenge.

In the Starfield gameplay trailer, it was revealed that you’ll get the option to travel from one start system to another using the navigation console in your ship. Rather than pick individual planets and moons, you can step back for a greater view of the galaxy and the stars that inhabit it. Even real life star systems, such as Alpha Centauri, are available for travel. Be on the lookout for hostile factions!

Obsidian Entertainment has been quite busy lately, not only working on The Outer Worlds 2, but another first-person RPG: Avowed. It’s been known since 2021, but Xbox Games Showcase 2023 finally gave us a more substantive look into the gameplay and story elements.

The gameplay trailer reveals a collection of moments, showing off a variety of weapons and abilities that players can use. There’s dual-wielding, sure, but also magic and flintlock pistols (one in each hand, if you so choose). You can mix and match the two by having a melee weapon in one hand and magic in the other, like freezing enemies and shattering them with a single swing.

The secret was already out on Mortal Kombat 1, but the Summer Game Fest 2023 really solidified what’s on the way by showing off bloody gameplay. Familiar faces return, though not necessarily in the way you’d expect, on top of a new mechanic that’ll certainly spice up combos.

Developed by NetherRealm Studios, Mortal Kombat 1 aims to wipe the slate clean yet again, only this timeline is born from Liu Kang. In fact, he’ll be filling the shoes that Raiden once wore, so long ago, as he gathers heroes like Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and we even see a glimpse of a very young, but inexperienced Raiden.

Forget the ability to fuse items together, phase through ceilings, or craft boats and airships in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. If there’s one mechanic every fan has desperately needed, it was a handy-dandy cookbook. Well, our prayers have been answered and Nintendo delivered with easy-to-read cooking recipes!

The official Nintendo UK Twitter account shared the new mechanic via a screenshot, giving us a clear view of the cooking recipes coming to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It gives players a breakdown of the ingredients, what it creates, as well as the hearts and buffs it provides. Of course, this won’t stop you from making dubious food, if that’s what you’re hungry for (I know I am!)

It seems Shodan couldn’t keep a lid on the System Shock release date for long and now the cat is out of the bag. With developers Nightdive Studios getting an upper hand over the AI herself, an exact release date has been chosen after being stuck at “March 2023” for quite some time.

The System Shock remake is set to release on May 30, 2023 on PC, which means us hackers won’t be challenging Shodan in March 2023 like many had hoped, including the developers Nightdive Studios.

Arkane Studios has been crafting unique gaming experiences for over two decades, with many ranking among gamers’ top favorite titles. When you line up every game the studio developed, you’ll notice a clear effort in getting players to interact with the world. Some are inevitably better than others though, and with Redfall on the horizon, we thought it would be worth ranking all of Arkane Studios’ games from worst to best.

7. Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Place Wolfenstein: Youngblood side by side with Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus and it’s clear the two share the same Nazi-killing, action-packed beats. Minute-to-minute gameplay is pretty punchy with weapons to match and fun abilities like Crush and Super-Kinetic Throw. Jessie and Zofia have the agility of Spider-Man and the force of a linebacker, making the gameplay loop solid.

Pokemon Day is here and the Pokemon Company dropped a bombshell in the form of two new Paradox Pokemon coming to Scarlet and Violet. They are called Walking Wake and Iron Leaves, which are new versions of Suicune and Virizion, respectively.

Walking Wake will be exclusive to Pokemon Scarlet, whereas Iron Leaves is exclusive to Pokemon Violet. You’ll be able to battle and capture the new Paradox Pokemon by participating in their respective Tera Raid battle events.

Sony’s State of Play 2023 started off with a bang, showcasing a short but sweet trailer for The Foglands from developer Well Told Entertainment. No official release date has been given, only that it’s expected to be released sometime in 2023.

The minute-and-a-half trailer for The Foglands gave a brief rundown of what to expect from the new PSVR2 title, such as a mysterious character wielding seemingly magic tarot card, VR gunplay goodness, and a mix of sci-fi, western, and horror.

God of War Ragnarok was a monumental and fitting end to the Norse chapter—the characters, the writing, the mythology come to life in interesting ways, all of it was masterfully crafted. However, in the grand scheme of things, that’s all it was: a chapter of Kratos’ life, though undoubtedly a significant one that opened many doors for the future.

I’d love to explore more of the Norse realms as much as the next fan. After all, plenty of questions were left unanswered that could perhaps be explored with time-travel, like more of Kratos and Faye’s relationship or, more importantly, a certain tragic death. The franchise has used it before, so should God of War Ragnarok have time-travel story DLC?

During Nintendo’s first Nintendo Direct of 2023, Motion Twin announced the official release date for Dead Cell’s latest paid DLC, Return to Castlevania—a crossover between Dead Cells and one of Konami’s beloved franchises, Castlevania.

Motion Twin released a wonderfully animated trailer back in December 2022 starring characters from both franchises, and then another a few weeks ago in January 2023 as nothing more than a teaser trailer. Now, fans will be able to get their hands on Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania on March 6, 2023, on the Nintendo Switch.

Decorated veteran, first human Spectre, the Savior of Earth—these are qualities that Michael Scott does not share with Commander Shepard. Mass Effect’s story would certainly have taken a different route had Michael Scott commanded the Normandy, right?

Then again, his skill at being the number one boss might be exactly what Earth needed. Thanks to YouTuber eli_handle_b.wav, we can see a timeline where that’s true.

It isn’t uncommon for players to add another layer of challenge to their favorite games by using alternative objects as controllers, but Elden Ring players seemingly go to the extreme in this respect. There’s been a banana controller, dance pad controller, and now a brain controller!

Through the use of an EEG device (electroencephalogram), a machine normally used to diagnose brain conditions, streamer Perrikaryal’s brain activity triggers her character to attack in Elden Ring. You can see the process in action in this tweet from Jake Lucky down below, in which Perrikaryal takes on the Red Wolf of Radagon and actually defeats it.

It’s been another good year for Sony, considering the improvements to the PlayStation 5, but who could possibly forget the stellar exclusives that were released, too? Stray was loved by players; God of War Ragnarok rocked us with its narrative; and Horizon Forbidden West showed us a more vulnerable side of Aloy. However, there is room for growth.

To usher in the new year, we gathered six New Year’s resolutions that Sony needs to make and keep for 2023 if they hope to stay on top of their game.