LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Arguably the most popular online multiplayer game out there with over 100 million monthly active users as of 2016, after releasing all the way back in 2009, League of Legends is still going strong. To put that in perspective, you could combine the player bases of several other games in that year such as Dota 2, CS:GO, Overwatch, and more and they still wouldn’t have reached a total of 100 million players monthly.
The game had a $5.07 million USD prize pool for its League of Legends World Championships in 2016, and $4.95 million prize pool in 2017. In that most recent year, the esports event had a whopping 60 million unique viewers, and data states that from those viewers 98% were Chinese with the championships taking place in Beijing, China. In total, all viewers watched over 4.4 billion hours of the World Championships in 2017 alone.
The best part of it all is League of Legends is available completely for free on PC and Mac.
FORTNITE
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Fortnite started out in early access offering a PvE zombies battling mode with building components for a set price, but it really jumped in popularity when a free battle royale mode was released where 100 players drop onto an island to fight to be the last one standing.
While being free, the game is supported through the purchasing of seasonal battle passes and cosmetic items like skins, new axes, emotes, sprays, and more. According to a report from SuperData, Fortnite made $126 million in February alone and had 14 million unique viewers on Twitch.
These numbers were surpassing fellow battle royale title PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which allegedly made $103 million and had 8.7 million unique viewers on Twitch in February 2018. It should also be taken into account that PUBG has already fully released on PC and Xbox One with both digital and physical copies available, while Fortnite continued to be available digital-only in early access.
There are several different multiplayer modes to try, whether you are on your own fighting against 99 other enemy players, with one friend in duos, or a bunch in squads. Every so often new variety modes are offered as well, like a massive 50 v 50 brawl or, most recently, a mode featuring Thanos from the Marvel Universe where you can become the villain and use the infamous Infinity Gauntlet to kill other players.
Fortnite is currently available for free on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and even mobile on iOS and Android.
OVERWATCH
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Originally releasing in 2016, Overwatch has received a ton of free support from Blizzard to keep the player base growing alongside the game. Since launch there have been six new characters released including Ana, Sombra, Orisa, Doomfist, Moira, and Brigitte, six main maps, four arcade maps, tons of seasonal events, hundreds of new cosmetic items, and more.
Overwatch helped Blizzard reach its highest monthly active user base ever, offering 30 million players to a total 46 million across all games in the second quarter of 2017. It also earned Blizzard over $1 billion in less than a year after launch, with that number still greatly rising into 2018.
2017 also marked the start of the Overwatch League, a massive esports event where 12 teams fight throughout four stages with the grand finals taking place in New York at the end of July 2018. The winning team of the Overwatch League will be awarded $1 million, with the prize pool across all the stages and finals coming out to $3.5 million overall.
Overwatch is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
CS:GO has been a legend in the multiplayer genre since its release in 2012 as the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. In the game two teams are tasked with eliminating each other while also completing certain objectives given to them. There are eight modes total overall, with options to let players host their own servers with custom maps and game modes for their own sub-communities.
According to the game’s website blog it had 11,145,196 unique players this last month of April 2018, and since its release CS:GO has consistently been near the top of Steam’s most played multiplayer games when it comes to having the most concurrent players. The game also has a huge number of very positive reviews on steam, reaching almost 1.9 million at the time of writing.
CS:GO also has a huge esports scene called The Global Offensive where numerous tournaments starting in 2013 are hosted by third-party organizations that are sometimes also sponsored by Valve itself.
You can play CS:GO on Xbox One, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
HEARTHSTONE
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Hearthstone, originally Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft until 2016, is a charming free-to-play card game developed by Blizzard that released in 2014. In it, two opponents fight in turn-based combat with collectible cards constructed into decks of 30.
As of August 2017 the game has made as much as $40 million a month by selling additional items like expansion bundles, card packs, and skins for heroes. According to Statista, as of March 2017 Hearthstone also has 70 million players worldwide rising from 50 million in 2016.
Hearthstone is available to download for free on PC and Mac.
TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege released in 2015 to immediate popularity, having the players be either an attacker or defender in various different modes completing objectives like defusing bombs or saving hostages.
As of a few months ago in April 2018, the game has surpassed 30 million registered players across all platforms. That number has been steadily rising, as earlier in August 2017 Ubisoft reported the game had 20 million registered users and then in December 2017 it rested at 25 million.
In the game’s Steam Charts it had an all time peak number of concurrent players recently in March 2018 at 176,000, and in the last 30 days at the time of writing that number has stayed close to that peak at 124,000.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MINECRAFT
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Popular with the old and young alike, Minecraft can be a single-player experience but it is best when exploring and sharing creations with others in your world.
Back in 2014, Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson announced on Twitter that the PC version of Minecraft had reached 100 million registered users with a 14.3% conversion rate to paid accounts meaning at least 14.3 million copies were sold on PC alone.
Statista says Minecraft has more than 55 million active players as of February 2017, up from 40 million in 2016. In a more recent interview with head of Microsrosoft’s Minecraft group Helen Chiang in January 2018, she stated the game had 74 million monthly active users with 144 million copies of the game sold across all platforms.
You can play Minecraft on a ton of different platforms including PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Switch, Xbox 360, and PS3.
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Although Fortnite has been the more popular entry in the battle royale genre of late, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was the first to really find success in the genre and create a lot of the tropes that are now being replicated by various other battle royale games.
As previously stated, while Fortnite made $126 million in February 2018, PUBG still made a very respectable $103 million with 8.7 million unique viewers on Twitch the same month. According to PUBG’s Steam Charts, it had a peak monthly active users amount in January 2018 with 3.2 million players not including those on Xbox One.
With those numbers is it still an extremely popular multiplayer game with players. However, since January its total peak monthly active users has decreased month by month to just over 2.4 million in the last 30 days at the time of writing.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds can be played on PC, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
When you think massively multiplayer, it’s likely World of Warcraft is the game that will immediately come to mind. Since its release in 2004 it has seen six expansions, with Battle of Azeroth releasing later this summer on Aug. 14.
World of Warcraft continues to be the most subscribed to MMORPG in history, with Blizzard reporting back in 2014 the game has surpassed 100 million total subscriptions. It had a peak number of subscribers in October 2012 with 12 million in one month.
There usually are bumps in player numbers whenever a new expansion is released, so expect a jump in numbers when Battle of Azeroth releases in August. It also might be the perfect time for a new player to check out what all the hype is about with more players coming back to the game after possibly leaving it for a bit after the release of the sixth expansion Legion in August 2016.
World of Warcraft is available on PC and Mac.
WARFRAME
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Warframe is a free-to-play, third-person shooter where players control characters from a race of ancient warriors called the Tenno who are at war with the Grineer, a race of human clones who are highly armed and militarized. Using special suits called Warframes that enhance the natural abilities of the Tenno, you fight in PvE or PvP missions and quests to take down the Grineer.
Since the game launched in 2013, it’s been reported as recent as March 2018 that the game has seen almost 40 million total players across all platforms, with eight million playing in just the last year.
After the release of the game’s latest expansion Plains of Eidolon in October 2017, Warframe’s SteamCharts saw the number of concurrent players on PC reach an all-time peak at over 120,000 players. This is over double the normal amount of concurrent players per month, and since then the amount has stayed higher than usual with over 85,000 players in the last 30 days at the time of writing.
Warframe is available for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
DOTA 2
Most Popular Multiplayer Games You Can Play Right Now
Last but certainly not least is Dota 2, a free-to-play MOBA from Valve that has steadily risen in popularity since its release in 2013.
It has almost 900,000 very positive reviews on Steam at the time of writing, and is the most played game on Steam with millions of players logging on everyday. According to its Steam Charts, it rises and dips in its total concurrent player numbers, with its peak at almost 1.3 million players occurring in March 2016. However, that number usually starts pretty close to that high, with 844,000 in the last 30 days at the time of writing.
Dota 2 also has a very active esports scene with various leagues and tournaments. For example, The International is hosted by Valve where 16 teams fight to win the prize pool. Most recently the 2017 prize pool went to Team Liquid who won $10,862,683.
You can play Dota 2 on Mac and PC.
Published: May 15, 2018 11:31 pm