10 Video Game Universes That Would Make Incredible MMOs
These 10 video games would be perfect for a fresh MMO adaptation.
A good MMO will often thrive or struggle based on the strength of its universe. No matter how fun combat may be, or how unique the quests are, it's the world that keeps players logging in. So many video games in existence already have that level of worldbuilding and lore just waiting to go, full of fascinating history and versatile world maps just asking for adventure. Based on this concept, we've rounded up 10 video game universes that would make incredible MMOs below.
Dungeons & Dragons / Baldur’s Gate 3 
Dungeons & Dragons, the same universe that games such as Baldur's Gate 3 and Solasta: Crown of the Magister are set in, is about as MMORPG-ready as they come. Technically, the DND Online MMO is still around, but it's severely outdated and struggles to compare to more modern titles. Imagine a fresh revamp of this game, or a brand new MMO adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons - it would be a hit if done correctly. The same kinds of branching storylines, memorable NPCs, and generous range of Races/Classes/Subclasses that Baldur's Gate 3 contains can act as the perfect blueprint, easily expanding into an open online world with progressive levelling, guild and party systems, item trading, and so much more.
The Last of Us 
The Last of Us has the perfect post-apocalyptic world to set up an unforgettable survival MMO. Players could create their character, join factions based on the various communities in the main TLOU stories (such as the Fireflies, WLF, or the Seraphites), or create their own communities with one another. The main gameplay loop could consist of scavenging resources, building bases, and fighting to live each day in a world overcome with Runners, Clickers, Bloaters, and everything worse. There's just something really fun about zombie survival games, especially when MMO aspects are added, and there would be a lot of potential to introduce easter eggs from the 2 TLOU games, perhaps in visitable locations. Looting, bargaining with, or fending off other players would also be a given.
Pokemon 
Pokémon players have been begging for an MMO game for years now, with the perfect world just waiting to go. Imagine being able to create a Trainer, travel to different regions to explore and make friends, battle and trade with players that you run into in real-time, participating in Pokémon contests and regional gimmicks such as the Battle Frontier in Hoenn or the Galar League Champion Cup. There’s endless potential for factions/teams here, both in the iconic teams such as Rocket, Magma/Aqua, Galactic, Skull, and more (with the ability to unlock costumes), Elite Leagues/Gym Leader status, or simply via custom groups too. There’s also potential to add mechanics such as a breeding system or Raids similar to the Pokémon GO games, where players can team up against Pokémon “bosses” – honestly, something such as this could almost be endlessly replayable and a huge success on every level.
League of Legends / Arcane 
We know a League of Legends MMORPG is in the works. But we don't know much about it yet, and there's no guarantee it will be released. Still, Runeterra is absolutely bursting with different cities and environments, which makes it perfect for MMO exploration. There's also endless potential to implement familiar characters in each location, and a lot of appeal for even those who aren't big League of Legends fans, due to the overwhelming popularity of the Arcane TV show. Just imagine being able to join factions such as Piltover's enforcers, Ekko's Firelights, an underground gang in Zaun, a Jinxer, and so much more. Being able to enter co-op missions with PvP and world events would be an absolute blast, and there are so many diverse creatures and environments established that can provide huge chunks of quest content and character customisation options.
Overwatch 
Overwatch already has a vast cast of heroes and a story of a world in turmoil, conflict between heroes, villains, and Omnics alike. While it's a more niche idea, an MMO spin-off in the OW universe could be a lot of fun. Imagine creating your own hero, choosing from a series of different abilities that you can combine to create your powers (think similar to the Overwatch Stadium builds system). There's also potential for factions with the various groups in this universe - Overwatch, Talon, Null Sector, Vishkar, the Junkers, the Phreaks, Volskaya, the Hashimoto, and more. Players could visit notable maps/locations from the team-shooter, taking part in missions around the world. Faction battles, co-op /PVE quests, and hero progression systems would create a pretty darn engaging gameplay loop, with potential for expanding on the beloved lore/story and characters that have kept fans loyal despite the Overwatch universe's ups and downs.
Kingdom Hearts 
Kingdom Hearts as an MMO is an absolute dream. It would be a massive project, no doubt, so while not the most likely concept, it is a very common wish among fans. Players could create their own Keyblade wielder, travel through Disney worlds, collect different cosmetic outfits or Keyblade variants/charms along the way. There would be fun potential for fights against the Heartless or Nobodies, and teaming up with friends to explore each world would be a blast. A game such as this could truly capture the magic of the series whilst bringing players together across a variety of age ranges and target audiences - the KH fanbase, the Disney lovers, MMO enthusiasts, and more.
The Legend of Zelda 
If there's one thing the open world exploration of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom reinforced, it's that Hyrule is a gorgeous world with endless discoveries to be found. From snowy peaks to lush forests or ancient sky islands, there's something interesting around every corner. Players could choose from a few different species and create a character based on classes such as Fighter/Warrior, Archer, Mage, etc. There would be so much potential for dungeon-exploring and looting alongside friends, events with limited time stories or boss fights, puzzles to solve, weapons to collect, and shrines to uncover. On top of that, options for crafting, mounts, and co-op combat could take The Legend of Zelda to new heights.
Fire Emblem 
The Fire Emblem universe could offer some really interesting tactical potential for an MMO. Players could select a house/join a faction, train their custom Units, and squad up with others to take on enemy houses/factions in classic turn-based strategic Fire Emblem battles. There could also be optional character quests and narrative stories to keep players invested in the world, or potential for competitive leaderboards/battle modes, and weapon/skill progression systems to help players build their characters for their preferred playstyle. On the surface, this would feel quite similar to the turn-based battles seen in TTRPG games such as DND, where positioning and flanking with your comrades or buffing one another/synergising your abilities massively pays off. In other words, team-based strategy would be at the core of this concept, but there could always be offline/PVE battle modes too.
Sonic the Hedgehog 
Players already gained the first glimpse at creating their own Mobian characters in Sonic Forces, though this game had mixed reviews. Now, imagine that same concept of creating your own personalised Mobian, but in a vast MMO world where you can explore different sonic Zones, make friends, and form teams/guilds. There could be co-op missions or races based on various Sonic gameplay, though the way the trios worked in Sonic Heroes could be some interesting inspiration, utilising 3-man lineups. A Sonic MMO could mix that fun thrill of platformer games with combat elements, racing, and social multiplayer fun to give players a new way to explore the franchise.
Cyberpunk 2077 
Cyberpunk 2077's Night City is already bursting with intrigue, danger, and it is potentially the perfect environment for an MMO. Once again, factions could easily be implemented, letting players join, take on jobs, hack systems, rise through ranks, and more. City exploration would be a neon-lit dream, with new discoveries found at every towering skyscraper or dodgy, shadow-filled alley. There could easily be a combat system revolving around different skills/weapons, dynamic events, PVP conflicts, co-op combat or looting missions, options to unlock customisation/mods, new blueprints to craft items, new cosmetics, and even decorations or objects to help flesh out your personal room/hideout around the city.
Communication wheels, emotes, sprays, and proxy chats would also be an interesting addition for such an MMO, as it would likely be tailored to a slightly older audience than more all-age-friendly concepts on this list. This would add a whole new layer of fun to the MMO formula - being able to run around, make friends, forge bargains/trades with other players, convince others to squad up with you or join your faction, or even work together to raid other hideouts/bases would only be scratching the surface of potential.
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About the Author
Grace is a writer from New Zealand with over four years of experience in the video games industry, covering all of the latest trends and new releases. She's a firm believer that video games are much more fun when there are other friends or players to interact with, which is why the idea of good old MMOs never fails to catch her attention. When not having fun in the MMO world, you'll catch her sneaking back on to Team-Based Shooters such as Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2.
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There are already two DnD MMOs - Dungeons and Dragons Online and Neverwinter with DDO being the better one and more closer to what DnD stands for, I don't play it anymore, but it's actually very good, not outdated at all neither in graphics or gameplay mechanics, it's actually too complex and that's why I never got into it - I prefer simpler games like Vanilla WoW or SWG. DDO was and is the peak of what a DnD MMO can be and no modern game can beat that, the developers just don't have the know-how and creativity to realize it so it's a lost cause.
I haven't played The Last of Us, but the story is more appropriate for several movies or TV series than an MMORPG, it will just not work. There are two similar games on Steam - The Last Descendant and Almost Human which are basically the same thing and they just don't have the lore or story for a very popular MMO, the world is barren, story isn't enough and the games are popular because of the cosmetics that people want to get. Same will be for a Last of Us game, it will never have enough players interested to keep it alive for more than 12 months nor does any studio have interest in such an endeavor.
Pokemon for me is like One Piece or Naruto - when I was a kid I dreamed of those games having an MMO version where you can start in different ninja villages, travel the world, combine skills from different Ninjutsu schools into whatever you want and compete with other players. Or one set on the Blue Planet of One Piece and choose between being a Pirate, Marine, Revolutionary or Independent, choose between having natural skills or a Devil Fruit and gather follower NPCs to help you like sidekicks or pets and have an instanced ship like a house where you can interact with your followers in a story-like fashion and you can encounter the One Piece characters in the world, but they aren't protagonists, just famous figures you either aspire to walk in their footsteps or be your enemies based on the faction you pick. But so far we haven't seen anything in this regard, there were very simplistic and cheap attempts as Browser/Mobile One Piece/Naruto MMOs and they were 2D, very limited and on-rails and same as Pokemon - if it hasn't been done by now when the peak of those animes was the biggest - around 2010, there is no hope for such games anymore.
As for the rest games on the list, I think the LoL MMO is too overhyped and people place too much hope in in it to be good, but in the best case possible it will be like Valorant - popular for 1 year and then average and nobody talks about it anymore.
Overwatch doesn't have the world setting or story capacity for an MMO, also considering that Blizzard started Overwatch as Project Titan - an MMO in a futuristic world and then scrapped the MMO idea and released it as a hero shooter - Overwatch shows that not even they could do it, because they realized it doesn't have enough meat to be an MMO, that requires massive lore, world and interesting gameplay mechanics and they couldn't come up with that so to save it in some form they released is a hero shooter, because it's easier to make a game like this.
Kingdom Hearts, Zelda, Fire Emblem are JRPGs that work best as they are, they also don't have the capacity for a big world MMORPG, there would be nothing to keep them going. It's just wishful thinking.
There is already a 1st person cyberpunk MMORPG and it's called Neocron Evolution and anyone can play it if they want to. Having a Cyberpunk 2077 MMO would be like having a Witcher or Grand Theft Auto MMO - not possible and not making any sense. There is already GTA Online and that is more like a sandbox than a real MMO, unless Rockstar make it more like an MMO with the online version of GTA6, I can't imagine it happening.
It's just unfeasible to think such franchises are good for an MMO. Even ones like The Lord of the Rings that has an MMO has such a large burden to carry - they originally intended to have the game be set in a different period so the events don't take place during The Fellowship of the Ring and was gonna be called Middle Earth Online and not The Lord of the Rings Online, but later changed this, because they realized that not enough people know what Middle Earth is, but they have heard of The Lord of the Rings and this will bring more people to their game to make them more money and so they confined themselves to the period and story in The Fellowship of The Ring, which greatly limited their potential and a few years ago that story was concluded and they have now started creating their own custom content, loosely based on the lore of Middle Earth and having played LOTRO for more than 2000 hours and having seen it all, the new content they have made in the last 4-5 expansions is just bad, boring and lacking soul. Now that they don't have the story to follow and all the well detailed content from J. R. R. Tolkien to implement into the game, they can only use their own creativity and their own creativity frankly sucks.
It only goes to show that developers today just don't have it in them to create amazing and immersive worlds anymore, they can just copy and repurpose. And an MMO is a much larger and more expensive undertaking than creating a single player game so it's no wonder it's not happening and probably never will. Because wishes and dreams are free, but games are made with fat cash.