Best Free Survival Games for PC and Browser in 2023!

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
Battle the odds in a 100v1 death match in PUBG: Battlegrounds, the classic free-to-play battle royale experience.

Fortnite
Play Fortnite in a totally new way, in Fortnite: Battle Royale, the free-to-play spinoff of Epic Games' builder/shooter. Like other classic BR games, you'll be dropped into the world and forced to scavenge and survive.

CRSED: F.O.A.D.
The former Cuisine Royale has a new name, but the free-to-play battle royale action is just as crazy as before! CRSED: F.O.A.D.

Infestation: The New Z
Fight against the zombie hordes and other desperate souls in Infestation: The New Z, a free-to-play survival game from the people who brought you Infestation: Survivor Stories. Explore a vast, open world, either on official servers or on a moderated server with its own rules set.

Stay Out
Survive on the edge of civilization in Stay Out, a free-to-play post-apocalyptic MMORPG from Mobile Technologies LLC. Become a "stalker," exploring the vast and hostile Alienation Zone in search of artifacts, but tread carefully -- dangerous creatures lurk in the dark, and you'll need all your wits, and a quick trigger finger, to survive.

Undawn
Fight to survive and protect your allies in a post-apocalyptic open world MMO, all while being guided by the Fresh Prince himself.

Lost Light
Go it alone or team up with friends (or enemies you decide to spare) in this cross-platform, survival shooter.

Realm of the Mad God
Realm of the Mad God is a free to play 2D browser based cooperative MMO shooter with RPG elements and retro styling straight from the 8-bit era. Fight monsters in groups of up to 85 players!

Eternal Return: Black Survival
Take on all comers in Nimble Neuron's free-to-play MOBA/survival/battle royale mash-up Eternal Return: Black Survival. The scientific organization AGLAIA is creating a race of advanced humans with amazing powers and putting them to the test in experimental battles against one another to see who comes out on top!

Totally Accurate Battlegrounds
Dive into hyper-realistic battle royale action in Landfall's Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, now free-to-play. Up to 60 players compete to be the last man wobbling, using weapons like the balloon crossbow, inflatable hammer to achieve their murderous goals.

Bloodhunt
Stalk the night and use the powers of vampirism to eliminate your foes in Bloodhunt (Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt), a free-to-play battle royale from Sharkmob.

Z1 Battle Royale
Formerly known as H1Z1, Z1 Battle Royale was one of the first battle royale games on the market, and now it's come back to its roots and gone free-to-play! Scavenge and survive along with up to 150 other bloodthirsty competitors to come out on top.

World War 3
MY.GAMES and friends take to the real world for a more realistic take on military FPS combat.

HAWKED
Free-to-play PvPvE, team-based treasure hunting, puzzle solving, and sharp shooting.

8BitMMO
Listen up all of you 8bit lovers out there! As the name would suggest, 8BitMMO is a free to play retrostyle 2D massively multiplayer game!

Will To Live
Will to Live is a free-to-play MMORPG-shooter developed and published by AlphaSoft LLC. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the game is an open-world shooter littered with radiation, mutants, and other survivors.

Dead Cide Club
Join a Cartel and blast your way to success in a free-to-play side-scrolling interpretation of "FPS" type fun!

Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore
An "old school MMORPG" that pays tribute to those that came before it.

Chimeraland
Chimeraland is a free-to-play sandbox MMO that has so many character customization options that some of you may be in the creator for hours… no joke

Line of Sight
Shotguns and sorcery collide in Line of Sight, an unconventional free-to-play first-person shooter from BlackSpot Entertainment and Game & Game. When conventional weapons aren't enough, take down your enemies with fireballs and tornadoes.

Unturned
Unturned is a first person survival FPS in which players must scavenge for supplies as they traverse a zombie-filled environment. Players may choose to play offline by themselves or join others on community hosted servers in either PvE only or PvP configurations.

Wild Terra Online
Make friends, make enemies, and survive the elements in Wild Terra Online, a free-to-play survival MMORPG from Juvty Worlds Ltd. With over 100 buildings to choose from, you can build your settlement up from scratch and defend it from all comers in skill-based combat, or just engage in crafting and the economical aspects of the game.

Realm Royale Reforged
Mount up and fight for the glory of the realm in Realm Royale Reforged, a free-to-play battle royale game from Hi-Rez Studios based on its hit shooter Paladins. Choose from one of five classes -- warrior, mage, hunter, assassin, or engineer -- and take on all comers in a furious fantasy fight to the finish.

Dead Maze
Take on the zombie hordes in Dead Maze, a free-to-play 2-D massively multiplayer cooperative game set in a post-apocalyptic world. Players will have to work together to hunt and survive and to rebuild society.

theHunter
Hunting simulation is brought to new depths with theHunter, a free to play realistic hunting game where players can hunt 22 different animals in various locations inspired by real world reserves. theHunter pushes the boundaries of in-game depth, immersing players in the thrill of the hunt without actually killing live animals.

MechWarrior Online
MechWarrior Online is a free to play 3D simulation style multiplayer FPS mech game that captures the feeling of piloting a gigantic BattleMech. Players take control of one of a variety of towering Mechs which weight dozens of tons.

Codename CURE
The undead prowl the maps in search of flesh in Codename CURE, a free to play MMOFPS with objective based missions set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. Taking a leaf from Team Fortress 2’s book, Codename CURE gives players access to five different classes to play as, each with their own strengths and weakness against the zombie hordes.

Deceit
Now free-to-play, Deceit is a multiperson FPS that challenges players not only to kill their enemies but figure out who their enemies actually are. You wake up in an asylum, one of six people.

UFO Online: Invasion
Face down hordes of bloodthirsty aliens -- and fellow humans fighting for survival -- in turn-based tactical combat with Bad Pixel's UFO Online: Invasion. In the near future, aliens attacked Earth and a deadly virus decimated the human population.

Starbreak
Set in the distant future, when humanity is on the brink of extinction, StarBreak is a free-to-play platformer MMO with loads of exploration and fast-paced combat. Choose your class and follow your allies into combat in confusing mazes that are different every time you play, but watch out -- a boss lurks at the end of these zones, and if you die, you'll have to start completely over!

No More Room in Hell
No More Room in Hell is a free to play cooperative FPS survival horror mod for the Source Engine, and focuses on survival in an “of the Dead” type universe loosely based on Romero’s famous work. The multiplayer co-op game play has been likened more to a survival horror game than a typical first person shooter, but the game relies on typical first person mechanics.

Ylands
Get creative and build the world of your dreams in Ylands, a free game-builder from Bohemia Interactive.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best survival game for free?
Here's a few free survival games that may be worth checking out in no order:
1. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS2. Unturned
3. The Cycle: Frontier
4. Lost Light
5. Stay Out
Many sites aren't very particular when they recommend "survival" games as they may include battle royales, MOBAs, and games from other genres in the "survival" category.
Since we have separate lists here on MMOBomb for those genres, we'll stick to games where the main gameplay loop is going out into the wild to gather resources and advance your character or your character's house/belongings/equipment in our "survival" game recommendations, but we'll include a recommendation to PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS here since it is a bit more "survival" than typical battle royale titles.
What is the most realistic survival game?
Most survival games aren't very realistic at all since they often involve zombies, monsters, and other supernatural creatures. However, if by "realistic" you mean the graphics and the weaponry used then Will To Live, Stay Out, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Lost Light are worth checking out.