Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s annual MMORPG awards for 2025!
Today’s award is for the MMO with the Stormiest Future, which was awarded to the Cryptic MMORPGs last year. Years ago, we called this award “Most Likely to Fail” and “Most Likely to Flop,” but we’ve since changed the name and expanded it beyond just individual games to studios and ideas as well as fringe and unlaunched games. It represents something we’re worried about for one reason or another: Maybe we think the game or studios will sunset or struggle or simply fail live up to insane hype. And no, we don’t actually want anything to have a stormy 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 MMO with the Stormiest Future is…
New World
“The thing is that for all that some people keep saying that New World is dead, it technically isn’t. Oh, sure, we can all have a hearty laugh at Ship of Heroes or Camelot Unchained clinging to the ashes of relevance here or there, but the reality is that New World is in maintenance mode for at least a year. What the heck is going to happen over the next year, though? It’s not like it’s going to be a quiet ending, and there’s no scenario where this looks good for the players who are still trying to enjoy the game before its eventual shutdown, whenever it turns out to be. How much would you enjoy playing the game when you not only know it’s in maintenance mode but that the decrease in players might justify a shutdown?” -MOP’s Eliot
That’s our take. What’s your pick?
Loading …
How does MassivelyOP choose the winner? Our team nominates and discusses candidates to (ideally) reach consensus on our whole slate of awards each year. 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 (here’s last year’s, along with historical winners for every category). Poll options are not exhaustive, so feel free to write in your picks if they weren’t nominated.