Find out who earned the highest honours in MMO gaming!
The MMO Games Award Winners 2022
Written by Alex Sinclair Lack at 12/08/2022, 09:10 AM
It's that time of year again! Forget The Games Awards, let's focus on the genre we all love - the humble and ever-present MMO.
With new releases, incredible expansions, and an array of indie delights, it's been a great year for the genre -- which we believe to be well on its way to a second golden age. We'll save the lengthy speeches for the Oscars, but below we have an illustrious selection of games and studios who have gone above and beyond in 2022 and been deemed worthy of an ever-so-esteemed MMO Games Award.
The MMO Games Award for Best MMO Development Studio 2022
Winner: Intrepid Studios
While tempted to award it to CCP Games for a second year in a row, we're this year granting the award to a studio whose MMORPG doesn't even have a release date yet. Intrepid Studios are the team behind the hugely anticipated Ashes of Creation.
With what must feel like the weight of the genre's future on their shoulders, they continue to impress us -- not just with their development updates and unique ideas, but also with their attitude and charitable efforts.
The MMO Games Award for Best Upcoming Indie MMORPG
Winner: Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Last year, we gave this award to Afro-fantasy title Wagadu Chronicles. Frankly, we'd produced so much content on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen in 2021 that you'd have thought we were bias if we gave it an award on top. It may have been a relatively quiet year for the long in-development PvE focused title, but we're still crowning them our champions.
In spite of all of the crowdfunded MMORPGs that have resulted in little more than disappointment, we're not alone in our faith that the heroic team at Visionary Realms can create an MMORPG that is truly visionary.
The MMO Games Award for Best New MMORPG 2022
Winner: Lost Ark
While it's been released in South Korea for three years now, the global release of Lost Ark was a true phenomenon!
Gamers from everywhere came together -- enchanted by the non-stop action and unusual genius of it all. It's hard to imagine that Lost Ark fever only happened earlier this year, but in hindsight it's not hard to imagine why the game captivated so many. It's a unique, action-packed, regularly updated, beautiful, funny, weird frenzy of a game that combines genres with ease.
The MMO Games Award for Best MMO Expansion 2022
Winner: World of Warcraft Dragonflight
There were so many great contenders this year. Had you asked us a month ago we might have awarded it to EVE Uprising, BDO Eternal Winter, or New World Brimstone Sands. But now, there really is no question -- World of Warcraft Dragonflight has set the internet (and our hearts) aflame.
You can expect our full review soon, but there is almost unanimous agreement that the expansion takes World of Warcraft back to the times of Mists of Pandaria where just exploring the world felt like a great adventure. Here's to you, Dragonflight.
The MMO Games Award for Best MMO Fans 2022
Winner: EVE Online
From ruthless capitalist oligarchs to lovable zealots, EVE Online's New Eden has it all.
Back on Planet Earth, the EVE Online community is no less passionate and committed. As we witnessed first-hand at Fanfest and through our regular EVE Interviews and EVE Tales, those dedicated to "spreadsheets in space" share a unique bond that sees them through thick and thin. Don't believe us? Just ask the Space Pope.
We hope you enjoyed the MMO Games Awards 2022, we've added an extra award category on top of our 2021 awards, and we plan to do the same every year. Let us know what you think of our decisions and what award we should add next year.