End-of-Year Eleven: The MMOs with the most uncertain futures in 2026

You know, I’m going to be honest. I think maybe we’re done with doing this list? Like, maybe this year every MMO has a pretty clear path forward for the next year, so we don’t need to spend an entire column talking about uncertain futures and bwahhhhh I can’t keep this up, I’m joshin’ with ya. On the bright side, this year has some major changes of the guard compared to last year’s column, but there are still a litany of MMOs with a future that is heckin’ unsure as we move into 2026.

Now, as I say every year, this is not a list of 11 games that are certain to shut down or even likely to shut down, in addition to New World, which actually took our stormiest future award this past year. Uncertain means exactly what it sounds like – it means that it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen to these games in the next year, and there are at least a couple of different plausible scenarios. So who gets to be in the hot seat this year?

1. Dune Awakening

No matter what you do, Funcom is going to Funcom, and that means that Dune Awakening walked without rhythm but in the bad way? That analogy got away from me a bit, but the important point is that the game managed to quickly falter in both attention and esteem in a way that usually produces more than a few sidelong glances. This does, of course, make it a very typical Funcom game that is deeply flawed on a fundamental level and strains the hearts of those who find something to love in it, but now we also have to see what happens now that the launch luster has fully fallen off – and now that Tencent laid off a chunk of the live team.

2. Ship of Heroes

As I said, this isn’t really just about who’s going to go play in the Shutdown Theater, but I will admit that I have a really hard time predicting a robust future for Ship of Heroes. Like, it deserves a nod for somehow managing to win worst business model in a world where far worse things exist, but that also means that I have a hard time predicting what happens next. I know it’s going to be bad, but I don’t know how. I don’t know how you flub a box plus subscription this badly. I don’t know a lot of things.

3. Throne and Liberty

There’s a black cloud hanging over Throne and Liberty in the shape of what Amazon has done with its game division, and I pick this in particular because the game clearly has a fair amount of life still in it. Indeed, I would argue that it’s into the groove of finding its cadence and really working its playerbase, but it’s hard not to feel like there’s a real risk of everything going tits-up because of the relationship with Amazon. Yes, I know that Amazon told us Throne & Liberty and Lost Ark are safe, but surely that’s only because Amazon can’t wiggle out of its publishing contracts with Smilegate and NCsoft, right? This is made even worse by the fact that history and experience means that right now Beff Jezos could come to my apartment and tell me personally that he will make sure nothing happens to this game, and I would not actually believe him.

4. The Elder Scrolls Online

I want this game to stop being on this list. I really do. The problem is that honestly, the past few years have not been comforting if you have been following the game even from a distance. It’s a constant string of changing content cadences and half-measures, made even worse with 2025’s messy FOMO-driven cadence and the unceremonious shuttering of ZeniMax’s new game that was taking a lot of development resources. I have no idea whether this year is going to be better or worse with the planned seasonal model.

5. Star Trek Online

Thank you so much, Embracer Group, for turning the ownership of Star Trek Online into a multi-year ridiculous dramatic mess that did nothing but cause people to lose their jobs, then regain their jobs, then shift ownership around until now it’s back in the hands of Arc Games and Cryptic and we have to wonder whether the game can ever recover from those years of uncertainty and loss. So what the hey happens with the actual game now? Oh, and let’s not forget that this is also coming as a lot of the new Trek push seems to be sputtering a bit, so that’s super. This is super.

6. Pantheon

Chat is it bad when you post about huge overhauls to your game’s basic structure while also claiming that your game, which had always been meant as a group-centric throwback, was not that? Chat is that bad? Chat? Chat?

7. Corepunk

I really want Corepunk to hit it out of the park, but somehow it just doesn’t seem to be pulling it off, and ultimately everyone who hears about it winds up thinking, “Hey, wasn’t that the game that had one bad feature or another” – if they remember the title at all. This is not the position you want your game to be in, and I think it needs an image overhaul as much as anything… something that can be hard to handle when development is still in motion (and under actual siege?).

8. Ashes of Creation

I respect that Ashes of Creation has decided to open itself up to wider scrutiny and access on Steam. I still respect that. However, I still am not sure whether that added scrutiny and access will result in a careful attention to elements that aren’t working… or quadrupling down on bad impulses. Only time will tell, and I hate letting time tell. I want to know now.

9. Destiny 2

It’s not a fun time to be Bungie right now, let’s not mince words, but the problem is that this is basically what is in the pipeline with no clear path forward. I know that this game has its fans, but I also know that there seems to be a general feel of the game digging a hole for itself, and I’m not sure if “dig up” is a viable strategy to correct that issue. You feel me?

10. EVE Online

There has always been a very fundamental problem with EVE Online, and that’s that you cannot simultaneously sell your game as Be A Jerk Online and have an endless stream of people willing to join your title. But this just gets more and more complicated as the CCP Games keeps trying to launch spinoffs no one seems to want, and even worse, the studio is overseen by someone with an unparalleled credulousness for every bit of tech-based nonsense that crosses his path, and so you get a spinoff version of this game based on the blockchain for no actual reason. The bight side here is that EVE Online revenue is actually doing really well right now, but also Pearl Abyss is still trying to sell CCP Games, so what does that tell you? Basically, it’s a constant house of cards, and while there’s no certainty that this is the moment when the cards come down, it’s very possible that this could be – for the studio, if not spreadsheets in space itself.

11. Camelot Unchained

I’m picking on this game in particular because just last year there was a clear announcement that 2025 would be the year. And it wasn’t. At a certain point you need to either put up or shut up. No more development blogs, no more talk of engines, no more anything. Get a game out and playable or quit dragging things out. Remember, Ashes of Creation was announced and Kickstarted years after this one and is already out in early access on Steam.

Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten usually takes an MMO topic and divides it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. And per tradition, we’re cranking this column up to eleven with our annual special features in the End-of-Year Eleven!