While we’re still waiting for the next great new MMORPG to take the world by storm like World of Warcraft did years ago, there are still plenty of great active ones to choose from. These are the 10 most popular MMORPGs on PC in 2023, ranked specifically by their peak concurrent players.

Editor’s Note: Hard data for concurrent player counts do not exist for MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. Therefore, it has been excluded from this list. We are aware that they would undoubtedly be right at the very top of this most popular MMORPGs in 2023 list if we had access to reliable data from which to source.

Prime Gaming has renewed its partnership with Riot Games for the remainder of 2023, which is set to bring a bunch of free cosmetics to the publisher’s biggest games. Players of games such Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and more can look forward to free rewards if they’re also signed up for Prime. The partnership will also see Prime’s continued sponsorship of major Riot esports events, including the Valorant Champions Tour.

“Prime Gaming has been a longstanding partner for Riot, and we’re proud to share a mutual commitment toward providing deeper experiences that make it more rewarding to be a fan,” said John Needham, president of Eesports for Riot Games in a press release sent to Twinfinite. “We’re proud to have a partner like Prime Gaming supporting our broad fan base across LoL Esports, the VALORANT Champions Tour, and Teamfight Tactics.” 

Counter-Strike is the talk of the town at the moment as rumors of a new CS:GO version built in Source 2 have been swirling for a number of weeks, but we’re still yet to hear anything official from Valve. As the anticipation builds and speculation runs rife, one content creator turned to artificial intelligence to build a mock-up of what a future CS game might look like, and the results are absolutely stunning.

Now, it has to be said that the images you’ll see in 3kliksphillip’s video are far from how CS:GO 2 is likely to actually appear. As he admits, it’s probably closer to Unreal Engine 5 than Source 2 in terms of graphical fidelity, such as the photo-realistic nature of the image overhauls that the AI has produced. In any case, it makes for a fun thought experiment to consider what tactical shooters like Counter-Strike might look like in a decade or two of time, if not in the coming weeks as we still believe (read hope, pray) is the timeframe Valve will finally show its hand.

It’s easy to forget that Valheim is in Early Access given that it’s already so impressively polished. In a short amount of time since launch, the game has amassed an enormous, thriving community of players who adore its engaging survival mechanics and immense scale. The Valheim mods scene, too, is off to a great start. In this article, we’re going to go look at the best Valheim mods that have been released so far.

Thanks to the work of talented modders over at NexusMods, there are a whole bunch of excellent Valheim mods that help make the game even better. So, let’s jump in!

HBO’s The Last of Us series has enjoyed acclaim from critics and fans alike for its faithful adaptation of the beloved 2013 game. Unlike so many video game adaptations that have come before it, the narrative arcs, character dialogs, and cinematography that binds everything together are very similar to the source material. But not everything is the same. HBO’s showrunners have so far done a great job both changing up some original scenes in compelling ways and adding exciting new ones. Here, we’re going to wrap up some of the major differences between The Last of Us 2013 game and the 2023 show now that season one has concluded.

Episode 1: When You’re Lost in the Darkness

Cordyceps: Origin, Contagion, Clickers – In the show, the origin of the Cordyceps infection is seen to have been speculated and doom mongered by 1960s doctors, whereas in the games it appears out of nowhere. Later in the episode, we come to understand that the infection is spread via tendrils and bites from both Clickers and Runners, but in the games, the infection is spread by spores that hang in the air.

Riot Games is making some small but notable improvements to Gekko’s utility following the launch of the new Valorant Agent a couple of weeks back. One standout is a tweak to Wingman that should allow him to access tricker-to-reach spots when ordered to plant or defuse the spike. The cutesy critter has hit meme-level status over the past few weeks after having been seen making hilarious detours to reach certain plant locations.

Elsewhere, in the bug fixes segment of the patch notes, you’ll also notice that Gekko is also now vulnerable to melee damage, which was something that strangely wasn’t registering before. Here are the full patch notes for update 6.05:

There’s no denying that Riot Games has proved itself a master of creating unique and interesting characters, and Valorant boasts one of the most colorful and exciting rosters in any video game. All of the personalities are memorable, and each brings its own unique flavor to add diversity and intrigue to the universe.

But how familiar are you with Valorant’s 22 Agents and their voice lines? Could you name who said what if you were challenged to do so? Well, let’s find out. Keep in mind this quiz features lines from Valorant’s newest Agent, Gekko, so let’s hope you’ve unlocked him!

Each of the 22 different Agents in Valorant feature is equipped with utility according to the role they’re designed to fill: Duelists strike first in firefights; Initiators help their team burst onto sites; defensive-minded Sentinels lock down areas of the map, while Controllers block off lines of sight and dictate the flow of the game.

So, which do you consider best suited to your playstyle? Of course, we recommend experimenting with all of them and finding out in a hands-on exercise, but since not all of them are available when you first start the game, and Riot has added a bunch since release, we’re hoping this personality quiz should give you a good idea of whose contract to unlock first.

The synergy of gunplay and hero abilities is what makes Valorant such a unique and exciting gameplay experience, but there’s no doubt that its diverse roster of Agents is also a huge part of the game’s appeal. From their colorful personalities and eye-catching designs to the different strategies their in-game utility offers, Valorant’s Agents are seriously cool, and Riot Games has been adding to the roster slowly ever since launch; most recently, with Gekko.

Just as has been the case for a while now, Gekko and other recent additions like Harbor and Fade have received lengthy cinematics and in-game clues to flesh out the lore that gives context to their backstories. But how much have you been paying attention? Could you recall the backstories for each respective character?

If you thought sledding down mountains was a fun pastime in Sons of the Forest then you’ll be pleased to hear about some of the new content coming in Patch 01. Developer Endnight has revealed that a Hang Glider has now been added to the game, making traversal not only way faster but a whole lot more fun.

Elsewhere, there’s plenty else to look forward to. The addition of binoculars should make exploration easier, and the option to build a defensive gate to your defensive walls is a much-requested feature. And other structures such as Fish Traps now actually work properly, and smaller objects such as furniture can be more easily manipulated.

If you’ve been enjoying HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation then you’ll have noticed its terrifying, grim world makes for a fascinating setting. But would you want to live there? Probably not. Actually, definitely not. Taking on hordes of infected and gangs of ruthless bandits is exciting from the safety of your couch, but I think it’s safe to say the majority of us wouldn’t last three seconds in post-apocalyptic Seattle.

We’ll never find out, thank god. But just for the sake of fun, we’ve devised a little scenario that’ll put your survival decision-making to the test. If you think you can survive The Last of Us’ world just as Ellie and Joel continue to do in the show then see how you go by answering the following 10 questions.

We’re only three months into 2023 and Riot Games has already whipped up a storm of new Valorant content. Following the launch of Lotus earlier this year, a new Agent has arrived in the form of Gekko. The Mexican/American initiator looks to shake up the meta with a very unusual belt of utility that more closely resembles a Pokemon Trainer than a Valorant Agent.

Over the past two days, Twinfinite was given the opportunity to check out what Gekko brings to the roster, and though not have enough time to get a full picture of how strong his impact is likely to be I’m pretty certain of one thing: Gekko feels as though he’s going to prove strong in pro play, but not so much in ranked.

The first episode of Valorant’s Episode 6 saw the arrival of the new map Lotus, and there’s more content on the way in the form of a new Agent for the second Act coming next week. After having now been revealed by Riot Games, we’re sharing everything there is to know about Valorant’s Agent 22, Gekko, as well as when you can play him.

Valorant Agent Gekko Reveal Trailer

Riot Games has now officially revealed Valorant’s latest Agent, Gekko, with a brand new story trailer. You can check it out below.

This week sees the launch of Valorant’s latest update, which comes in tandem with the second season of Episode 6. While the big news is the addition of new Agent Gekko, there’s also a small tweak to thread synchronization that will reduce the input latency. There’s a caveat, though.

The update is only set to make an impact for those who run VSYNC, which, let’s be honest, isn’t very many of us. VSYNC is a feature that mitigates screen-tearing by locking a game to a certain FPS, but it typically increases input latency and so isn’t recommended for shooters. At least for those who are forced to run VSYNC due to tearing, the latency is reduced. Only slightly, though! Here are the full patch notes:

As the inaugural Valorant esports competition LOCK//IN kicks off its grand finals today, Riot Games has confirmed where the final tournament of the year will take place. Champions, the big event that every franchised Valorant esports team is fighting over a place for in 2023 will be held at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California.

It will be the very first Valorant major to be held on the continent, with everyone so far having been held in Europe. Tokyo will, of course, be the location for Masters before we get to Champions, but U.S fans will nonetheless be able to look forward to the most important tournament of the year being held on home soil.

If you’ve been playing Endnight’s excellent new survival game, Sons of the Forest, this week then you’ll know all about Kelvin. He’s the silent NPC who busily helps gather resources, food, supplies, and anything you ask of him while you’re off adventuring.

Kelvin is incredibly useful, though he often bumbles around and disobeys instructions; needless to say, our relationship started a little rocky. Slowly but surely, however, he proved his worth, and over the course of around 25 hours playing the game, I must confess to having grown rather fond of the man.

Valorant fans have long been requesting a follow up to the Oni skin bundle, and now their prays have finally been answered. Revealed in a dazzling anime-like trailer earlier today, Riot Games has showcased a first glimpse at the sequel bundle.

Lead cosmetics producer Preeti Khanolkar said of the new skin bundle:

Riot Games is readying itself to launch another of its Valorant skin bundles, but whether this next one proves popular remains to be seen. Revealed today over on Twitter, the ‘Reverie’ skins have a stained glass design that is reminiscent of a church window, with each weapon boasting a colorful array of different panels that look similar to glass shards.

As you can see in the image above, the Valorant Reverie bundle features the following weapons:

You know it, I know it, but somehow Riot Games doesn’t. Whether you’ve been on the receiving end of a fully stunned one-tap or have been gleefully laughing as you somehow got away with one yourself, apparently everyone apart from the development team is in agreement that the Valorant stun isn’t as strong as it should be. The ability needs a buff across all the Agents who wield it, and pronto.

The underwhelming power of the stun has been an issue ever since Valorant launched back in 2020. To my knowledge, unlike the various flashes and near-sights in the game, the stun has never actually received any attention, even despite the fact that its unreliable nature has more or less always been a meme.

It’s been over 18 months since Ubisoft announced XDefiant, an FPS set in the Tom Clancy universe where gunplay and special abilities are fused together in an attempt to innovate on the classic run-and-gun shooter blueprint. It wasn’t well received. So strong was the backlash over its goofy aesthetic –which was lamented as not being appropriate to the franchise– that the publisher was forced to drop the Tom Clancy tag and push XDefiant as something entirely standalone. After a long period of silence, XDefiant made a comeback over the weekend for a brief alpha test, and I managed to score a code to check it out.

Now, with XDefiant still being so early in development it’s rather unfair to make too many sweeping critiques about its design on a micro level. It’s understandably rough around the edges, with limited server infrastructure that is always going to result in gunplay feeling a little odd and disconnected at times. What I will say, though, is as far as the big, high-level takeaways about its overall design and concept, I think XDefiant is confused.