MMO vs. RPG: What Does Each Gaming Environment Provide You?

Video game slang might be hard to keep up with, especially when you’re trying to find an experience to enjoy. Nobody wants to spend $60 on a game that puts a bad taste in their mouth, so know the lingo before committing the cash. Some of the most popular genres and terms in gaming are MMO and RPG. Despite these often being used in the same breath, they are not the same, but they can overlap. Let’s define MMO vs. RPG so you can get your gaming environments straightened out.

MMO vs. RPG: Definitions and Basics

What do each of these terms mean?

What Is an MMO?

An MMO is a massively multiplayer online game, sometimes stylized as MMOG. Many games feature online play capabilities, but that doesn’t necessarily make it an MMO. Here are the main qualities of an MMO environment:

• Prioritizes multiplayer gaming over single-player experiences
• Uses an open-world, sandbox-style map where other players exist in it alongside you, typically on the same server
• Establishes an active environment that continues “living” even when you don’t play
• Relies on large-scale content to engage players for potentially hundreds of hours
• Operates on a subscription or monthly fee-based model
• Sends regular updates so the game maintains an element of freshness
• Encourages individualization through character creation and lengthy character progression paths

Games with online potential, such as many first-person shooters, are not necessarily MMOs. Do you need to login and see other human-controlled characters nearby? Do you have a seemingly infinite amount of things to do? Is character creation so intricate no two characters look alike? You might be playing an MMO.

What Is an RPG?

RPG stands for role-playing game. For video games, these often contain character creation, level-up systems, quests and rich storylines, sometimes relying on choice to guide the narrative. Some of gaming history’s most popular RPGs come from Japan, including the Final Fantasy series and other games from Square Enix. Others include Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect, the Persona series, Earthbound, Fallout and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The worlds collide when a game is classified as an MMORPG — a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It combines the elements of a single-player RPG in a massive, multiplayer environment. Some of the most legendary examples are World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Everquest, Runescape, Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online and many others.

What Is a MOBA?

What about MMO vs. MOBA? MOBA stands for multiplayer online battle arena. These games often still have a massive number of players, but lobbies and smaller maps consolidate the number of active players in a single scenario. Popular examples of MOBAs include Dota 2, SMITE and League of Legends. These games are highly competitive, whereas RPGs and MMOs don’t have this as an inherent component.

What Is a BR?

BR stands for a battle royale-style game. It is often considered a subgenre of MMO. These games are about survival and contain a similarly competitive atmosphere as a MOBA. Some of the most popular include Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and the BR version of Fortnite.

Are There Other Genres?

When it comes to MMOs, you can typically tack on any genre of game and design it for massive multiplayer playstyles. There are:

• MMORTS: Real-time strategies, like Starfall Online
• MMOTBS: Turn-based strategies, like Space Empire Elite
• MMOFPS: First-person shooter, like PlanetSide 2
• MMOR: Racing, like Need for Speed: World
• MMOBBG: Bulletin board games using primarily text and images, like Operation: Overkill II

There are also tons of casual online games, especially in virtual reality (VR) environments nowadays. You can play The Sims online in MMO settings, and you can also argue sandboxes like VRChat are the future of MMORPGs.

Many games also exhibit MMO and RPG qualities, but discrepancies and developer language causes player confusion. One of the most popular examples is Destiny 2. Many point out its shared world elements, but the maker, Bungie, refuses to call the game an MMO. Even though the game pushes its multiplayer potential, many of the game’s shortcomings prevent it from entering the genre completely.

Should You Play MMOs, RPGs or MMORPGs?

If any of these concepts sound interesting to you, here are a few more considerations about each gaming environment you can think about before spending money.

Time Investment

MMOs and RPGs alike often take many hours to complete. Some people invest hundreds or even thousands of hours on single-player and multiplayer RPGs. Another consideration for MMOs is they often receive consistent updates throughout the year. This means there is always new content to explore. Sometimes, they even include time-restricted events, which means you have to pay attention to the meta to stay in the know.

Financial Commitment

All games cost money, but MMOs could cost more in the long run. Many have a monthly subscription fee in addition to base game and downloadable content costs. If you’d rather only pay for a game one time, you’d be better off steering away from MMOs.

Many people learned to love online gaming during the pandemic, and 2024 was a great year for the genre. Because of this, 2025 could be even stronger.

Social Engagement

The biggest draw for MMOs and related genres are the community aspect of it. You can always be interacting with others, whether casually or competitively. Oftentimes, you need to join others to defeat a major boss or undergo a raid. This could be intimidating for a lot of people, so if this gaming experience stresses you out, a solo RPG might be better.

The social aspect of it could lean on the competitive side. Some gaming communities, and the microcommunities that form within each game, could become toxic depending on the content.

MMO vs. RPG, Now You Know

While genres in all entertainment forms can be confusing, from music to books, they are helpful pillars in finding what to play next. MMOs, whether as an RPG or RTS, are unique. They could be just the thing to connect with your gaming hobby and friends, or it could be an intimidating world of untouched potential. Regardless, there is a game in every genre for everyone, even in the eternal fight of MMO vs. RPG. Where will you start?