If you want to enjoy some great PC games (note: you can sell video games online), multiplayer titles are a good place to start. The nature of PC as a platform means that these games are often widely-accessible and playable on various tiers of hardware. A few items on this list are more demanding than others- namely a certain Battlegrounds title- but besides that, these games are usually playable on even low-end PCs without issue.
This accessibility, plus the fact that these games are just…good, is why they’re some of the most-played titles on Steam and gaming in general. So we at InfiniGEEK are going to treat you to our top picks of the best multiplayer games you can play online right now, and maybe a little more!
How These Games Were Chosen
For the most part, these selections were made based on popularity of the titles being played. Aside from a few switch arounds based on personal preference or a lack of player numbers (like with Overwatch), most of these are in order of popularity, from least-to-most popular. They all have something to offer, though, depending on what you want in your games.
The List
9. Rocket League
If driving jumping, rocket-powered cars in a giant game of soccer sounds appealing to you, you’re probably a little bit nuts if you haven’t played this game already. Once you do play it, however, you’ll likely realize the real genius of this idea, just as the hundreds of thousands of players playing this title across the current gen consoles and PC have.
Rocket League is a great time, filled with over-the-top jumping and vehicle mechanics wrapped in the aesthetics of giant soccer games. PC gamers can also enjoy cross-platform games with people who own the game on PS4 or Xbox One, bridging the gap between the major gaming platforms in a pretty big way.
If you like your multiplayer games with a decent learning curve, great style and deep room for mechanical improvement, Rocket League is a good pick.
8. Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six: Seige is the latest in the Rainbow Six series, but instead of trying to one-up AAA shooters, it focuses instead on an insanely-detailed and interactive multiplayer experience. Players of Siege are drawn to its methodical game pacing and high-risk, high-reward gameplay style. The game’s getting better all the time with new updates, too, so it’s never a bad time to jump in.
7. Warframe
Warframe is an extremely fast-paced, free-to-play third-person shooter. It features a slick sci-fi aesthetic, tons of character customization and a lot of potential for wild movement capabilities in gameplay. It’s also grown over time from a basic TPS to a full-on open world sci-fi MMO shooter. If that sounds crazy…it’s because it is.
6. Overwatch
Overwatch is the latest and greatest from the folks at Blizzard, responsible for such legendary timesinks as Starcraft and World of Warcraft. Overwatch takes a spin on the MOBA genre and puts it in a TF2-inspired shooter context, and this blend of ingredients allows Overwatch to be one of the most popular FPSes on the market today.
5. PAYDAY 2
PAYDAY 2 is a game that allows you to grab a group of friends and rob some banks. That’s the short version of what happens in PAYDAY 2, but there’s actually a whole lot more to explore than that, thanks to a crazy amount of different missions, characters, emblems, ranks, masks and weapons to earn and play with in this game.
4. Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play class shooter with lots of arena shooter DNA in its guts. Because of this, it simultaneously boasts a thriving casual scene and a sky-high skill ceiling. While TF2’s in-game competitive isn’t much to write home about right now, its competitive community has taken the game to the next level in terms of skilled play. If you want a game with endless mechanical depth and player customization, TF2 is a great choice.
3. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS:GO, is the latest in the long-running Counter-Strike series, a series you could argue put military FPS on the map well before the likes of COD and ARMA today. CSGO offers an extremely deep gameplay experience and a sky-high skill ceiling for tactics and pure mechanical skill alike. If you want to be challenged, this is the game for you.
2. Dota 2
Dota 2- and its distant rival, League of Legends- is responsible for the resurgence of the MOBA genre that’s taken the world by storm in recent years. Dota 2 in particular is continually playing host to the largest eSports tournaments of all time, with the size of the prize pool breaking records seemingly every year at The International. To say that Dota 2 is a sensation is an understatement- its rise has brought eSports more into the mainstream than ever, and its influence on the industry as a whole should not be underestimated.
Dota 2 is a game with fairly deep mechanics and a nigh-infinite skill ceiling. If you’re willing to learn and have the time to penetrate its initial density, Dota 2 is bound to give you something to come back and keep playing, again and again.
1. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, or more simply, PUBG, has taken the world of Steam and PC gaming as a whole by storm. The eponymous PlayerUnknown is a man known for his stake in the creation of the “Battle Royale” genre, a game mode known to any enthusiastic player of ARMA, H1Z1 or DayZ. The same basic concepts apply here: you’re dropped into a sandbox with realistic simulations and gameplay mechanics, pit in a desperate struggle for survival against tons of other players.
PUBG is a great game, but due to being in Early Access (and therefore early development), it can still be plagued by technical issues and performance problems. Because of this, people on low-end PCs typically can’t play the game at acceptable settings and framerates, with mid-range players needing to adjust to get good performance and high-end players not quite getting what they want out of their $1K+ gaming rigs.
Fortunately, we at The Great Setup have included a link at the end of this article to a PC build. A PC build capable of playing this title at good settings, with good frames, as well as every other title on this list with much less compromise. Keep reading to see that.
Closing Words
And that’s it! Those are our picks for the best multiplayer PC games you can play right now. A few games didn’t make the cut- like H1Z1, which is pretty handily beat by PUBG, at least in this writer’s opinion- but there’s plenty of diverse multiplayer gaming experiences on this list for you to enjoy.
If you need a PC capable of playing them all at high-to-max settings, click here to check out our Best Gaming PC Build Under $1500. The only game that might give that one a bit of trouble is PUBG, but then- doesn’t PUBG give every rig trouble?