What’s better than free? Free with little to no strings attached! And if you can find an RPG that does the free-to-play model correctly, you’ll find yourself a game with potentially hundreds or even thousands of hours worth of gameplay. Unfortunately, the following games don’t always nail the concept of F2P without tossing in microtransactions, but that’s just the sad state of affairs within the gaming industry. But overall, they’re some of the best. Here are the five best free RPGs on Steam right now!
The Best Free RPGs You Can Play on Steam Today
When we say “free,” we genuinely mean you can boot up Steam right this moment, navigate to each specific store page, and download the game at zero cost to you. They have in-game stores selling cosmetics and other items, but you can score a ton of time out of the vanilla experience with zero add-ons or expansions!
Path of Exile
Let’s get this out of the way first because, yes, I know the skill tree is daunting. It’s one of the reasons so many people avoid Path of Exile in the first place. That said, you don’t have to follow any meta build. You can pick a class you think you’ll enjoy, give it a run, and then pop points into the massive skill tree at your own pace. Do you want additional damage? Then, place a point into a node that offers a damage buff! It’s simple when you take a step back.
We are moving on, however. Path of Exile offers thousands of hours worth of gameplay for fans of the ARPG genre. The build variety, the monster variety, the levels, and the community all provide ample reasons to return repeatedly each season.
You can finish a season in approximately 30 hours, but for a completionist run of all available content, you’re looking at almost 1,000!
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Initially developed by BioWare, the titans of the RPG genre for the longest time, and now handed off to Broadsword, EA’s Star Wars-themed MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, offers fans of the franchise a chance to step into the shoes of various classes and races as they carve a foothold across the galaxy. Each class offers a unique storyline, with fully-voiced dialogue and choices to make along the way. If this were a single-player, the class storylines alone would make for an award-winning solo experience.
The game boasts eight unique stories to explore, 16 combat styles, countless planets with varying biomes, fauna, flora, and people to interact with, and, of course, the multiplayer aspect of the whole package. You can join a guild, partake in PvP, purchase a house, host gatherings, and more.
A single storyline will take approximately 130 hours to complete, though some players draw it out to nearly 600 per character.
Guild Wars 2
While it’s certainly not the prettiest MMORPG on the market, Guild Wars 2 is one of the biggest, all thanks to a studio that cherishes the series and its roots wholeheartedly. Over 16 million players come together with zero subscription fee to participate in PvP, PvE, seasons, and countless unique stories across multiple classes and races.
Unlike most other MMORPGs, which reward experience points for killing a certain number of monsters or gathering herbs for potions, Guild Wars 2 takes a unique approach. You’re a hero here to help the world itself, and that can occasionally mean picking apples for a pie, guarding a cart full of necessary supplies, or what have you. Developer ArenaNet set out to create a living world and succeeded. It’s immensely detailed and exciting and has one of the best mount systems in any MMORPG!
As for length, you’re looking at nearly 2,000 hours to tackle every piece of content in the game!
RuneScape
As the ultimate second-screen MMORPG, RuneScape continues to draw in a crowd despite dominating the market for over 20 years. The latest iteration of the game, known as RuneScape, is an updated version of Old-School RuneScape, with better graphics and quality-of-life features for a modern audience. And we should note that they do have an optional subscription that you can ignore if you want a F2P experience.
Unlike other MMORPGs, RuneScape does not feature a class system. You build a character, then partake in various activities and jobs to flesh out your role in the world. You can focus on mining, smelting, armor crafting, fishing, cooking, necromancy, and many other skills you can level independently. As you progress your skills, you’ll travel to gorgeous locales with whacky characters and quests to tackle.
For a free RPG on Steam, RuneScape offers over 2,500 hours of content for a solo player to sift through!
Destiny 2
Whenever this one is brought up, there’s always a heated debate about the state of the game and vaulting. Let’s be clear, vaulting sucks. There is no excuse to take away content that a customer paid for, ever. But Bungie did a 180 on that decision and announced they would no longer vault content so fans can enjoy their expansions and storylines without worry. As such, Destiny 2 remains one of the better free RPGs on Steam. It’s wholly unique, with unmatched gunplay, unique armor sets, and countless worlds to explore.
You’ll immediately note the expensive expansion packs available on the Steam page, but you don’t need to purchase those to find enjoyment from this space-faring RPG. The base game features plenty of content to explore, including cooperative dungeons, competitive PvP, questlines, patrols, and more. Plus, there are three unique classes: Titan, Warlock, and Hunter. You’ll find your niche.
If you complete all available content without expansions, you’re looking at nearly 160 hours!