25 Years Later, This Forgotten Sci-Fi MMORPG Pioneer Is Stuck In Limbo And Has No Plans On Leaving

The MMORPG genre has seen plenty of changes and brand-new franchises over the years. One of the most notable developers in the genre, though, is Funcom. The Norwegian developer has been crafting games in a variety of genres for over 30 years now, with its most recent MMORPG being last year’s Dune: Awakening. Bringing Frank Herbert’s sci-fi world to life is no easy task, but Dune: Awakening proved to be one of the biggest online games of 2025. However, there’s another Funcom title that continues to hold onto life, even after 25 years: Anarchy Online.

Anarchy Online was released by Funcom back in the summer of 2001, and it made a name for itself as the first game in the genre to be focused around a true sci-fi setting. Fast-forward 25 years, and the MMORPG is still somehow managing to stay afloat in a gaming sea that often sees online servers being shut down after just a few years. Anarchy Online may have made history by being the first true sci-fi MMORPG in the world, but it’s also a good example of how some games can survive, even if that’s “survive” in the merest of terms. While it is still active, it has not significantly changed or added new content in quite some time.

After 25 Years, Anarchy Online is Stuck in a Limbo That Will Likely Never End

For those unfamiliar with the game, Anarchy Online takes place on the desert planet of Rubi-Ka, so Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles definitely aren’t Funcom’s first time crafting desert biomes. Thriving in Rubi-Ka may sound an awful lot like surviving in Dune: Awakening‘s Arrakis desert, but the former has an identity all its own. That’s one of the main reasons that it continues to keep players after so many years without any updates.

A Brief Rundown of Everything Anarchy Online Has to Offer

• 14 character classes to choose from
• Contract-based missions
• Battling over territory and resources
• A large variety of biomes to explore
• Unique vehicles
• Base building

Anarchy Online boasts all the ingredients that a strong MMORPG needs, and this has kept its community sticking with it. Whether one’s a die-hard fan who’s been playing since day one or a newcomer who wants to experience an old-school MMORPG, Anarchy Online is a special game for a lot of people. It may not boast Dune: Awakening‘s player count, but the player base is still quite active on the internet. There’s even an official Reddit page that has players who are asking for tips and bonding over the game’s legacy.

Image via Funcom

Anarchy Online is a Nostalgia-Filled MMORPG That Represents the Genre in Its Purest Form

As one of the longest-running MMORPGs around, Anarchy Online‘s visuals are far from Dune: Awakening‘s graphics, but that honestly makes it that much more charming. The dated aesthetic of Anarchy Online is as much a part of the game’s identity as its mechanics are. Beyond the visuals, though, some of the main reasons the sci-fi MMORPG has lived on for so long is because of its complexity and content-rich world. The character customization is still on par with modern RPGs, and newcomers who have been curious about trying the game have hours upon hours of exploration and missions to experience before it runs out of new things to discover. It’s difficult for most online games to make it past a few years, but Anarchy Online has stayed safe from being shut down. What’s most baffling of all, though, is that the game has lasted this long while still having a monthly subscription attached to it.

Anarchy Online Has Both a Free-to-Play and Paid Version

For most, the free-to-play option is enough to get a lot of hours out of the game. However, there are players who become so invested that they want the premium content that Funcom offers. The paid version opens access to all the game’s expansions, monthly points and rewards, no character restrictions, and allowing max-leveling to level 220. It’s definitely a controversial move on Funcom’s part, but there are players who have continued to subscribe. Over the years, not every Funcom game has managed such longevity, which makes Anarchy Online that much more impressive. .

• LEGO Minifigures Online (2015)
• Hide and Shriek (2016)
• Secret World Legends (2017)
• Conan Exiles (2018)
• Dune: Awakening (2025)

This is what the past decade has looked like for Funcom, and three out of five games are adaptations of major franchises. LEGO Minifigures Online was shut down in 2016 after failing to hit Funcom’s financial goals. Hide and Shriek was a decently fun co-op horror game, while Secret World Legends was a free-to-play reboot of another beloved Funcom MMORPG, The Secret World. While Secret World Legends‘ servers are active, the game doesn’t have the same draw as Anarchy Online, and the reworked gameplay that lowered the learning curve kept a lot of original players away. Conan Exiles is still one of the best fantasy MMORPGs around, and it’s maintained a consistent and strong fan base. Dune: Awakening is Funcom’s golden child at the moment, though.

What Funcom Has Planned After Dune: Awakening is a Big Mystery

Funcom has already confirmed that Dune: Awakening updates are on the table for 2026. The developer has been quite vague about the details, though. The general plan is more DLC and free updates, so it will be interesting to see what the rest of the year has in store for Arrakis.

It’s highly likely that Anarchy Online will remain in its limbo state until Funcom decides to pull the plug. However, nothing is impossible. There is still the slight chance that another update from Funcom could be in the cards. Dune: Awakening may have been one of the best co-op games of 2025, but Anarchy Online has maintained its place as MMORPG royalty for over two decades.