There are open-worldsandbox-style games, and there are games that feature massive battles, but are there any games that combine both? Yes, but not as many as people might expect. This is generally due to the fact that the technology needed to run large-scale battles in open-world games is infamously difficult to optimize.

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Surprisingly, some of the first games to rise to the challenge of hosting large-scale warfare and combat involving dozens or even hundreds of players are quite old, dating back to the late 1990s. And of course, there are a fair few modern titles that have managed to pull off large-scale combat as well.

7 Dark Age Of Camelot

Invented Three-Way PvP

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, DOS
• Released: October 9, 2001
• Developers: Mythic Entertainment
• Genre: MMORPG, Adventure

When Mythic Entertainment was designing the Realm versus Realm (RvR) combat for Dark Age of Camelot, they understood that an odd number of factions was needed, because an even number would eventually result in equilibrium. They settled on just three realms, and pitted them against each other.

RvR combat in Dark Age of Camelot took place in areas of the open world map that factions could claim once they had conquered them. This involved building defenses and repairing castles and other fortifications. Opposing factions would then attack these bastions, using siege engines and other large-scale warfare tactics. This resulted in what were, at the time, huge battles with dozens of players on each side that could last for hours at a time.

Dark Age of Camelot is now a free-to-play game, and still has a decently healthy following. RvR combat was something this game did right, and it was one of, if not the first open-world game that enabled large-scale battles between players by incorporating factions.

6 Ultima Online

The First Open World With Mass PvP

Ultima Online has been a successful MMORPG since its PC only release in 1997. It is famed for its open-world sandbox gameplay, and the fact that players are not limited to a single class and can mix and match skills at will. However, people may not be aware that UO was also the first game to have mass PvP battles.

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Large-scale battles in Ultima Online took place in three ways. Initially, they occured through what would come to be known as Server Wars. Each day, every Shard would have around 30 minutes of maintenance, at a set time. During this period, no player actions were saved, although they were allowed to stay logged into the game. Players realized that this was an excuse for a mass PvP battle, with no consequences, as nothing was saved. This took place in Britain Graveyard every night.

There were two official ways to become involved in mass PvP battles in UO. Firstly, there was the Order versus Chaos system, where players could declare allegiance to either side, and then could be permanently attacked by the opposition. Secondly, there was the faction warfare system, where players could declare for one of four factions, and then battle against the other three. Faction warfare was patched in some years after release, and was the first instance of large-scale PvP battles with hundreds of players at once.

5 The Front

Large-Scale Combat Meets Crafting And Survival

• Platform: Microsoft Windows
• Released: September 3, 2023
• Developer: Samar Studio
• Genres: MMO Shooter

The Front is the newest game on this list, being released in late 2023. The game combines survival, base building, and large-scale PvP on an open-world map. What makes The Front very different from its peers is the fact that games are generally run with a time limit. This could be 7 days, 30 days, etc. Once the time limit is reached, the server is reset and everyone starts again from scratch.

The Front is one of a new breed of competitive, large-scale PvP games that moves the focus from pure combat to resource gathering and establishing base defenses. On launch, The Front was a little rough around the edges, and also suffered from an influx of cheaters. However, these problems were patched out of the game very quickly, leaving a nicely polished gaming experience that is a lot of fun.

4 PlanetSide 2

Huge Scale Multi-Planet Combat

Some games encourage large-scale battles on a single open-world map. Free-to-play title PlanetSide 2 goes a step further, with players battling across entire planets. Part MMORPG, part competitive FPS, this is a live-service game with a loyal following.

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Combat takes place on foot, in vehicles, and on aircraft. Players are tasked with capturing strategic locations to lock down entire planets and gain bonuses for their faction. Battles can have upwards of a hundred players in one location, with several hundred scattered around the planet. Although the game maps can be considered to be open-world in nature, there are limits placed on what the player can do at a POI, depending on its status.

3 Planetside 1

Fully Open-World Galactic Combat

• Platform: Microsoft Windows
• Released: 2003
• Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
• Genre: Strategic Combat

Why is PlanetSide 1 also on this list, and why is it ranked above PlanetSide 2? Well, in many ways, PlanetSide 2 was the spiritual successor to PlanetSide 1, rather than a sequel. Yes, there are similarities, and yes, the lore is carried over between games, but there were some major differences as well.

To understand these differences, it is important to know that PlanetSide 1 is a game from a previous era, an era when there were few options for large-scale PvP games. Because of this, PlanetSide 1 had a much larger player population than PlanetSide 2, and for much longer. At busy times, there were multiple huge battles taking place across every planet.

There were also fewer restrictions placed on what actions players could take on the open-world map, opening up far more strategic options. The PlanetSide 1 servers sadly closed down in 2016, but a group of dedicated players is currently working on a server emulator.

2 Albion Online

Part MMORPG, Part PvP League

Albion Online is both a crafting MMORPG and the backdrop for some very serious, large-scale competitive PvP battles. These battles take place in two ways. Firstly, on the open-world map, with players capturing entire areas to be controlled by their guild. This includes cities, which guilds can use to build shops, etc.

The second vehicle for large-scale battles in Albion Online are the built-in guild PvP leagues. These run alongside the open-world's PvP, and are extremely competitive. With its "You Are What You Wear" mantra, players can mix and match skills to suit individual battles, rather than being stuck with a specific class template the entire time.

1 EVE Online

Thousands Of Players In One Battle

EVE Online has earned its top spot on this list many times over. No other game has even come close to hosting such huge open-world battles as EVE Online. In other games, 100 players in one battle would be considered a lot. In EVE Online, thousands of players are the norm.

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EVE has set world records for battle sizes several times, only to smash them again at some later stage, with the sheer number of players in a single battle going up year after year. All of it takes place on what is also the largest open-world (or open-galaxy in this case) map in any MMORPG to on the market.

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