Best Online Multiplayer Strategy Games

Multiplayer strategy games aren’t quite as popular as they once were. This is easy enough to notice when one of the most played titles in the genre is still StarCraft 2, from 2010. To be fair, StarCraft 1 isn’t that far behind. But it doesn’t end with StarCraft: all the other popular online RTS games are sequels, remakes, or reimaginings of classic examples of the genre from decades past.

That said, there might not be that many online strategy games fans out there, but the community is really dedicated. It was fans who kept the multiplayer modes of Age of Empire alive, until the remakes rekindled the series. Even if the most popular multiplayer strategy games are quite old by now, the community will likely stick around for a while still.

7 Beyond All Reason

Ambitious Free RTS Project

• Official Beyond All Reason Site

Beyond All Reason is a free, open-source remake of sorts of Total Annihilation, a classic RTS from 1997. Beyond All Reason has three things going for it. First, the scale is as big as it gets, with some maps supporting up to 8v8 team battles. Second, terrain is extremely important, from elevation to terrain-destroying artillery. And most importantly, it’s free.

Beyond All Reason isn’t a free-to-play game with optional in-game purchases, but rather an open-source project with no payment options besides donations. It would be impossible for this free game to be so large and technically complex without a dedicated community maintaining and expanding it.

6 Dominions 5

Steam User Rating: 94%

Dominions 5 is a rare example of multiplayer-focused 4X strategy games. What’s fascinating is that this 2017 indie game, which looks like an early 2000s Total War game, started as a single-player game. Once a patch added multiplayer support, the RTS community chose it as the de facto best multiplayer 4X game.

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By  Maddie Fisher

What makes Dominions 5 a great game for multiplayer is that, compared to massive grand strategy games like Civilization or Total War, matches are relatively short. Admittedly, the word "relatively" is doing a lot of work here. Matches last hours, not minutes, but at least they aren’t played over the course of days.

5 StarCraft 2

Metacritic Score: 93

Yes, StarCraft 2 is still one of the best competitive multiplayer RTS games. Blizzard’s 2010 strategy game is still one of the most played entries in the genre. Unlike what one would expect from a 14-year-old game that has had a consistent tournament scene all throughout, StarCraft 2 is not that hostile to beginners.

For one, StarCraft 2 is free to play. The free package includes a campaign, Wings of Liberty, the standard multiplayer mode, and coop mode. By all accounts, the story isn’t great, and as is common for RTS games, the multiplayer is a completely different thing.

4 Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

Metacritic Score: 84

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is one of the most beloved strategy games of all time. The game’s community was strong enough to keep multiplayer alive through the years, all the way to the trilogy’s remake. Because of this, Age of Empires 2 is currently the game in the series with the biggest active community.

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition also has a large set of great campaigns. While their supposed objective is to teach some of the basic mechanics to new players, most of them only serve to tell a good story. Realistically, like with most RTS games, the campaign and the multiplayer mode might as well be different titles.

3 Age of Empires 4

Metacritic Score: 81

Age of Empires 4

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Real-Time Strategy

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8 /10

Released

October 28, 2021

Developer(s)

Relic Entertainment, World's Edge

Platform(s)

PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S

Genre(s)

Real-Time Strategy

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Age of Empires 4 is the latest title in the classic RTS series and is currently one of the most-played multiplayer games. While the community still seems to prefer the Age of Empires 2 remake, especially when it comes to solo play, Age of Empires 4 certainly has its fans.

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By  Rhenn Taguiam

Unlike previous games in the series, Age of Empires 4 was built from the ground up for online multiplayer. The game makes it clear by noticeably reducing the amount of single-player content compared to previous games. Still, the multiplayer is alive and well, and it’s much more welcoming to beginners than many older titles.

2 Company of Heroes 2

Metacritic Score: 80

Company of Heroes 2 is a strategy game set in World War II. Even though it was originally released in 2013, it’s still one of the most-played WWII RTS games online. That certainly says a lot about the state of online multiplayer strategy games, but it’s also a testament to how great a match of Company of Heroes 2 can be.

Company of Heroes 2 isn’t the last game in the series, but Company of Heroes 3 was so poorly received that the community seems to have stayed put in the second entry. It helps that the game is a good mix of easy-to-learn and hard to master, and a mix of long-term strategy and single-fight tactics.

1 Command and Conquer Remastered Collection

Metacritic Score: 82

The Command and Conquer Remastered Collection includes the first two games in the Command and Conquer series: the original release and Red Alert. The remake comes with improved mod support, better graphics (while still supporting the original in single-player mode) and the first two games’ campaigns.

As for multiplayer, Command and Conquer Remastered Collection allows players to participate in matches in both Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert. Sadly, multiplayer isn’t as popular as with other games, and dividing the fanbase into two games can make things worse. Still, the more dedicated members of the community sometimes organize tournaments that fill the game’s server.

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