Many online games are at their best for only a short period of time. It’s worth trying to experience as many of them as possible before they’re lost entirely.
Today I’m going to highlight some games that are either dying or almost dead, plus a few that are still in their prime and very much worth experiencing before the inevitable decline.
10Anthem
Anthemis EA’s ill-fatedDestinyclone, and truth be told it’s been on death’s door for a number of years now. This online co-operative action RPG arrived with a damp thud in February 2019, before developer BioWare was tasked with reinventing the gameplay as part of a relaunch plan set to arrive in 2020. This never came to pass, and the game has languished since.
Anthem’s servers are set to be turned off forever on June 14, 2025. While the game was rightly panned for its lack of content, underwhelming loot, and endless repetition; there were a few redeeming factors including decent visuals, a satisfying flying mechanic, and serviceable combat. While matchmaking forAnthempartners might be a fruitless experience, you might want to pick up the game with a friend or two to experience it before it’s gone for good.
Anthemis easy to find on EA Play (and by extension Game Pass), with plenty of used copies for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 floating around.
9Star Wars Battlefront II
Another EA game that courted its fair share of controversy,Star Wars Battlefront IIlaunched in 2017 as a direct sequel to the 2015 reboot that earned well-deserved praise from critics and fans alike. Unfortunately, EA managed to ruin developer DICE’s hard work withegregious pay-to-win microtransactionsand then responded in a manner that led to themost downvoted Reddit commentof all time.
The company set to work on repairing its reputation, and the game was patched up and had all signs of predatory monetization removed entirely. EA continued to release free updates through 2020, addingSolo,The Clone Wars, andThe Rise of Skywalkerthemed content. Then in 2025, something amazing happened:Battlefront IIset a new player record.
While the game isn’t dying (yet), it’s probably all downhill from here.It’s doubtful we’ll getBattlefront III(and even if we do, expect a long wait for it) so now’s the time to experience the kind of hecticStar Warsmultiplayer action that only DICE can deliver. Unfortunately, console players don’t get access to a server browser which can make getting a game tougher.
8Battlefield 1
Of all theBattlefieldgames released in the past decade,Battlefield 1is arguably the most interesting.Battlefield Vreturned to the well-trodden theaters of World War II (and it’s well worth playing), whileBattlefield 2042missed the mark on both a technical and conceptual level. ButBattlefield 1really felt like something new, unique, raw, and gritty when it arrived in 2016.
This is the firstBattlefieldgame to use World War I as a setting and continues to be one of the best depictions of the conflict in video game history. There’s a harrowing short single-player campaign to experience plus DICE’s signature large-scale multiplayer battles set across Europe and the Middle East. The game really hammers home the changing nature of war that WWI represented, featuring horseback and single-shot rifles through to emerging technology like tanks, machine guns, and aircraft.
There’s still a dedicated community playingBattlefield 1, plus the game supports a server browser even on console.
7Counter-Strike 1.6
I spent much of my youth playing the originalHalf-LifemodCounter-Strike, seeing the game blossom from the rough early days of beta 7 through to its eventual final resting place on version 1.6. Development ceased in 2003 shortly before the release ofHalf-Life 2andCounter-Strike: Source, but you can still enjoy the game’s timeless combination of excellent map design, legendary weapon feel, and gameplay that rewards both patience and skill.
It’s true that the game will probably be around forever, or at least as long as there are oldies like me who pine for the days ofIRC serversandMSN Messenger. But that pool is only going to get smaller as we all return to de_dust.
Whether you have fond memories ofCSor just want to see what the fuss is about, you may still experience the game that inspired modern viral sensations likeRainbow Six: SiegeandValorantfor free as long as you have a copy ofHalf-Lifein your Steam library.
6Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite’s launch was fraught with the kind of negative press that neither platform-holder Xbox nor developer 343 Industries would have hoped for. The game was criticized for its flat visuals after a big reveal trailer in 2020, prompting a delay and a lick of paint. The game finally arrived as an open multiplayer beta in November 2021, with the campaign arriving later in December. Unfortunately, it too drew criticism largely because it lacked the signature cooperative gameplay that theHalofranchise has become known for.
Despite this,Halo: Infinite’s multiplayer is an incredibly solid experience. It feels more likeHalo 3orReachthan the missable titles released thereafter, the map design is stellar, the game has seen a grab bag of interesting multiplayer modes, and clutching victory from the jaws of defeat feels just as good as it ever did.
Unfortunately, the game is dying. I last jumped back in shortly after the launch of a new season and spent way longer than I should have waiting to find a game. SteamDB reports a 24-hour player peak of around 3,500 players at the time of writing, so you can still get a game. It’s also free-to-play, so you really have no excuse not to give it a shot.
5Hell Let Loose
I fell hard for the gritty and unforgiving World War II shooterHell Let Loosewhen the game was added to Xbox Game Pass back in January 2024. This is a game that goes for realism over heroics and one that rewards team play over individual skill. It’s a game where communicating via voice chat is an absolute must if you want to get ahead, especially if you want to lead your team into battle.
I spent most of my time inHell Let Loosebuilding outposts so that team-mates could spawn, reporting enemy movements back to the commander so that artillery could take them out, and laying down covering fire as a machine gunner while my teammates made small but significant gains on the battlefield.
Despite its brutal time-to-kill and emphasis on realism, it’s arguably one of the more accessible games of this kind and one that’s well worth experiencing while the community is still reporting for duty.
4Titanfall 2
Try as they might,Titanfallfans just can’t get EA to commit toTitanfall 3. One of gaming’s most adored and underappreciated first-person shooters, the game fuses fast-paced multiplayer twitch shooting with large-scale mech combat (and it has a neat single-player campaign too). Though there arerumors that a sequel is in development, seeing is believing and we haven’t seen anything official yet.
Thankfully, you can still experienceTitanfall 2right now thanks to a small but dedicated active community devoted to preserving the game that gave rise toAPEX Legends. Even ifTitanfall 3is announced next week, month, or year; wouldn’t you rather experience the game that kept the dream alive right now? The game is frequently discounted and available with EA Play (which is included with Game Pass Ultimate).
Rockstar did fans ofRed Dead Redemption 2dirty by neglecting the multiplayer componentRed Dead Online. While the single-player portion will always be there for you to explore, with its discoverable side missions and mainline narrative intact, the world ofRed Dead Onlineis a slightly different beast.
Of course, there are competitive activities to partake in, like simple deathmatch shootouts, but the most fun I had inRed Dead Onlinecame from a combination of cooperative story missions and the simple act of existing in the wilderness. My partner and I spent hours just roaming the world, soaking in the beauty, and falling foul of the lowlifes and outlaws that inhabit it.
RDOis available as a cheaper standalone purchase and while there’s not a huge amount of content available, it’s still fun. Given how quick Rockstar was to drop the game in the wake ofGTA Online_’s success, I wouldn’t be surprised if the servers were to just disappear one day. Rockstar just announced the first majorRDO_ content drop in more than three years withStrange Tales of the West, free content that’s sure to give fans reason to return—there’s never been a better time to saddle up since launch.
2Helldivers II
Don’t worry,Helldivers IIis in great shape. Aftera call to arms for players to come back and defend Super Earthearlier in 2025 and the announcement that the game is set to come to Xbox in August 2025 (and maybe even Switch 2 eventually, who knows?), there’s never been a better time to “do your part” and squish some bugs.
This is why you shouldn’t delay if the idea of a cooperative shooter in the vein ofStarship Troopersappeals to you.Helldivershas a “Game Master” who operates much in the way that a dungeon master would in a game ofDungeons and Dragons, pulling strings and ensuring that a greater narrative unfolds depending on the outcome of player actions.
One day, that feeling of being part of a much grander campaign to save the human race won’t be at the heart of the experience, since all live services eventually come to an end.
1Sea of Thieves
Just likeHelldivers II,Sea of Thievesis in pretty good shape (especially considering that the game was released in 2018). It’s arguably the best pirate sim to ever exist, and part of what makes it so great is the unpredictable nature of the world at large. You’ll spend a lot of time making your way through the game’s abundance of content, but it’s the encounters you have on the high seas with other players that make the game feel so exciting.
After seeing a release on PlayStation in April 2024, the game effectively guaranteed a steady drip of players for years to come. Now’s a great time to jump in and experience it for yourself since you have years of updates to work through and a cross-platform roster of other players to encounter.
One day those seas will feel mighty empty, and the experience of making friends and alliances or engaging in battles to the death will be far harder to come by.
Looking for something to play but feeling strapped for cash? Check outthe best free-to-pay alternatives to some of the biggest paid gamesand some of thebest games you may play in your browser.
