Online open-world games to play with friends, free

The best open worlds are better with friends: someone to cover you, someone to race, someone to laugh with when it all goes wrong. And you do not need to pay to get there. Several of the biggest online open-world games are free to play, and you can be in the same world as your friends tonight.

These are our picks, not a ranking. For each we checked whether it is free, how many friends can join, and where it runs, at the time of writing (October 2026); sources are at the bottom. “Free” means free to download and play; most of these sell optional extras.

Our picks

Fortnite

Epic's game is free in every mode and runs on almost everything: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and phones, with cross-platform play in most modes. Beyond the famous 100-player Battle Royale, there is Creative, where players build their own islands and games, and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey, a survival sandbox for gathering, building and fighting off monsters.

Genshin Impact

A fantasy open world, Teyvat, to explore on foot, climbing and gliding. It is free to play, paid for by optional in-game purchases, and up to four friends can team up for co-op across platforms. On PC, phones, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Warframe

A free-to-play science-fiction action game where up to four players take on missions together. Alongside its missions it has several open-world zones, starting with the Plains of Eidolon in 2017. It runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and, more recently, iOS and Android.

Destiny 2

Bungie's shared-world shooter has been free to start since October 2019. Friends team up as a fireteam: three for strikes, six for raids. The base game is free; the big expansions are paid. On PC, PlayStation and Xbox.

Once Human

A free-to-play survival game in a post-apocalyptic open world, with online co-op and player-versus-player. Build, craft and stay alive together. On PC, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Unturned

A free zombie-survival sandbox with online co-op, on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Simple to look at, and easy to get a group into.

AJ Cities

Our own game, so weigh this one accordingly. AJ Cities is a free open-world game you play in your browser, on a phone or a computer, with nothing to download, so a friend can join from a work laptop or a cheap phone. It is set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, and it is 18+.

Its live, multiplayer side is party mode: a virtual party inside the game, with no real venue, date or ticket. Here is how it works:

1. Sign in with your email (18+). You make your own character, male or female.
2. Pick a world: always day, always night, or real Lagos time. Everyone in the same world sees the same time, and friends who pick the same world usually land in the same estate. Each estate holds up to 60 players; when one fills up, another opens.
3. Change your look, free, at the salon and clothes shop by the main gate.
4. Get past the police. Ask, and most nights about four in five guests are let in free. Or buy an optional ticket, from ₦250 to ₦1,500 at the gate, which lasts 24 hours and opens more of the estate.

Once you are in, walk June 12 Street together, watch Joe-Izzy's nightly set at Prizm from 9 pm, play in the bush and on the beach, and stand by any radio: the estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for everyone. If someone has to step away, they can pause and stay in the world as “away” for up to ten minutes.

It is not a heist game: there are no co-op missions in party mode. It is a place to hang out with your friends in a Lagos estate, which is a different kind of fun. If you want to play the crime story, AJ's story is single-player.

Getting a group together

The hardest part of playing with friends is rarely the game. It is getting everyone on the same night, on the same platform, with the same thing installed. Free games remove one excuse; cross-platform play removes another. A browser game removes the download: send a link in the group chat and whoever is free can open it on whatever they have to hand. Whichever you pick, agree a time, agree a world or server, and pick one person to send the invite.

At a glance

Picking the right one for your group

• Everyone on different devices? Fortnite and Genshin Impact cross platforms; AJ Cities needs only a browser.
• Want to fight things together? Warframe, Destiny 2 and Genshin Impact are built around co-op combat.
• Want to build and survive? Once Human, Unturned or LEGO Fortnite.
• Just want to hang out? A shared estate with a club, a radio and a beach may be enough.

More ideas: open-world multiplayer games, browser games to play with friends and free online multiplayer games with no download.

What free open-world games can I play online with friends?

Fortnite, Genshin Impact, Warframe, Destiny 2, Once Human and Unturned are all free to start, and AJ Cities is free in the browser.

Is there a free online open world with no download?

AJ Cities runs in any modern browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install. Its party mode lets signed-in adults meet friends live at the estate.

How many friends can play AJ Cities together?

Up to 60 players share each live estate. Friends who pick the same world usually join the same one; when it fills up, another opens.

Do I have to pay to get into the AJ Cities estate?

No. Ask the police at the gate: most nights about four in five guests who ask are let in free. Optional tickets open more of the estate for 24 hours.