Open-world multiplayer games you can play free

Open worlds are better with company. Someone to race to the next hill, someone to cover you in a fight, someone to stand around with and talk rubbish. The good news is that many of the best shared open worlds are free to play. Here are our picks, with how many people can play together and what it costs.

Two kinds of multiplayer turn up below. Co-op means you invite a few friends into your world. Shared worlds mean everyone online is in the same place at once, friends and other players alike. Both are here.

1. AJ Cities: a live estate on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos

Our own game, so read this as a description rather than a ranking. AJ Cities is a free, 18+ open-world game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, that runs in the browser on a phone or a computer. Its multiplayer side, called Party at the estate, is a shared world: you sign in, make your own character and join other real players at Abraham Adesyan Estate. To be clear, the party is virtual and inside the game; there is no real venue or event.

• Up to 60 players share each live estate. When one fills, another opens.
• Three worlds: always day, always night, or real Lagos time. Everyone in the same world sees the same time, and if you and your friends pick the same one you usually land in the same estate.
• Things to do together: talk your way past the police at the main gate, watch Joe-Izzy play Prizm from 9 pm, kick about in the bush and the beach, and listen to the estate radio, which plays the same song at the same moment for everyone.
• Cost: free. Most guests who ask at the gate are let in; optional tickets open more of the estate for 24 hours.

Prefer to play alone first? AJ’s story is single-player and needs no sign-in. The full multiplayer guide is how party mode works.

2. Genshin Impact

HoYoverse’s fantasy world of Teyvat is free on PC, PlayStation, Android and iOS. Once you have played a while, up to four players can explore and fight together in co-op, across platforms. It is a gacha game, so the characters you can field depend on luck or spending.

3. LEGO Fortnite Odyssey

Inside Fortnite, Epic’s LEGO survival mode is a big open world you build in: gather, craft, build a village and recruit villagers, with up to eight players online. Fortnite is free to play, and it streams free in a browser through Xbox Cloud Gaming as well as running on PC, consoles and Android.

4. Once Human

NetEase’s supernatural survival world is free on PC (since July 2024) and on iOS and Android (since April 2025), with cross-play between them. You team up to scavenge, build bases and fight strange creatures in a ruined world. It is a big, demanding game, and reviews at launch mentioned bugs.

5. Warframe

Digital Extremes’ space-ninja action game has been free since 2013 on PC, and is now on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Android too. Most of it is missions, but its open landscapes, starting with the Plains of Eidolon in 2017, let up to four players roam together, with hubs where many more meet.

6. Sky: Children of the Light

A gentler choice from thatgamecompany. You fly through floating kingdoms alongside other players, race down mountains, play instruments together, help each other through tricky spots, or simply sit round a fire. Its friendship system unlocks more ways to interact the longer you play with someone. It is free on iOS, Android, Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC, with cross-platform play.

7. Hordes.io

A free 3D MMORPG that runs in a browser, with no download. You pick one of two factions and fight monsters and the other side in an open world. Simple-looking, but a genuine shared online world in a tab.

Co-op or shared world: which suits you?

If you already have a regular group, co-op games such as Genshin Impact and LEGO Fortnite keep things tidy: your world, your friends, nobody else. If you want the feeling of a busy place, where you might bump into someone new and end up talking for an hour, a shared world such as AJ Cities’ live estate, Sky or Hordes.io gives you that. Survival games like Once Human sit in between, with servers you share and squads you choose.

At a glance

Getting your friends into the same world

• Agree the platform first. Cross-play is common now but not universal; check before anyone downloads anything.
• Pick the browser option when your group is mixed: phones, Macs, work laptops. AJ Cities and Hordes.io need no install, so everyone is in within a minute.
• Share a link and a meeting point. In AJ Cities, agree a world (day, night or Lagos time) and meet at the main gate.
• Talk. In a shared world, the other players are half the game.

More lists: online open-world games with friends, multiplayer browser games and browser games to play with friends.

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

Our picks include Genshin Impact (co-op up to four), LEGO Fortnite Odyssey (up to eight), Once Human, Warframe, Sky: Children of the Light, Hordes.io and AJ Cities’ live estate (up to 60 players each).

Is there a free open-world multiplayer game in the browser?

Yes. AJ Cities runs in a browser on a phone or a computer, and Hordes.io is a free 3D MMORPG in the browser. Fortnite also streams free in a browser through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

How many players fit in an AJ Cities estate?

Up to 60 players share each live estate. When one is full, a new one opens.

Do I need to pay to play AJ Cities with friends?

No. Signing in is free, and most guests who ask the police at the gate are let in. Optional tickets open more of the estate for 24 hours.