Curious as to what the best PS5 online games are for Sony’s latest home console? We’ve already highlighted the best PS5 split-screen and local co-op games, but there’s a treasure trove of brilliant online experiences for Sony’s powerhouse machine. Sure, you’re not in the same room as your mates, but online gaming is a great way to build friendships and foster existing communities, whether it’s cooperative or competitive.
For further reading, you can check out our guide on the best PS5 fighting games. Elsewhere, we have guides on the best PS5 racing games and best PS5 FPS games too. You can also catch up with our guide on the best free PS5 games available too. Finally, you can also catch the best upcoming PS5 games in 2024, along with our 2024 PS5 release calendar so you don’t miss a single new PS5 release.
Best PS5 Online Games Ranked
Best PS5 Online Games Ranked
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- Destiny 2
- Fortnite
- Warframe
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Genshin Impact
- Tower of Fantasy
- Fallout 76
1. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Square Enix’s MMORPG didn’t get the best start in life – its 2010 launch on PC was a buggy, underwhelming mess – but after it was relaunched as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the game took on a new and hugely successful life that has a thriving community that has graced PS3, PS4, and PS5.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has seen numerous expansions release over the years, including Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker. The game is sprawling, with a strong narrative complemented by an extensive character progression system, virtual economy, armoury & job systems, and epic battles. In its current state, there’s never been a better time to get into one of the most compelling and gratifying MMORPGs on the market.
2. Destiny 2
Bungie’s shared-world shooter epic has been going over four years now, and despite a bit of a rocky start, has evolved into one of the strongest online shooters going for PS4 and PS5. From its punchy combat ripe with spectacle and unique superpowers to its satisfying Engram grinding, Destiny 2 successfully blends cooperative and competitive online gaming that’s hard to beat.
Whether you’re teaming up with a squad on the latest Raid or tackling a story mission together, hoovering up precious gear along the way, or duking it out in the Crucible, Destiny 2 keeps Guardians tucking into its variety of content thanks to Bungie’s dedicated expansions and seasonal events. With the series now free of Activision, Destiny 2 has never been in a better position.
3. Fortnite
What is there to say about Fortnite? Epic Games’ battle royale title attracts millions of gamers worldwide every month, is free-to-play, and now runs on PS5 like a dream. With fresh seasons and updates being rolled out by Epic Games on a regular basis, the vibrant-looking shooter is a no-brainer for anyone looking for some online multiplayer shenanigans.
One of the biggest appeals of Fortnite are the massive crossovers, which has seen the likes of Spider-Man, Thanos, Captain America, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Will Smith, and more show their faces in the form of character skins.
Further Reading:
4. Warframe
Originally releasing at the same time as the PS4 hardware did back in November 2013, Warframe was one of the very first free-to-play games you could get on the console. A third-person, space ninja action RPG that places a bespoke focus on co-op and teamworking in a vein that players of Destiny 2 will surely recognise, it’s a credit to the calibre of both the developer Digital Extremes and the game that as we approach its eleventh birthday, Warframe is the best it has ever been.
With a variety of PvP and PvE content which both in turn dovetail into Warframe’s on-going narrative, there is so much to do in Digital Extremes free-to-play effort that it is frankly unreal. From brief skirmishes to space combat and other co-operative activities, Warframe does a cracking job of marrying hyper-kinetic, third-person combat with a rather generous free-to-play model that ensures everybody can give the game a good go without ever needing to reach into their pockets.
5. The Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda’s sprawling fantasy MMORPG is another game that started out life on the previous generation of consoles before migrating to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. As such, The Elder Scrolls Online has a wealth of content to tuck into thanks to the numerous expansions that have been rolled out over the past five years or so. If you’re a fan of the core games, then The Elder Scrolls Online is worth checking out; key areas in Tamriel are represented here, including the Summerset Isles, Skyrim, Elsweyr, Black Marsh, and Cyrodill.
One of its biggest strengths aside from a mammoth fantasy land to explore is its diverse character lineup, with humans, Elves, and bestial races to choose from, each encompassing a wide variety of different traits and abilities, and the wealth of activities to hoover up. On PS5, the game benefits from all the previous versions’ quality-of-life updates, making The Elder Scrolls Online an absolute blast.
6. Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0
Activision’s Call of Duty juggernaut made the transition to battle royale territory in March 2020, and has come leaps and bounds since its rollout on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Now fully optimised for PS5, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, which remains free-to-play, has integrated itself with the likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3, bringing with it fresh seasons with new maps, loadouts, and more.
Call of Duty: Warzone’s bread-and-butter shooting feels responsible and punchy, replicating the success of its mainline stablemate franchise. The maps are superbly designed too, catering to a wide manner of playstyles, although sadly, cheaters have plagued the game since launch and this is something that remains an issue today.
7. Honkai: Star Rail
Though developed by the same studio miHoYo, Honaki: Star Rail is much more than just ‘Genshin Impact in space’. Certainly while it’s true that Honkai: Star Rail follows a similar design through-line with its JRPG presentation, gacha mechanics and generous injections of free content, the two games differ in a good few ways.
First off, Honkai: Star Rail embraces turn-based combat over the real-time combat seen in Genshin Impact, while the story – a massive galaxy spanning narrative about preventing the destruction of the universe – is also much more convincingly told through a greater cast of varied characters with an altogether much higher quality of voice acting performances. Though Honkai: Star Rail is much newer than Genshin Impact and so has less content right now as a result, it surely won’t be long until miHoYo’s latest effort comprehensively eclipses its debut offering.
8. Genshin Impact
One of the largest JRPG’s ever made, Genshin Impact is an absolutely content stuffed third-person, open-world genre effort that has captured the imaginations of millions of gamers the world over.
With its vibrant and massive environments and seemingly never ending stream of extra quests, areas and characters for players to use, Genshin Impact is a resoundingly generous free to play JRPG with visual style to spare that everybody should play.
9. Tower Of Fantasy
A hybrid of JRPG, gacha and MMORPG genres, Tower of Fantasy is a sprawling free-to-play adventure that invites players to save the mysterious world of Aida in an eye-opening, post-apocalyptic setting that liberally brings in influences from cyberpunk and fantasy settings.
Though certainly comparisons with Genshin Impact cannot be avoided, Tower of Fantasy nonetheless manages to separate itself somewhat from miHoYo’s most famous effort by boasting some absolutely stunning character designs and a strongly told story that has you coming back for more (assuming of course the gacha mechanic for unlocking new characters and gear isn’t already doing that).
10. Fallout 76
Like that old banger you lovingly keep in your garage that needs a few kick-starts to get going, Fallout 76 didn’t exactly the ground running. Plagued by bugs and a perceived lack of compelling content, Bestheda’s post-apocalyptic online RPG has since benefited from numerous updates and a wealth of improvements on the content side, including the addition of NPCs.
Nowadays, Fallout 76 is a rich and diverse online experience, featuring a fully-fleshed out world boasting proper quests and branching dialogue, leaving the barren wasteland of 2018’s vanilla version a distant memory. There’s also endgame gear, daily quests, and new expansions to sink your teeth into. Okay, so there’s still some annoying bugs and a dodgy UI to deal with, but Fallout 76 is in much better shape. In short, this is the version we should have got on release day.