Are there any Hungarian-developed MMORPGs? Local attempts and NextWorld2
Short answer: yes, there is, but for a long time it wasn't obvious. If you look through the list of the world's big MMORPGs, you'll see American, Korean, Chinese, and Western European studios, but hardly any Hungarian titles. This genre is one of the toughest branches of game development: you have to build a world, run servers every day of the week, and create content for a live community for years. How much the size of the local market and the language situation make this harder is something we've written about separately: the state of the Hungarian-language MMORPG market.
Hungarian developers have still given online RPGs a shot several times. Most attempts started with small, enthusiastic teams, and most of them eventually faded away. This article is about why this path is so rocky, and why after so many tries, NextWorld2 became the first Hungarian-developed MMORPG to survive long-term and actually be played every day.
Why are Hungarian-developed MMORPGs so rare?
An MMORPG isn't a boxed product you sell once and you're done. It's a live service you have to operate: the server has to run day and night, you fix bugs live, and you moderate and support the community. This costs money and requires ongoing work, even when the player count isn't growing.
For a small studio, this is a brutal burden. A big publisher has the funds to get through weaker months, but a small local team doesn't have that kind of cushion. While development is ongoing, someone has to pay for the server, the developers' time, and the bandwidth. And if the player count doesn't reach the level needed to support the system, the math just won't add up sooner or later. It's not enthusiasm that runs out first, but time and money.
How many attempts have there been so far, and what happened to them?
More than you'd think, but most have disappeared. The roots of Hungarian online RPGs go surprisingly deep: even before broadband internet, there were Hungarian projects building a shared, persistent world for hundreds or thousands of players. These weren't client-based MMORPGs as we know them today, but the core experience was the same: a persistent world shaped by players, which keeps going even when you're not at your computer.
The browser era brought new momentum. Several Hungarian teams built free, browser-based online RPGs with character progression, community, and clans. Some of these ran for years, and a few have been running for decades, which is rare even globally. Others fizzled out quickly: they launched, gathered a small community, and then one quiet day the servers just shut down.
There were also Hungarian teams who went for a full-fledged, client-based MMORPG with their own engine and technology, aiming for an international player base. The most persistent of these ran officially for years before the servers shut down. And there were big, loudly announced projects that reported successful tests and working foundations, but after the announcement, they went silent and never became playable.
There's a clear pattern: lots of starts, few long-term successes. Over the years, way more plans popped up on forums and in announcements than ever actually ran, and most of them are now just fragments of information. The road from announcement to live server simply eats up most projects.
Why did most Hungarian attempts die out?
It's not because the developers couldn't make a game. Many proved that even a handful of people can build a working online world. The problem was always what comes after launch. These are the usual reasons that tripped up the projects:
- Continuous operation. The server has to run non-stop, and that costs money every single day, even when only a few people are playing.
- Content treadmill. Players always burn through content faster than a small team can make it. Without new Events and updates, the world slowly empties out.
- Market size. The Hungarian-speaking audience is small on its own, but internationally you have to compete for players' time with the world's biggest publishers.
- Long-term. You have to fund this genre for years, often out of your own pocket, before you even find out if it will be self-sustaining.
That's why it's a big deal if a Hungarian online world not only launches, but also survives for years. Most projects had the enthusiasm, but the runway was just too short.
What changed with NextWorld2?
NextWorld2 does what previous attempts couldn't: it survives long-term. It's a free, unique Hungarian-developed fantasy MMORPG, developed and operated by Budapest-based Donut Interactive with its own engine. Registration, download, and all core content are free.
The numbers show this isn't just a promise in the announcement phase, but a working game: more than 10,000 registered players, and servers available 24/7, every day of the week. The game is also available for wishlisting on Steam.
The point isn't a single number, but the fact that everything keeps going. The history of Hungarian MMORPGs so far has been full of great launches and quiet shutdowns; this is the first time there's a Hungarian-developed persistent online world that not only launched, but is also getting updates and growing.
What does the world of NextWorld2 look like today?
The game world is Kigan, where the fate of three powers is intertwined: the war between the Selakim and Quila Kingdoms, and in the background, the legacy of the long-fallen Rusus Republic. The story unfolds over ten chapters and was written in Hungarian from the start, not as a later translation. If you love lore, you can read the full backstory on the game's history page.
You can choose from four character classes: Warrior, Ninja, Shaman, and Ezra. Each one branches into two specializations, so the four base classes give you eight different playstyles. You can check out the details on the classes page if you're still unsure which one fits you.
What can you do besides leveling up?
An online world keeps you hooked if there's stuff to do even after you hit max level, and that's exactly where NextWorld2 delivers. With over 40 rotating Events, no two weeks are the same: Events change, so there's always something new to aim for. You can join a clan, and most of the community lives in clans, with shared goals and battles. There's also the pet and mount system, which isn't just for show: pets help in combat, and mounts make exploring the world faster.
The economy is a whole extra layer. In the Trading House, players buy and sell items to each other, so the loot you get has real value, and prices are set by the community, not the devs. You don't have to buy the premium currency, Karzium, with real money either: you can earn it through in-game work and trading. The paid option is just a shortcut, not pay-to-win, and that's exactly the kind of system that keeps a community loyal to a world for years.
Will it run on my computer?
Most likely, yes, and that's one of the really practical strengths of NextWorld2: it's friendly to weaker PCs. It runs even on an older dual-core processor with 2 GB of RAM, the client takes up about 15 GB of space, and you'll need Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). So you don't need a top-end setup to try it out; even a years-old computer can handle it.
Where to go next if you're interested?
The history of Hungarian-developed MMORPGs isn't long, but it's instructive: lots of brave attempts, few long-term successes, and now for the first time, a local world you can actually play, not just read about.
- If you're interested in the present, here's the full overview: free fantasy MMORPG in Hungarian, all about NextWorld2.
- If you're more curious about why Hungarian-language online RPGs are so rare in the first place, read this: the state of the Hungarian-language MMORPG market.