Legends of Aria

VS

Last Epoch

Legends of Aria is a sandbox MMORPG released in 2019 by Citadel Studios. Although it initially attracted a niche audience due to its Ultima Online-inspired mechanics, the player base has declined significantly over time, as is typical for indie MMOs without major publisher backing or frequent, large-scale updates. Its persistent online world still qualifies it as an MMO, but the daily player count is now quite low—likely in the hundreds.

Last Epoch is an action RPG released in early 2024, developed by Eleventh Hour Games. It has received strong attention from the ARPG community, especially in the wake of Diablo IV's mixed reception. Daily player count is estimated around 70,000 based on Steam charts peaks and genre trends for new, well-received indie ARPGs. Continued post-launch content could sustain or grow this. It is not an MMO, as it does not feature a true persistent world or large-scale multiplayer environments—multiplayer is limited to smaller parties.