Summary
As one of the most collectively reviled gaming trends in recent memory, gamers everywhere will still have to put up withlive-service gamesfor a good while. Continuous updates and a steady stream of content years after launch all sound great on paper, but as is often the case, empty promises and unreachable lofty goals so often lead to disappointment.
Thankfully, not all live-service games follow the same fate. When done right, live-service games will adapt and evolve to the needs of their player base over time. These games have not only realized the original vision that was laid out by the developers, but they have also more than surpassed them. Here are some of the best live-service games that are still widely enjoyed today.
Updated on June 17, 2025, by Sanyam Jain:The best part about live-service games is that they’ll constantly have new content for you to try. This makes it so when you get new games added to this genre like Infinity Nikki, it just means that you’ll have more things to play!
When Rocket League was released all the way back in 2015, it was not initially touted as a live-service game - its staggering success and huge concurrent player base saw to that. The base game mode sees you engage in tense matches of 4v4 soccer matches while controllingrocket-powered sports cars.
After its huge success, Psyonix andEpic Gamesbegan rolling out the game’s live-service elements to keep its huge community of players satisfied. After several years of significant content drops, car packs, cross-platform support, anda battle pass, Rocket League has become a multiplayer juggernaut that still has a healthy concurrent player base.
While there are many live-service games that extend their gameplay with updates, there are only a few that drastically change everything, and Once Human is one such example. The game leaves you in a big open-world where you have to consistently fight zombies while you farm for better gear and get stronger.
Out of all the games on this list, Infinity Nikki is likely the coziest one you’ll find, and anything you see about this one will convey that message. In this game, you play as Nikki who interacts with a beautiful dress, which pulls her into an unknown world where she’s tasked with the job of finding as many new dresses as she can.
On your path, you not only witness some of the most beautiful and cozy sceneries, but also meet various characters that might help you or become an obstacle in your path. Overall, Infinity Nikki is going to give you a good time, and the constant addition of beautiful dresses makes it all the more enticing.
The developers at HoYoverse released Genshin Impact on June 19, 2025, and it instantly took the world by storm. This Gacha game became extremely famous worldwide because it had something for everyone. With a giant open world, emotion-filled story, difficult combat, and a variety of characters, there was no way for it to fail.
One of the recent highlights of the game is the release of its sixth season, Natlan, and the main story of this area came to an end during the Version 5.3 update. While the story might not have gotten the best rating, you still get to play as some of the strong new characters like Mavuika, the Pyro Archon.
Wuthering Waves might not have had the best of launches, but the improvements made to this game have made it a big competitor in the gacha genre, but it’s so much more than that. With a vibrant open world and one of the best character designs out there, the game also features some breathtaking combat and story.
The second main area in the form of Rinascita has finally been released in Wuthering Waves and what a treat it has been. The developers have made significant improvements to every aspect including the main story, character design, and the sceneries you get to see around the map.
Taking heavy inspiration from the iconicDiablo 2, Path of Exile has evolved into something truly special. This wasn’t always the case, as it took some time for gamers to warm to the new IP when it was released back in 2013.
All they had to do was engage in itsfantastic ARPG mechanicsand a vast array of engaging character builds to be sold on one of the best games to ever do it. The game has enjoyed a plethora of seasonal events and significant updates to keep players coming back. It alsohandles its free-to-play entry point amicably, by (fairly) monetizing for cosmetics only.
Even if you’re not a MOBA fan, it’d be hard not to at least be aware of the ongoing impact of League of Legends on the general gaming sphere. Over the years,League has added hundreds of Championsto take into the game’s diverse set of tense battle arenas, with more being added on a continuous rolling basis during its popular ranked seasons.
There’s a reason the game has accrued over 180 million registered players, is a global Esports phenomenon, and has inspired a bunch of high-quality spin-offs. Its longevity and continued relevance in gaming culture pretty much speaks for itself.
The gaming community hasn’t shied away from showing that they’re not super interested in a hero battle game, but Marvel Rivals took the risk anyway, and their success shows the results. Not only did this game break various records on release, but it’s also giving tough competition to the best in the business.
As the name suggests, you get to play as Marvel heroes in a 6v6 scenario with different objectives. You have to fight as a team to either capture the objective or escort a vehicle to a certain location. The first season has also arrived in the game with two new characters in the form of Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic.
Another Gacha game coming from HoYoverse, Honkai: Star Rail had a lot to prove during its release since it was directly competing against the biggest Gacha game from the same developers. This game’s world wasn’t nearly as open or explorable as Genshin Impact, but it still exceeded all expectations with its phenomenal story and character design.
You’ll play as Kafka when you start the game for the first time, but eventually, you’ll start playing the role of the main character who has a Stellaron inside them. The journey of the express now takes you to Amphoreus as the fifth main region in the game, and this is the biggest area yet with the story spanning across a whopping eight updates.
Zenless Zone Zero was the third major release from HoYoverse in the live-service genre, and it didn’t enjoy the same popularity as the other two, and there were a few reasons for this. However, the most common reason was the overuse of TV mechanic, especially in the main story.
In one of the recent updates, the developers revealed that they’ll be eliminating this mechanic from the main story completely, allowing players to have a seamless experience. That combined with phenomenal combat involving dodges and parries makes this game one of the more challenging gacha games to play, even if you have strong characters.
