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Essays 24 November 2021, 17:43

author: Adrian Werner

15 Best Free Online Shooters to Play in 2023

There are plenty of free-to-play shooters out there, but there's also plenty of garbage. We come to the rescue and give you 15 best free online shooters that are honest, fun, and – most importantly – constantly updated.

Table of Contents

Today, players can pick and choose from a plethora of valuable free-to-play titles with a variety of styles and mechanics. There are so much games available, in fact, that you would be forgiven for having a hard time making up your mind. That's why we decided it would be a good idea to compile a list of the best free-to-play shooters. We compiled the list so that it was really diverse – in order to accommodate all tastes.

Best free online shooters 2023

  1. Overwatch 2 – a refined online game with interesting classes;
  2. Unturned – shooter and survival in a Minecraft style;
  3. PUBG – extremely popular battle royal is finally free!
  4. PlanetSide 2 – huge, large-scale battles are the heart of this production;
  5. Splitgate – arena shooter inspired by Doom and Quake;
  6. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory – a good option for lower-end rigs;
  7. Destiny 2 – triple-A looter shooter;
  8. Halo: Infinite – free multiplayer mode of the latest part of the cult series;
  9. Apex Legends – awesome and free Battle-Royale;
  10. Valoranta hit from the creators of LoL;
  11. Team Fortress 2 – constantly evolving shooter from Valve;
  12. CoD: Warzone 2Call of Duty for free, this time a battle royale;
  13. Warframe – a game with one of the best coops out there;
  14. CS: GO – one of the leading esports games;
  15. Fortnite – still a very popular battle-royale shooter.

UPDATE 2023

2023 brought at least three significant changes when it comes to free shooters, which was reflected in our ranking. We dumped Deceit off the list because it's already dying, and doesn't offer anything that we can't find in other games, oftentimes done better. Instead, we added Overwatch 2. In addition, CoD Warzone was replaced by a sequel, and Destiny 2 took the place of Paladins. Changes were done by Matt Lugowik.

Ever since 2019, we've been repeating editorial consultations, adding new games, shuffling up the titles already on the list and removing others.

Of course, as is usually the case with similar rankings, this one cannot be considered complete in any way. So if you have your favorites that we have omitted, mention them in the comments and write down why you think they are worth reading.

Overwatch 2

OVERWATCH 2 IN A NUTSHELL

  1. Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
  2. Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
  3. Platform: PC, PS4, XOne, Switch, PS5, XSX
  4. Release Date: October 2022

Blizzard added number 2 to the title probably mainly for marketing reasons. The fact that there will be a sequel to the warmly received shooter was widely reported by gaming media and some players took the opportunity to return the game. In terms of gameplay, little has changed, which doesn't mean that Overwatch 2 is a bad game. It's definitely not!

The new-old Overwatch didn't cut away from the foundations established in 2016. Instead of reinventing the wheel, it was only slightly modified. The biggest change seems to be limiting the number of players to 5 per team. Thanks to this, the chaos during the game is more controllable. At the same time, limiting the number of tanks (the strong division into classes is still relevant) to one per team, made the fights more dynamic. Novelty also reached the characters themselves. Practically each of them was modified with the aim of balancing their powers better. On the day of Overwatch's release, three completely new heroes were also made available.

The biggest revolution was undoubtedly the transition to the free-to-play model, which meant that this great online shooter could be featured here. However, there are also microtransactions. It's not a pay-to-win title, though new players arriving in Overwatch 2 will feel lagging behind, and it seems like the only sensible way to get some of the heroes is to spend real money. Sure, extremely time-consuming grind is a viable alternative, but before you can obtain the old characters in this way, more are bound to appear. Classic characters known from the prequel are unlocked by playing and you don't have to spend many hours on it. People who bought the first part don't have to do it at all – they get the old heroes right away.

You need to know, however, that Overwatch 2 completely replaced part one. In practice, this means that the first installment cannot be played. Initially, this caused an avalanche of discussion and controversy, but ultimately, such a move is understandable. After all, unlike the original, part two is not only free, but also contains all the elements of the original. This is actually more like a huge update rather than a full-fledged sequel, which, however, doesn't prevent you from having a great time.

  1. Overwatch 2 in our encyclopedia

Overwatch 2 is the game for you if:

  1. you were a fan of the original;
  2. you like role-playing shooters;
  3. you're not afraid of grind.

Adrian Werner

Adrian Werner

A true veteran of the Gamepressure newsroom, writing continuously since 2009 and still not having enough. He caught the gaming bug thanks to playing on his friend's ZX Spectrum. Then he switched to his own Commodore 64, and after a short adventure with 16-bit consoles, he forever entrusted his heart to PC games. A fan of niche productions, especially adventure games, RPGs and games of the immersive sim genre, as well as a mod enthusiast. Apart from games, he devourers stories in every form - books, series, movies, and comics.

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