Wild West Online
Wild West Online aimed to bring the classic American frontier to the MMORPG space, mixing open-world exploration with action-focused gunfights and a strong emphasis on player conflict. In practice, it was positioned as a sandbox where you could roam from towns to wilderness, gather resources, trade, and generally live out a cowboy fantasy alongside other players in a volatile, PvP-friendly setting.
 | Publisher: 612 Games Type: Sandbox MMORPG Release Date: May 10, 2018 Shut Down Date: October 25, 2018 Pros: +Distinct Western theme. +Real-time, action-leaning combat. +Open PvP emphasis. +Large-scale roaming, gathering, and scouting. Cons: -Not much documented detail remains publicly available. |
Wild West Online Overview
Drawing heavily from the tone of classic Western films and modern genre touchstones like Red Dead Redemption, Wild West Online set out to be a “cowboy MMO” built around freedom of movement and player-driven goals. Rather than funneling everyone down a strict theme-park quest path, the pitch was about making your own routine across a broad frontier, whether that meant getting into shootouts, hunting for resources, doing risky jobs, or simply settling into a role-play community.
The feature set leaned into staples that fit the setting, including criminal activities like robbery and safe cracking, social spaces like saloons, and longer-term pursuits like housing. The game also highlighted community-run servers that could shift the feel from constant danger to more structured role-play and PvE-friendly play, depending on what players wanted.
Wild West Online Key Features:
- Reputation System – Behavior in the world affects how NPCs and other players treat you, with crimes such as theft or murder pushing you toward an outlaw identity.
- The Wilderness – A wide frontier to ride through, including towns and settlements, farms and encampments, rail stops, bandit areas, and notable landmarks spread across different environments.
- PvP Focused, PvE Options – Conflict was part of the core fantasy, so grouping up in a posse mattered, but players looking for less PvP pressure could opt into community RP servers.
- Free Updates – Planned Season 1 additions were described as persistent housing, nighttime defense-style activities, train robberies, and expanded regions such as mountain areas and Mexico.
- No Kickstarter, No Early Access, No BS – The studio stated the project was investor-funded and that it would not rely on Kickstarter or Steam Early Access.
Wild West Online Screenshots
Wild West Online Featured Video
Wild West Online Review
Wild West Online was easy to understand at a glance: ride out into a shared frontier, get into trouble or make a living, and let other players shape the tension of the world. Its best idea was the setting itself, because the Western theme naturally supports a mix of wandering, risk-taking, and social role-play. A saloon makes sense as a hub, a train station invites robberies, and an open stretch of land encourages scouting and resource hunting in a way that fits the fantasy.
Moment-to-moment, the game’s identity centered on action combat and the constant possibility of PvP. That focus can be a strength for players who enjoy unpredictable encounters and the need to travel prepared, but it also means the experience lives or dies on population health, balance, and how well the systems manage griefing and opportunistic killings. In a sandbox MMO, “open” can quickly become “hostile,” so mechanics like reputation and server rules matter as much as gunplay.
The most compelling parts on paper were the systems meant to create stories between players: being branded an outlaw, forming a posse for protection, and choosing whether to play on community-run role-play servers. Those ingredients typically work well in open-world multiplayer games because they let players set the pace, either leaning into conflict or carving out a social niche.
Unfortunately, the game’s short lifespan makes it difficult to judge it as a fully realized MMO, especially compared to long-running sandboxes that evolve over years. Wild West Online launched on Steam on May 10, 2018 and later shut down on October 25, 2018, which limits how much of its long-term progression and content cadence could mature in the wild. For players looking back at it now, it reads more like an ambitious attempt at a Western MMO blueprint than a stable, long-term virtual world.
Wild West Online Links
Wild West Online Official Site
Wild West Online Twitter Page
Wild West Online Facebook Page
Wild West Online System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7, 8
CPU: Intel Core i5 or AMD Phenom II X4 with at least 2.5 GHz
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce 460 / Radeon HD 5850 / Intel HD 4600 minimum 1024 MB RAM
Hard Disk: 30 GB or more
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7, 8
CPU: Intel Core i7 or AMD Phenom II X6 with at least 3.5 GHz
RAM: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce 660 / Radeon HD 6970
Hard Disk: 50 GB or more
These are estimates based on our own speculation. We will update this section as official requirements become available.
Wild West Online Music
Coming soon!
Wild West Online Additional Information
Developer: 612 Games
Publisher: DJ2 Entertainment
CEO: Sirus Ahmadi
Chief Creative Officer: Stephan Bugaj
Producers: Dan Jevons, Dmitri Johnson
Release Date: May 10, 2018
Shut Down Date: October 25, 2018
Development History / Background:
Work on Wild West Online began in 2016, ahead of the public reveal of Red Dead Redemption 2. The team at 612 Games, made up of Western fans and veterans with connections to DJ2 Entertainment, chose to pursue a PC-focused frontier game rather than wait for another studio to deliver the experience they wanted. DJ2 Entertainment brought a background in cross-media projects, collaborating across film and games, which helped shape the project’s presentation and ambitions.
The first major public reveal arrived on May 11, 2017 through a PC Gamer exclusive. Early messaging included plans for a Kickstarter toward the end of May, targeting $250,000 or more, with stretch goals that mentioned additions like female characters, train robberies, and other expanded features. Interest around the announcement was strong enough that the studio secured private investment instead, allowing the project to move forward without crowdfunding. Wild West Online eventually released on Steam on May 10, 2018, then shut down on October 25, 2018. Afterward, it returned in a new form under the name New Frontier.