Erenshor, the 'MMORPG' with fake players that's not actually an MMO at all, gets an imminent release date

The key part of an MMORPG is the multiplayer aspect, right? Well, not with Erenshor, the single-player simulated MMORPG that puts you in a huge world populated solely by NPCs, launching into early access April 14.

As we reported during last year's Steam Next Fest, Erenshor has the aesthetic of old school RuneScape, complete with yellow usernames above everyone's head, but they're all NPCs made to emulate real players. The game's Steam page describes it as a "single player nod to the MMORPGs of the past."

The reason for the single-player approach is so you can enjoy it "on your own schedule and without the time commitments" and partake in the "thousands of items, quests, raids, and secrets" Erenshor has to offer.

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A press release reveals that there will be 35 zones, four classes, and more than 1,000 items to collect and craft when the game launches into early access next month. It's in the top 800 most-wishlisted games on Steam, so even though you'll be surrounded by NPCs, know if you do play it, there will be plenty of others elsewhere.

You'll still be able to do group activities like raids and take on dungeons in a party, you'll just be playing with simulated players instead of real ones. The NPCs in the trailer do really seem to act like actual players. It's uncanny the way they all crowd around quest-giving NPCs.

These faux players will also evolve alongside you, leveling up and finding new gear as you play and explore. Maybe you'll grow as attached to them as you do the real players you play MMOs with.

This is a fascinating idea because it's become harder to organize my friends as I've gotten older. Getting a squad of three or four people together to tackle quests isn't easy, and Erenshor allows you to skip the planning stage entirely and just go at your own pace. It's also cool that it's made by a solo dev. It's not enough to work alone, people must play alone too.

While you wait for Erenshore to come out April 14, check out some of the best single-player games you can play right now.