Choose The Lord of the Rings Online™
Choose The Lord of the Rings Online™ if you want a Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 14,248 Steam reviews back the pick.
The Lord of the Rings Online™ vs The Elder Scrolls® Online
The Lord of the Rings Online™ and The Elder Scrolls® Online both land in Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer on Steam. The Lord of the Rings Online™ (2012) is 5 years older than The Elder Scrolls® Online (2017). Both sit near 81% positive on Steam (The Lord of the Rings Online™: 14,248 reviews, The Elder Scrolls® Online: 73,647). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose The Elder Scrolls® Online
Choose The Elder Scrolls® Online if you want the Online PvP, Online Co-op, and HDR available side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2017) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 73,647 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both The Lord of the Rings Online™ and The Elder Scrolls® Online sit in Action, Adventure, and Massively Multiplayer on Steam and both list Multi-player, MMO, and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (81% vs 81.6% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 The Lord of the Rings Online™ |  The Elder Scrolls® Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2012 | 2017 |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG, Free To Play | Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Playable |
| Price | Free to play | 19.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 81% positive (14,248 reviews) | 81.6% positive (73,647 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Co-op | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | Standing Stone Games | ZeniMax Online Studios |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer on Steam.
- The Lord of the Rings Online™ (2012) is 5 years older than The Elder Scrolls® Online (2017).
- Both sit near 81% positive on Steam (The Lord of the Rings Online™: 14,248 reviews, The Elder Scrolls® Online: 73,647).
- The Lord of the Rings Online™ is free; The Elder Scrolls® Online is paid (19.99 USD).
- Both support cooperative play.
- Both are Deck Playable.
The Lord of the Rings Online™ vs The Elder Scrolls® Online — FAQ
- Which is better, The Lord of the Rings Online™ or The Elder Scrolls® Online?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: The Lord of the Rings Online™ sits at 81% positive (14,248 reviews), The Elder Scrolls® Online at 81.6% (73,647). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play The Lord of the Rings Online™ or The Elder Scrolls® Online first?
- If you want chronology, The Lord of the Rings Online™ (2012) came out before The Elder Scrolls® Online (2017). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are The Lord of the Rings Online™ and The Elder Scrolls® Online similar?
- They overlap on Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Do both The Lord of the Rings Online™ and The Elder Scrolls® Online have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: The Lord of the Rings Online™ ships Co-op; The Elder Scrolls® Online ships Online Co-op, Co-op.
- Is The Lord of the Rings Online™ free?
- Yes — The Lord of the Rings Online™ is a free-to-play Steam title. The Elder Scrolls® Online is paid (19.99 USD).