Choose RIFT
Choose RIFT if you want a Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 7,463 Steam reviews back the pick.
RIFT vs The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
RIFT and The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom 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. RIFT (2011) is 12 years older than The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (2023). RIFT scores higher on Steam reviews (73.6% positive) than The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (71.8% positive). 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: Necrom
Choose The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom if it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom launched in 2023.
Both RIFT and The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom sit in Action, Adventure, and Massively Multiplayer on Steam and both list Multi-player, MMO, and Online PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (73.6% vs 71.8% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 RIFT |  The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2011 | 2023 |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG, Free To Play | Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Unrated |
| Price | Free to play | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 73.6% positive (7,463 reviews) | 71.8% positive (181 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | gamigo US Inc. | ZeniMax Online Studios |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer on Steam.
- RIFT (2011) is 12 years older than The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (2023).
- RIFT scores higher on Steam reviews (73.6% positive) than The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (71.8% positive).
- RIFT is free; The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is paid (Price unknown).
- Both support cooperative play.
- RIFT is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom has no Deck rating yet.
RIFT vs The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom — FAQ
- Which is better, RIFT or The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: RIFT sits at 73.6% positive (7,463 reviews), The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom at 71.8% (181). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play RIFT or The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom first?
- If you want chronology, RIFT (2011) came out before The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (2023). 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 RIFT and The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom 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 RIFT and The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: RIFT ships Online Co-op, Co-op; The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom ships Online Co-op, Co-op.
- Is RIFT free?
- Yes — RIFT is a free-to-play Steam title. The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is paid (Price unknown).