Choose Anarchy Online
Choose Anarchy Online if you want a Free To Play experience. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 82.5% positive across 228 reviews.
Anarchy Online vs Black Desert
Anarchy Online and Black Desert both land in Action, Strategy, Adventure 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, Strategy, Adventure on Steam. Both released in 2017. Anarchy Online scores higher on Steam reviews (82.5% positive) than Black Desert (72.5% 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 Black Desert
Choose Black Desert if you want the Online PvP, Online Co-op, and PvP side of the pairing. On Steam, it has co-op, so you can bring a friend. 35,523 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Anarchy Online and Black Desert sit in Action, Strategy, and Adventure on Steam and both list Multi-player and MMO, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Anarchy Online |  Black Desert | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2017 | 2017 |
| Genres | Action, Strategy, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG, Free To Play | Action, Strategy, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Free to play | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 82.5% positive (228 reviews) | 72.5% positive (35,523 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op |
| Developers | Funcom | Pearl Abyss |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Strategy, Adventure on Steam.
- Both released in 2017.
- Anarchy Online scores higher on Steam reviews (82.5% positive) than Black Desert (72.5% positive).
- Anarchy Online is free; Black Desert is paid (9.99 USD).
- Black Desert has co-op; Anarchy Online does not.
- Black Desert is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Anarchy Online has no Deck rating yet.
Anarchy Online vs Black Desert — FAQ
- Which is better, Anarchy Online or Black Desert?
- On Steam reviews Anarchy Online scores higher (82.5% positive) than Black Desert (72.5% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, Anarchy Online is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Are Anarchy Online and Black Desert similar?
- They overlap on Action, Strategy, Adventure 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.
- Is Anarchy Online free?
- Yes — Anarchy Online is a free-to-play Steam title. Black Desert is paid (9.99 USD).