A great multiplayer game is nothing without great map design. If the core gameplay is tight and rewarding, that’s one thing, but without an iconic staging ground on which to show off your skills, that gameplay will almost always fall flat.
The best multiplayer maps in video games are unforgettable thanks to a mixture of great design, historical significance, and just plain old-fashioned fun factor. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 12 most iconic multiplayer maps in video games.
12. Hangar (Doom)
Doom might not be the id Software game that leaps to mind when thinking about iconic multiplayer first-person shooters, but if it wasn’t for the Doom multiplayer scene, Quake and its successors arguably wouldn’t have happened.
Hangar is the first level you’ll encounter in Doom’s unforgettable single-player campaign, but it’s also a staging ground for multiplayer action, and its tight corridors and more open areas make it ideal for player-versus-player skirmishes. Who would have thought a single-player map would translate so well to multiplayer action? A hearty well done to you, id Software.
11. Summoner’s Rift (League of Legends)
“Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.” If you’ve played League of Legends, you’ve almost certainly heard those words more times than you’d care to count, and you’ve probably been seeing red from a previous bad match on more than one occasion, too.
The action in MOBA League of Legends is spread out across three lanes: the top and middle lane, which are usually occupied by solo laners, and the bottom lane, which sees bloody duels between markspeople (aided by their supports). Around the lanes, a jungler wanders the rift, gathering objectives and aiding lanes whenever they see fit.
10. Facility (GoldenEye)
There’s almost no part of the GoldenEye Facility stage that isn’t iconic at this point. Many an afternoon was whiled away hiding in this map’s many nooks and crannies, trying to get the drop on Oddjob or Jaws as they rounded the corner.
The incredible soundtrack serves as a great reminder that you’re playing one of the most stylish and accomplished movie adaptations of all time as you take on your friends on this map, and while GoldenEye may not have aged particularly well (sorry), this is still almost inarguably one of the best multiplayer maps in gaming history.
9. The Bridge (Left 4 Dead 2)
The Bridge is a relatively straightforward map; it’s just you, your buddies, and a veritable horde of infected standing between you and sweet, blessed escape. As such, this is a very fitting finale for one of the most high-octane multiplayer shooters of all time.
Of course, since this is a Valve game, it’s not quite as simple as just “run to the end”. You’ll find yourself moving across various levels of elevation as you battle regular zombies and Special Infected, culminating in a memorable rush to the end as Tanks swarm your position.
8. Wake Island (Battlefield 1942)
Whether you prefer Battlefield or Call of Duty is a matter of personal preference, of course (although both games seem to be doing their best to alienate their respective fanbases at present), but Wake Island is an iconic multiplayer map either way.
This map made its first appearance in Battlefield 1942, and it’s since gone on to be featured in several instalments of the Battlefield series, including well-received titles like Battlefield 3 and Battlefield V. It’s not featured in Battlefield 2042, which is probably one of the litany of reasons fans haven’t enjoyed that game anywhere near as much as the others in the series.
7. Inferno (Counter-Strike)
Otherwise known as “de_inferno” (in keeping with the original naming system of Counter-Strike maps), Inferno is one of the maps that most players will likely most closely associate with Counter-Strike.
Unlike Dust II (which you may well be seeing before this list is through), Inferno is a tight and fairly claustrophobic map, making it ideal for players who like to get the jump on their enemies rather than fighting them out in the open. It might not quite reach Dust II’s level of fame, but Inferno shouldn’t be counted out in terms of great multiplayer maps.
6. 2Fort (Team Fortress series)
What more needs to be said about 2Fort? This incredible map first appeared back in Team Fortress, which began life as a mod for the iconic first-person shooter Quake. Since then, it’s appeared in Team Fortress Classic and its sequel, Team Fortress 2, and it’s the map’s appearance in the latter game that’s arguably its most memorable.
2Fort, as the name suggests, consists of two fortresses separated by a bridge, and that bridge has seen many a clash between the red and blue teams of Team Fortress 2. It’s a great map for showing off the potential of asynchronous multiplayer, since each class can approach the map however they like.
5. Final Destination (Super Smash Bros. Melee)
“Fox only, no items, Final Destination”. So goes the meme, and there’s a good reason for that: if you want to settle disputes with your friends in Super Smash Bros. Melee, there’s no better place to do it than a literal flat plane with no ledges or platforms.
There’s no excuse for failure here; if you die, it’s because of your own mistakes, not because a quirk of the level killed you. This is the purest expression of Super Smash Bros. skill that there is, and that’s one of the things that makes it one of the most iconic multiplayer maps ever.
4. Facing Worlds (Unreal Tournament)
Speaking of Final Destination, there are many who consider Facing Worlds to be its equivalent in terms of Unreal Tournament maps, and it’s easy to see why.
This map, which is also called “CTF-Face” (there’s that map naming system in action again), consists of two towers and a bridge in the middle, making it essentially a cross between 2Fort and Final Destination. Since this is a capture-the-flag map, it’s up to each team to cross the bridge and enter the opposing fort in order to steal the flag and emerge victorious.
3. Nuketown (Call of Duty: Black Ops)
If you’re a Fallout fan, you’ll likely get a kick out of Nuketown, which is one of the most memorable Call of Duty maps the series has to offer. It’s a nuclear test town out in the desert, and while it isn’t one of the series’ bigger maps, it certainly offers more than enough action to compensate.
To put it simply, games on Nuketown quickly devolve into absolute bloodbaths as players come into conflict quickly thanks to the small size of the map. If you’re looking for a proving ground in Call of Duty, look no further than Nuketown.
2. Blood Gulch (Halo: Combat Evolved)
Blood Gulch is pretty much synonymous with Halo, having appeared not only in the original Xbox release but also in the sequel, as well as spinoff Halo: Reach. The map has also spawned a number of successors in subsequent Halo titles.
You’ll have to exercise all of your tactical prowess if you want to survive in Blood Gulch; this is a map on which you can very easily get killed if you’re not careful thanks to the massive expanse of wide open land between each team’s base.
1. Dust II (Counter-Strike)
And so we come at last to the most iconic multiplayer map of all time. Were you expecting something else? Dust II is pretty much inarguably the most memorable multiplayer map video games have to offer, after all.
Otherwise known as “de_dust2”, Dust II has stuck with the series ever since its inception. When Counter-Strike: Global Offensive became Counter-Strike 2 in 2023, Valve called Dust II a “touchstone” of the franchise, and so minimal changes were made to its layout in order to ensure players weren’t too discombobulated by the update.
