Do I ship it?

Games › MOBA › MOBA + Action

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action MOBA?

MOBA + Action

Of 53 developers who shipped a paid Action MOBA in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 170 more are announced, ×7.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.3 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 170 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.7 per shipper, while revenue is up 1355% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 1355% on the market, 170 announced, ×7.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
MOBA + Action
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $1.3k → $3.2k → $598 → $179 → $3.1k → $7.3k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for MOBA + Action: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $7.3k (exactly $7,335)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 314
Announced 170
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 1355% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 49%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

MOBA
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus a balanced hero roster
Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
MOBA, Action; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 24,054 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $360, 1 in 4 over $7.3k, 1 in 20 over $1.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 170 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

MOBA with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RoguelitePoor odds10 devs · median $3.9k · 15 announced
  2. + AdventurePoor odds12 devs · median $3.1k · 44 announced
  3. + Tower DefensePoor odds7 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  4. + FantasyPoor odds18 devs · median $2.7k · 85 announced
  5. + Character CustomizationPoor odds10 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds19 devs · median $600 · 57 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds21 devs · median $479 · 53 announced
  8. + SimulationPoor odds12 devs · median $359 · 33 announced
  9. + RPGPoor odds23 devs · median $180 · 73 announced
  10. + Hero ShooterDead5 devs · median $49k · 24 announced
  11. + SurvivalDead6 devs · median $31k · 22 announced
  12. + Battle RoyaleDead4 devs · median $16k · 30 announced

All 50 pairs on the MOBA page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER 2023 · $26M Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III 2017 · $17M Shape of Dreams 2025 · $12M Awesomenauts 2012 · $7.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
FOR HONOR™ older $29.99 108,492 69% 3.3M $98M (exactly $97,610,252) Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte)
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER older $19.99 42,572 84% 1.3M $26M (exactly $25,530,428) Soleil Ltd.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III older $39.99 14,436 50% 433k $17M (exactly $17,318,869) Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Shape of Dreams $24.99 15,769 89% 473k $12M (exactly $11,822,019) Lizard Smoothie
Awesomenauts older $19.99 11,822 84% 355k $7.1M (exactly $7,089,653) Ronimo Games
Gigantic: Rampage Edition older $19.99 3,795 65% 114k $2.3M (exactly $2,275,862) Abstraction Games
Wild Assault $14.99 3,861 68% 116k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) Combat Cat Studio
Bleeding Edge older $29.99 1,411 66% 42k $1.3M (exactly $1,269,477) Ninja Theory
BLACK CLOVER: QUARTET KNIGHTS older $49.99 832 75% 25k $1.2M (exactly $1,247,750) ILINX, Inc.
EverSiege: Untold Ages $19.99 1,906 68% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) Tindalos Interactive
Last Remains · EA $19.99 914 51% 27k $548k (exactly $548,126) Earn Alliance
WAR RATS: The Rat em Up $11.99 382 95% 11k $137k (exactly $137,405) wootusart Industries
Last Flag $4.99 576 73% 17k $86k (exactly $86,227) Night Street Games
Jelly Bubble $9.99 170 99% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) BINGOBELL
STARVAULT VR $24.99 66 89% 2.0k $49k (exactly $49,480) Theia Games
The AC130 slays the zombies. $3.99 377 63% 11k $45k (exactly $45,127) 汪双羽
Source Code $19.99 33 60% 990 $20k (exactly $19,790) Blitzball.Inc

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.