Games › MMORPG › MMORPG + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy MMORPG?
MMORPG + Dark Fantasy
Only 8 developers shipped a paid Dark-Fantasy MMORPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Path of Exile 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 58 more are announced, ×12 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 10 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $25k, ×18 the market's $1.3k for a 10 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $150M, ×112032 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 58 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) |
|---|---|
| Median | $25k (exactly $24,689) |
| Top 25% | $144k (exactly $143,928) |
| Top 5% | $151M (exactly $150,906,681) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 10 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 down 95% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 70%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- MMORPG
- effort 10 / 10 · low · persistent world servers and a live economy
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 10 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- MMORPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 229,685 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×12 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
MMORPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + MagicPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + FantasyPoor odds
- + Class-BasedPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
Comparable games
Path of Exile 2 2024 · EA · $151M 
Diablo® IV 2023 · $88M 
Boundless 2018 · $966k 
Valnir Rok Survival RPG 2017 · EA · $209k 
Embers Adrift 2025 · $144k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Path of Exile 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 167,730 76% | 5.0M | $151M (exactly $150,906,681) | Grinding Gear Games |
| | Diablo® IV | older | $49.99 | 58,668 69% | 1.8M | $88M (exactly $87,984,400) | Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. |
| | Boundless | older | $19.99 | 1,611 73% | 48k | $966k (exactly $966,117) | Monumental, LLC |
| | Valnir Rok Survival RPG | · EA older | $9.99 | 696 46% | 21k | $209k (exactly $208,591) | encurio |
| | Embers Adrift | $19.99 | 240 69% | 7.2k | $144k (exactly $143,928) | Stormhaven Studios | |
 | Camelot Unchained | · EA | $9.99 | 369 38% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | Unchained Entertainment |
 | Hollow's Land | older | $4.99 | 195 66% | 5.9k | $29k (exactly $29,192) | Relax Minimalism |
 | Abyss | · EA older | $24.95 | 34 58% | 1.0k | $25k (exactly $25,449) | Old World Labs |
 | The Story Page | · EA | $7.99 | 103 78% | 3.1k | $25k (exactly $24,689) | SPR-Games |
 | 神徒 | older | $3.99 | 39 71% | 1.2k | $4.7k (exactly $4,668) | 陈世杰 |
 | Amaranth Source Online | $20.00 | 4 25% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,400) | Qaranzo Games | |
 | Fawe | $6.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) | Jansen Bros Games | |
 | Ferral Quest | $1.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | ZonaBit's Games | |
 | DREADHOLM | · EA | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | DREADHOLM |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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