Games › MMORPG › MMORPG + Immersive Sim
Should I ship an Immersive Sim MMORPG?
MMORPG + Immersive Sim
Only 4 developers shipped a paid Immersive Sim MMORPG in the last 2 years. Over 4 years, 9 did: 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 37 more are announced, ×12 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 10 / 10 build.
Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.3k against a market of $1.3k. 37 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,689) |
| Top 5% | $480k (exactly $479,938) |
| Developers, 4 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 10 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 46%, 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
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 10 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- MMORPG, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 4 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 10,223 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 37 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×12 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
MMORPG with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Day of Dragons | · EA older | $19.99 | 6,278 68% | 188k | $3.8M (exactly $3,764,917) | Beawesome Games |
| | Initial Drift Online | older | $4.99 | 3,206 77% | 96k | $480k (exactly $479,938) | RewindApp |
| | Zero-based World-从零开始 | · EA older | $18.99 | 149 68% | 4.5k | $85k (exactly $84,885) | zerogame |
| | The Wolf | older | $9.99 | 186 68% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | Good Luck Games |
| | The Infinite Black 2 | older | $6.99 | 201 87% | 6.0k | $42k (exactly $42,150) | Spellbook |
| | The Story Page | · EA | $7.99 | 103 78% | 3.1k | $25k (exactly $24,689) | SPR-Games |
| | M4 Tank Brigade | older | $19.99 | 18 55% | 540 | $11k (exactly $10,795) | iEntertainment Network Inc |
| | Five Nights: No Escape | older | $9.99 | 33 66% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | Fun Cradle |
| | Rise - The Vieneo Province | older | $19.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | Unistellar Industries, LLC |
| | Pillazon: MMO Drug Lord Tycoon | · EA older | $4.99 | 33 66% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | PiCorp |
| | City of Cats | · EA | $14.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Screaming Cat Studios |
| | Yuki Onna: Snowball Fight! | $1.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $239 (exactly $239) | YStar | |
| | Dungeon door | $3.00 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Daniel.Co |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.