Do I ship it?

GamesMMORPGMMORPG + Survival

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Survival MMORPG?

MMORPG + Survival

Only 9 developers shipped a paid Survival 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, PIONER, made about 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. 66 more are announced, ×17 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 10 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $33k against a market of $1.3k. 66 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 24.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 4165% on the market, 66 announced, ×17 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
MMORPG + Survival
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $9.9k → $11k
Outcomes for MMORPG + Survival: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $13k (exactly $12,529)
Median $33k (exactly $33,267)
Top 25% $125k (exactly $124,871)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 94
Announced 66
Effort 10 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $10.99

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 4165% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 51%, 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.

MMORPG
effort 10 / 10 · low · persistent world servers and a live economy
Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
10 / 10 · studio only
Systems
MMORPG, Survival
Price point
$10.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 66% positive over 270,192 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $13k, median $33k, 1 in 4 over $120k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $13k. 3 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×17 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + LootPoor odds8 devs · median $253k · 57 announced
  2. + TradingPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  3. + SandboxPoor odds15 devs · median $144k · 107 announced
  4. + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  5. + CraftingPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  6. + MagicPoor odds11 devs · median $111k · 109 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds15 devs · median $65k · 130 announced
  8. + FantasyPoor odds27 devs · median $61k · 232 announced
  9. + Class-BasedPoor odds7 devs · median $61k · 57 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds33 devs · median $52k · 252 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds28 devs · median $52k · 217 announced
  12. + ExplorationPoor odds24 devs · median $52k · 213 announced

All 71 pairs on the MMORPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Fallout 76 older $39.99 78,346 74% 2.4M $94M (exactly $93,991,696) Bethesda Game Studios
Tom Clancy’s The Division™ older $29.99 76,985 72% 2.3M $69M (exactly $69,263,404) Massive Entertainment
ATLAS · EA older $29.99 37,119 46% 1.1M $33M (exactly $33,395,964) Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games
Last Oasis · EA older $29.99 20,443 63% 613k $18M (exactly $18,392,567) Donkey Crew
Myth of Empires older $29.99 15,520 68% 466k $14M (exactly $13,963,344) Angela Game
Mortal Online 2 older $39.99 11,103 59% 333k $13M (exactly $13,320,269) Star Vault AB
Dark and Light · EA older $17.99 10,577 51% 317k $5.7M (exactly $5,708,407) Snail Games USA
Life is Feudal: Your Own older $19.99 8,804 65% 264k $5.3M (exactly $5,279,759) Bitbox Ltd.
Day of Dragons · EA older $19.99 6,278 68% 188k $3.8M (exactly $3,764,917) Beawesome Games
SWORD ART ONLINE Alicization Lycoris older $19.99 5,017 61% 151k $3.0M (exactly $3,008,695) AQURIA Co., Ltd.
PIONER · EA $29.99 3,205 62% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538) GFAGAMES
STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions · EA $29.99 800 56% 24k $720k (exactly $719,760) System Era Softworks
Afterinfection $8.99 463 56% 14k $125k (exactly $124,871) RePatrick21
Past Fate · EA $19.99 81 43% 2.4k $49k (exactly $48,576) Icy North Games
Ice World $9.99 111 57% 3.3k $33k (exactly $33,267) CoolRabbit Games
OPG: Clan Wars $9.99 101 74% 3.0k $30k (exactly $30,270) Anarchy Games, Street's Game
Wild Alone $10.99 38 47% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,529) Wild Alone 21
Venator Universe · EA $4.99 22 63% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) Fullset Gaming
Amaranth Source Online $20.00 4 25% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,400) Qaranzo Games

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