Do I ship it?

GamesMMORPGMMORPG + Trading

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Trading MMORPG?

MMORPG + Trading

Only 6 developers shipped a paid Trading 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, SpiritVale, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 42 more are announced, ×7.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $210k, ×153 the market's $1.3k for a 10 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $65k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×1587 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 42 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 152.9 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 42 announced, ×7.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
MMORPG + Trading
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 6

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for MMORPG + Trading: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 6
Bottom 30% $65k (exactly $64,757)
Median $206k (exactly $205,963)
Top 25% $290k (exactly $289,703)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324)
Developers, 2 yr 6
Released games 49
Announced 42
Effort 10 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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: too few recent games to read.

Free games: 78%, 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
Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
10 / 10 · studio only
Systems
MMORPG, Trading
Price point
$14.99 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 10 games average 67% positive over 16,672 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $65k, median $210k, 1 in 4 over $280k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $65k. 4 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.0 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. + SandboxPoor odds15 devs · median $144k · 107 announced
  3. + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  4. + CraftingPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  5. + MagicPoor odds11 devs · median $111k · 109 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds15 devs · median $65k · 130 announced
  7. + FantasyPoor odds27 devs · median $61k · 232 announced
  8. + Class-BasedPoor odds7 devs · median $61k · 57 announced
  9. + Open WorldPoor odds33 devs · median $52k · 252 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds28 devs · median $52k · 217 announced
  11. + ExplorationPoor odds24 devs · median $52k · 213 announced
  12. + Co-opPoor odds14 devs · median $30k · 95 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
《蜀山:初章》买断版 older $24.99 5,772 74% 173k $4.3M (exactly $4,327,268) 重楼工作室
SpiritVale · EA $14.99 4,755 48% 143k $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324) Baikun Interactive
Windward older $9.99 2,668 79% 80k $800k (exactly $799,600) Tasharen Entertainment Inc.
Stars Reach · EA $29.99 322 52% 9.7k $290k (exactly $289,703) Playable Worlds, Inc.
Book of Travels older $4.99 1,595 73% 48k $239k (exactly $238,772) Might and Delight
Lugh World · EA $14.99 458 68% 14k $206k (exactly $205,963) Lughsoft
SPACERIFT: Arcanum System · EA older $12.90 413 77% 12k $160k (exactly $159,831) Arcanum Team
MMO98 $6.99 511 69% 15k $107k (exactly $107,157) BiteMe Games
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG $14.99 144 84% 4.3k $65k (exactly $64,757) Wizard
Guilds of Mountgate · EA $9.99 34 82% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) Beaver Fever Games

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