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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.
not enough cohorts to draw
| 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.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 10 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- MMORPG, Trading
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 10 games average 67% positive over 16,672 reviews.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
MMORPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootPoor 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
- + Co-opPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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