Should I ship an MOBA?
MOBA
Of 80 developers who shipped a paid MOBA in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 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., 1 in 20 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. 239 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build. 40 developers shipped in the last year and 239 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 80 |
| Released games | 457 |
| Announced | 239 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 260% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 47%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- MOBA
- effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus a balanced hero roster
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- MOBA
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 58% positive over 48,242 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 239 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper.
All pairs with MOBA
- MOBA + Open World Dead $0
Comparable games
FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M 
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER 2023 · $26M 
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III 2017 · $17M 
Shape of Dreams 2025 · $12M 
Awesomenauts 2012 · $7.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FOR HONOR™ | older | $29.99 | 108,492 69% | 3.3M | $98M (exactly $97,610,252) | Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte) |
| | NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER | older | $19.99 | 42,572 84% | 1.3M | $26M (exactly $25,530,428) | Soleil Ltd. |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III | older | $39.99 | 14,436 50% | 433k | $17M (exactly $17,318,869) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Shape of Dreams | $24.99 | 15,769 89% | 473k | $12M (exactly $11,822,019) | Lizard Smoothie | |
| | Awesomenauts | older | $19.99 | 11,822 84% | 355k | $7.1M (exactly $7,089,653) | Ronimo Games |
 | Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo | older | $29.99 | 2,718 95% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,445,385) | ωstar, Seikei Production |
 | Gigantic: Rampage Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,795 65% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,275,862) | Abstraction Games |
 | BidKing | $2.99 | 22,238 33% | 667k | $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) | MindSurge Network & Games | |
 | Wild Assault | $14.99 | 3,861 68% | 116k | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) | Combat Cat Studio | |
 | Teamfight Manager 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 2,251 60% | 68k | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) | Team Samoyed |
 | EverSiege: Untold Ages | $19.99 | 1,906 68% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) | Tindalos Interactive | |
 | Last Remains | · EA | $19.99 | 914 51% | 27k | $548k (exactly $548,126) | Earn Alliance |
 | WAR RATS: The Rat em Up | $11.99 | 382 95% | 11k | $137k (exactly $137,405) | wootusart Industries | |
 | Pennon and Battle | $18.99 | 175 69% | 5.3k | $100k (exactly $99,697) | PB Studio | |
 | Last Flag | $4.99 | 576 73% | 17k | $86k (exactly $86,227) | Night Street Games | |
 | Jelly Bubble | $9.99 | 170 99% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $50,949) | BINGOBELL |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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