Genres

Ticker: price and year-over-year change for 40 genres. Price is the median estimated first-year revenue of indie paid launches. The change shows for genres with 100+ launches. The same figures are on the Genres page.

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on 11 Nov 2026

Genres / MMORPG

MMORPG

35 launches studied, 1,750 store games
Figures of 11 Nov 2026

23 in 100 MMORPG launches earned $100k+ in their first year, over twice the 1 in 15 for all genres. It is a one-hit market: Path of Exile 2 holds 83% of its money.

Chance of $100k+23 in 100Above all genres8 of 35 launches earned $100k+ in year one. All genres 1 in 15, 26,758 launches.
Best pricetoo fewToo few to readNo price band has enough launches.
Chance of $10k+37 in 100Above all genres$1k+ 63 in 100. All genres 18 in 100. 35 launches, too few for a typical figure (it needs 100). Sales on Steam before Steam's cut; about 58% of it reaches the developer.
Biggest game's share83.4%One game over halfPath of Exile 2, of the money from 35 launches. Without it 21 in 100 hit $100k+.
New store launches+100.0%Launches up166 in the last 12 months, 83 the 12 before. All store games with the tag.
Read with careOne-hit market: read odds and typical earnings, not totals 11Beats the odds expected at its prices about 1.7 times (actual 23 in 100, expected 13 in 100): could be luck 7Too few to read: under $5 (14 launches), $5 to $10 (10 launches), $10 to $20 (3 launches), $20 to $40 (8 launches) 3

The eight cards

Fixed order: odds, earnings, the one-hit check and life cycle, then demand, upcoming and the two gold cards. Click a price on Launch odds to read the page at that price. Figures of 11 Nov 2026.

Launch odds

by price

Odds of a $100k+ first year, by price

Too few to read
PriceActualExpectedAllUnder $5$5 to $10$10 to $20$20 to $40

Lens checkOne-hit market. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: holds. Without the breakout: moves the answer. Last 18 months: not run yet.

Compare prices

Earnings

all prices

Estimated first-year earnings. Sales on Steam before Steam's cut; about 58% of it reaches the developer.

Reach $10k+under 100 launches, no typical37 in 100
Reach $1k+63 in 100
Reach $100k+23 in 100
All genres, $10k+18 in 100
Launches studied35

Lens checkOne-hit market. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: too few to tell. Without the breakout: moves the answer. Last 18 months: not run yet.

How earnings work

One-hit check

top game

Money in one gameOne-hit

Path of Exile 2over half the money83.4%

83 in 100dollars went to one game

21 in 100hit $100k+ without it, was 23 in 100

Lens checkOne-hit market. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: holds. Without the breakout: moves the answer. Last 18 months: not run yet.

Why medians hold up

Life cycle

needs data

New launches a year, all store games

166 launcheslast 12 months, was 83+100.0%
Tell me when ready

Rising demand

#73 of 107

Holds players vs same-age games, descriptive

Holding worse68 games, not a launch signal-14.5%
Vs same-age games-14.5%
Without top game-11.8%
Reviews4,885was 12,501
Top game50.6%of reviews

Lens checkOne-hit market. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: not run yet. Without the breakout: moves the answer. Last 18 months: not run yet.

See all 107 genres

Upcoming

in genre

Wishlistable now, most wanted first

Chrono Odysseywishlist rank #21541 games
Chrono Odysseyno date#21
Guild Wars 3™no date#38
Anvil Empiresno date#65
Drakantosno date#71
Dark Craftno date#183
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Best pairs

none yet

Best odds of a $100k+ year, with expectedFree until launch

No pair qualifiesnone with 30+ launches
None yetNo pair with MMORPG has 30+ launches.
Open free preview
Best pairsFree until launchClick to unlockWhich pairs beat the odds

Spotlight

every board

Every board, one cardFree until launch

MMORPGnot on the boards yetnot ranked
Last 4 quartersNot computed yet
Launch successNot computed yet
Anticipated#43of 135, 62 on chart
Rising demand#73of 107, -14.5%
Open free preview
SpotlightFree until launchClick to unlockEvery board, one card

Data facts

Every count on this page, with its sample and date, in seven labels. The numbered notes beside each label say what each figure means, where it comes from and what limits it.

Data facts

MMORPG, genre page

7 labels per genre page

Cohort1Steam launches 12 to 36 months oldindie paid
Figures as of2odds and earnings of 2 Nov 202611 Nov 2026
1

Who is counted

Indie paid Steam launches 12 to 36 months old: old enough to have a full first year, recent enough to be today's market. Games from major publishers, games over $40, adult and free games are left out.

35 of the 1,750 store games tagged MMORPG are in it; the rest are older, newer, free or from big publishers. All genres together: 26,758 launches.

2

Where it comes from

Odds, earnings, lenses and pairs: figures made on 2 Nov 2026 from GMD's warehouse of store data.

Boards, launch counts and upcoming games: the store data of 11 Nov 2026. Every figure is derived from public store data; no game list is copied.

Sample

Per 35 launches, 2 Nov 2026

MeasureLaunches

Launches studied135
under $5314 too few
$5 to $10310 too few
$10 to $2033 too few
$20 to $4038 too few
All genreslaunches in the cohort26,758
Store games with the tagstore data, 11 Nov 20261,750
3

Small samples

A price band needs 30 launches to be read on this page (the Sample filter; never under 10). Below that the page says "too few" instead of a figure, and under 30 launches or 5 hits a chance is written as a count, such as "10 of 20 launches".

Even at 30 launches, one extra hit moves the chance by over 3 in 100, so treat close figures as equal. Here: under $5 has 14, $5 to $10 has 10, $10 to $20 has 3, $20 to $40 has 8. Pairs need 30+ launches to be ranked: 0 of 0 qualify.

4

Price is built in

Revenue is estimated from reviews times price, so a dearer game reaches $100k with fewer reviews. That makes odds climb with price in every genre. All genres: 1 in 230 under $5, 1 in 28 $5 to $10, 21 in 100 $10 to $20, 44 in 100 $20 to $40.

So compare odds within a price band. "Expected at its prices" is the chance this genre would have if each of its launches did as well as all games at the same price: 13 in 100.

First-year earnings

Per 35 launches, 2 Nov 2026, all prices

MeasureEstimated

Earned $100k+5of 35 launches8
Chance of $100k+all genres 1 in 1523 in 100
Expected at its prices413 in 100
Beats its prices7actual 23 in 100, expected 13 in 100: could be luckabout 1.7 times
Chance of $10k+635 launches, too few for a typical figure (it needs 100).37 in 100
Chance of $1k+63 in 100
All genres, cohort median26,758 launches$562
5

A soft estimate

A hit is an estimated first-year revenue of $100k or more: store reviews x a reviews-to-sales multiplier x price x the share of list price actually paid after discounts, with a regional price adjustment (games sold mostly to Chinese-speaking players earn less per sale, because regional prices are lower).

Sales on Steam before Steam's cut; about 58% of it reaches the developer.

Nobody publishes the true multiplier. Across its likely range the all-genre chance moves from 4.8 to 8.4 in 100, and a third of all hits sit within 2x of the $100k line. Read every chance as "about": this genre is about 23 in 100.

6

Typical means median

Half of the launches earned more, half less. One huge hit cannot move it, which is why this page uses medians, not averages.

The all-genre figure beside it is the cohort median ($562, 26,758 launches). "Typical, last 4 quarters" further down is a different measure, named for what it is.

Typical figures are shown from 100 launches; below that the page shows the chance of clearing $1k, $10k and $100k.

7

May be luck

With about 300 genres, chance alone gives the best one a lead near 1.8 times its expected odds (2.05 times for the top 5 in 100).

MMORPG beats its prices about 1.7 times (actual 23 in 100, expected 13 in 100), under 1.8 times, so the lead could be luck. There are many more pairs than genres, so the Best pairs card uses higher lines: 2.37 times, and 2.56 for the top 5 in 100.

Lens check

Per 35 launches, 2 Nov 2026, all prices

MeasureStandard is the base

Standard8Base35 of 35 launches, 23 in 100
West-facing view9Holds29 of 35 launches, 8 of 29 launches
Without the breakout11Moves the answer34 of 35 launches, 21 in 100
Last 18 months10Not run yet
8

The four lenses

Each lens reruns the figures on a slice of the launches. Standard is the base: every launch in the cohort. It is not a lens that can hold or move.

A lens moves the answer when its chance of $100k+ differs from the standard by more than a random slice of the same size would, with 5+ hits on both sides, or when its typical earnings move over 25% with 100+ launches in the lens. Without the breakout moves it when one game earned over half the money. With fewer hits it is too few to tell. Pips: green holds, coral moves, grey too few or not run.

Lens figures cover all prices; they are not split by price band yet.

9

The West-facing view

The West-facing view keeps games mostly reviewed outside China: it sets aside games with 35% or more of their reviews in Chinese (6 of 35 here).

Review language is measured only for games with 2,000+ reviews; for smaller games it is guessed from the game's name. The audience split is genre-specific: leaving those games out changes typical earnings 53% in FMV and 19% in Dating Sim, yet barely moves the all-genre chance (6.1 to 6.0 in 100).

Here typical earnings move +50.9%, but the view has under 100 launches, too few to tell; 2.4% of its revenue-weighted reviews are in Chinese.

10

Recency

Last 18 months keeps launches 18 months old or newer. It was not run for this genre yet.

Concentration

Per 35 launches, 2 Nov 2026

MeasureShare of the money

Biggest game's share11Path of Exile 283.4%
Chance without it34 launches21 in 100
Mostly reviewed in Chinese96 of 35 launches17.1%
Share of Chinese-language reviewsrevenue-weighted, part guessed from names, 11 Nov 20262.4%
11

One-hit markets

A genre is one-hit when one game holds over half its money. Across genres the top game holds 29% in the median genre and the top tenth of games 94%; 57 genres have one game over half.

It is a one-hit market: Path of Exile 2 holds 83% of its money. Read odds and medians, not totals: Rising demand and anticipation are sums, so one launch can move them. Without it, 21 in 100 still hit $100k+.

Market around it

Per store data, 11 Nov 2026

MeasureAll store games

New launches, last 12 months1283 the 12 before, all store games166
Wishlistable now13541
On the wishlist chart2 adult games left out51
Verified dates, next 90 days0
Pairs with 30+ launches30 of 0
Rising demand1468 games, #73 of 107-14.5%
Most anticipated rank#43 of 135
12

Launch counts

New launches count every store game with the tag released in each 12 months, not only the indie cohort, from the store data of 11 Nov 2026.

166 against 83 is +100.0%: more games now compete for the same players. Earlier years and a life-cycle stage are not computed yet.

13

Upcoming games

541 store pages carry the tag and can be wishlisted. 51 are on Steam's wishlist chart (2 adult games left out).

A date counts as verified only when the release-calendar job checked it against the live store, for the next 90 days. Other dates are as the store lists them.

14

Boards and ranks

Rising demand: games here hold their players better than similar games of the same age (reviews, games launched since 2021), Aug to Oct 2026 against 2025, from 68 games. It describes; the backtest found it does not predict launches.

Ranks are among 135 (Most anticipated), 107 (Rising demand) genres.

Not computed yet

Per genre, as of 2 Nov 2026

MeasureSaid, never guessed

Lens figures by price band15not yet
Life-cycle stagenot yet
Gaining fastnot yet
Outside sales checknot yet

Derived figures only, estimated from public store data. GMD is not affiliated with Valve.

15

Not computed yet

Lens figures by price band: lens figures are not split by price yet.

Life-cycle stage: needs launch counts further back than two years.

Gaining fast: follower readings started 30 Sep; first readings 13 Oct.

An outside check: the backtest scores predictions against the same review-based estimate, so it shows review counts are predictable, not revenue. Fixing that needs outside sales data.

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Odds today8 of 35 hit $100k+23 in 100
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Preview

Its first email, from today's figures

SubjectMMORPG this month: odds, earnings, releases

Chance of $100k+8 of 35 launches, first year
23 in 100
Chance of $10k+$1k+ 63 in 100; 35 launches, too few for a typical figure (it needs 100).
37 in 100
New launches, last 12 months83 the 12 before, all store games
166
Next verified releaseno verified date in the next 90 days
none
Best pair with 30+ launchesno pair has enough launches yet
none

What happens when you sign up

  1. Today: your address joins the GMD list with the tag genre:mmorpg, so we know which genre you follow. A welcome email comes first.
  2. Each month: one email with MMORPG's odds and typical earnings, new dated releases in the genre, and pairs that start beating the odds, with the same sample sizes and dates as this page.
  3. Later: instant alerts and your own watchlist arrive with accounts, after launch. The "later" rows say so plainly; nobody is charged.
Releases

Ticker: 30 upcoming games dated within 90 days, with wishlist rank, release date and followers. The same list is on the Upcoming page.