Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › MOBA

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 260% on the market, 239 announced, ×6.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
MOBA
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 80
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $1.3k → $1.6k → $598 → $179 → $179 → $3.0k (still earning) → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for MOBA: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 80
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.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
MOBA
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $360, 1 in 4 over $4.7k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

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.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with MOBA

51 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. MOBA + Roguelite Poor odds $3.9k 10 devs
  2. MOBA + Adventure Poor odds $3.1k 12 devs
  3. MOBA + Tower Defense Poor odds $3.1k 7 devs
  4. MOBA + Fantasy Poor odds $2.7k 18 devs
  5. MOBA + Character Customization Poor odds $1.8k 10 devs
  6. MOBA + Online Co-Op Poor odds $600 19 devs
  7. MOBA + Co-op Poor odds $479 21 devs
  8. MOBA + Action Poor odds $359 53 devs
  9. MOBA + Simulation Poor odds $359 12 devs
  10. MOBA + RPG Poor odds $180 23 devs
  11. Hero Shooter + MOBA Dead $49k 5 devs
  12. MOBA + Survival Dead $31k 6 devs
  13. Battle Royale + MOBA Dead $16k 4 devs
  14. MOBA + Racing Dead $13k 1 devs
  15. MOBA + Magic Dead $3.1k 8 devs
  16. MOBA + Action Roguelike Dead $3.1k 5 devs
  17. MOBA + Arcade Dead $2.7k 9 devs
  18. MOBA + Tactical RPG Dead $598 6 devs
  19. MOBA + Futuristic Dead $479 10 devs
  20. MOBA + Strategy Dead $449 36 devs
  21. MOBA + PvE Dead $449 22 devs
  22. MOBA + Third-Person Shooter Dead $449 13 devs
  23. MOBA + Space Dead $449 7 devs
  24. MOBA + Sports Dead $449 6 devs
  25. MOBA + 3D Fighter Dead $449 5 devs
  26. MOBA + PvP Dead $359 54 devs
  27. MOBA + Shooter Dead $359 29 devs
  28. MOBA + Combat Dead $359 28 devs
  29. MOBA + Tactical Dead $359 24 devs
  30. MOBA + Sci-fi Dead $359 12 devs
  31. MOBA + Arena Shooter Dead $359 9 devs
  32. MOBA + RTS Dead $300 11 devs
  33. MOBA + Wargame Dead $300 9 devs
  34. MOBA + Action RTS Dead $300 7 devs
  35. MOBA + Real Time Tactics Dead $299 17 devs
  36. MOBA + Military Dead $299 11 devs
  37. MOBA + Top-Down Shooter Dead $299 11 devs
  38. MOBA + 3D Platformer Dead $299 10 devs
  39. MOBA + Physics Dead $225 9 devs
  40. MOBA + Hack and Slash Dead $225 5 devs
  41. MOBA + War Dead $180 9 devs
  42. MOBA + Action RPG Dead $180 5 devs
  43. MOBA + Action-Adventure Dead $179 7 devs
  44. MOBA + FPS Dead $150 17 devs
  45. MMORPG + MOBA Dead $150 2 devs
  46. MOBA + Turn-Based Tactics Dead $120 8 devs
  47. MOBA + Medieval Dead $119 6 devs
  48. MOBA + Turn-Based Strategy Dead $0 11 devs
  49. MOBA + 2D Platformer Dead $0 9 devs
  50. MOBA + Card Game Dead $0 5 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.