Welcome to the Minor Leagues

The joke used to be that everyone wanted to make an MMO. Lately it’s starting to feel like everyone just wants to make AAA games. Plenty of startups (don’t look too far back into my own history, GUILTY) focus on “Being the first AAA quality ____ game (Mobile/Blockchain/Visual Novel/Whatever)” or bringing AAA mindset to indie games.

But I’m here to say maybe we should stop trying to bring AAA into other spaces and start trying to find a new type of game to love. Something more than the artful masterpiece of an indie game, and something less than a 100 person 4 year Herculean AAA game. I present to you, the Mid-Tier Game, made by taking the skills forged in AAA, but tempering them in size and scope.

The $1-5M Revenue Tier

All these numbers are pulled via SteamSpy, so take them with a grain of salt but also keep in mind these only reflect PC/Steam sales. Here’s a sampling of games released since Jan 1st, 2021 within the Action Genre that generated $1-$5M in revenue (before Steam’s cut):

Some notable examples from this tier:

• Witch It - A polished Prop Hunt game
• Untitled Goose Game - Simple concept, excellent execution
• Death’s Door - Beautiful action game
• CARRION - Reverse horror done right
• Tails of Iron - Hand-drawn adventure
• Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - Yes, really

The Pattern

What do all these games have in common?

1. Focused scope - They do one thing well
2. Small teams - Usually 1-10 people
3. Realistic timelines - 1-3 years of development
4. Clear identity - You can explain them in one sentence

These aren’t AAA games trying to be indie, or indie games trying to be AAA. They’re something in between, and there’s a massive market for them.

Why This Matters

At Manafold, we believe this mid-tier space is underserved by the traditional games industry infrastructure. The big studios chase AAA. Solo devs make tiny passion projects. But there’s a sweet spot in between where small, well-organized teams can create games that:

• Actually ship
• Make real money
• Don’t destroy their creators
• Build careers

This is the minor leagues. It’s where talent gets developed. It’s where interesting ideas get tested. And it’s where we want to play.