9Dragons

VS

Dune: Awakening

9Dragons is a martial arts-themed MMORPG first released in 2007. While it has a long history and has shifted between several publishers, its age and niche appeal suggest a small but loyal player base. RedFox Games currently operates it, but there is little presence in modern MMO discussions and traffic. Most older MMOs of this type retain a few hundred active users daily unless they have had a major resurgence, which 9Dragons has not.

As of late August 2025, Dune: Awakening had approximately 14,000 concurrent players, reflecting a significant decline from its peak of over 189,000 concurrent players shortly after launch in June 2025. This decrease is attributed to factors such as player burnout, game design issues, and technical problems. Despite these challenges, the developers remain optimistic, citing strong player retention and a 10-year development roadmap that includes plans to explore new planets and regions within the Dune universe. ([gamesradar.com](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-dev-says-player-retention-has-been-extremely-good-and-the-mmos-10-year-plan-still-has-so-much-to-pull-from-in-the-lore-well-go-to-new-planets-eventually/?utm_source=openai))