AFK Journey VS Aion: Echoes of Eternity

AFK Journey, developed by Farlight Games, is a recently released cross-platform fantasy idle RPG with gacha and adventure elements. The game has generated significant hype post-launch, especially among mobile and casual strategy communities, and leverages the popularity of its predecessor, AFK Arena. Recent mobile downloads and community activity suggest strong daily engagement, likely in the hundreds of thousands. Given its cross-platform support and gacha monetization, retention is high at launch. However, it does not qualify as an MMO despite some open-world and multiplayer features, as it lacks a persistent large-scale shared world.

Aion: Echoes of Eternity is an expansion/update for Aion, a long-running fantasy MMORPG by NCsoft. Originally released in 2008, Aion saw significant popularity but has declined as newer MMOs emerged. As of 2024, its Western player base is much smaller, but the game still has a dedicated core community supported by NCsoft and occasional events/updates. Estimated current daily active players in the low thousands globally.