AFK Journey VS Artifact

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.

Artifact is a digital card game developed and published by Valve, released in 2018. Despite a strong initial push, the game saw a rapid decline in its player base shortly after launch due to a variety of issues, including monetization and gameplay concerns. Valve officially ceased major development in 2021 and made the game free, but daily active player numbers have remained very low since. Based on recent trends and available data from Steam, the daily player count is estimated to be in the low hundreds.