Fellowship launched into Steam early access on October 16, 2025, and just crushed its first month with engagement numbers that most live service games would envy. Developer Chief Rebel and publisher Arc Games revealed players collectively logged 7.2 million hours while clearing over 9 million dungeons in just 30 days. The co-op RPG maintains a healthy 8,000 to 9,000 concurrent players on Steam with a Mostly Positive user rating, proving the concept of a multiplayer online dungeon adventure resonates with audiences hungry for bite-sized MMO experiences without the massive time commitment.
What Those Numbers Actually Mean
Breaking down the statistics from Fellowship’s first month reveals just how engaged the player base has become. The 7.2 million hours played translates to roughly 822 years of combined playtime compressed into a single month. Players completed over 9 million dungeon runs, though Chief Rebel wisely didn’t share how many failed attempts padded that number. The most brutal statistic is 49 million player deaths, confirming that Fellowship’s scaling difficulty isn’t messing around.
The concurrent player count of 8,000 to 9,000 might seem modest compared to massive hits, but it represents a stable, dedicated audience for a game still in early access. The all-time peak hit 43,205 concurrent players shortly after launch before settling into a sustainable pattern. For context, many live service games struggle to maintain even a few thousand daily players months after release, making Fellowship’s retention particularly impressive for an indie project from a relatively unknown studio.
What Fellowship Actually Is
Chief Rebel calls Fellowship a multiplayer online dungeon adventure, or MODA for short. The term essentially means they took the endgame dungeon experience from MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and made it the entire game. No questing, no open world grinding, no elaborate storylines. Just four-player teams running dungeons with tab-target combat, the holy trinity of tank-healer-DPS roles, and infinitely scaling difficulty through modifiers and challenge leagues.
Each dungeon run takes 10 to 15 minutes for quick play mode or longer for challenge content with multiple bosses. Players choose from different heroes that fit specific roles rather than traditional class systems, with each hero featuring distinctive abilities and mechanics. Progression comes through gear drops, crafting materials, and currencies earned at the end of successful runs. Failed runs give nothing, maintaining old-school consequences that force players to improve rather than grind inefficiently.
The game features three difficulty modes at launch. Quick Play offers accessible content for learning mechanics and warming up. Challenge League provides structured progression with leaderboards tracking performance. Eternal difficulty represents the ultimate endgame, throwing brutal modifiers and mechanics at experienced players chasing the highest rankings. This tiered approach lets casual and hardcore players coexist without forcing everyone into the same difficulty pool.
Who Made This Thing
Chief Rebel is an independent studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, founded in 2018 by industry veterans who worked on franchises including World of Warcraft, Diablo, Helldivers, Battlefield, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Just Cause. That pedigree shows in Fellowship’s polish and understanding of what makes dungeon running satisfying. The team recognized that MMOs create enormous barriers to accessing their best content, forcing players through dozens of hours before reaching the fun stuff.
CEO and Game Director Axel Lindberg explained they wanted to distill the endgame dungeon experience into something immediately accessible to anyone. No mandatory leveling, no story quests blocking progression, no guild requirements. Just log in, find three teammates, and start running dungeons that scale appropriately to your gear and skill level. This design philosophy targets players who love MMO dungeons but can’t or won’t invest hundreds of hours to reach them.
The December 11 Update
Chief Rebel announced December 11 will bring Fellowship’s biggest update since launch, laying groundwork for the game’s seasonal future. The headline feature is matchmaking for Eternal difficulty, the most-requested addition from hardcore players struggling to find teams for the toughest content. The system rolls out in two phases, with an initial solution launching immediately while the team develops their ideal matchmaking that helps players find compatible teammates with similar goals.
The update includes a comprehensive Winter Holiday Event bringing seasonal content and rewards. Continual balance adjustments across all roles address performance disparities that emerged during the first month. Gradual performance optimizations tackle framerate issues and UI friction that plagued some players. These improvements demonstrate Chief Rebel’s responsiveness to community feedback, implementing solutions within weeks rather than months.
The Pre-Season Reset Coming Q1 2026
The most significant milestone arrives in Q1 2026 with a pre-season update that completely resets character progression and leaderboards. This isn’t punishment, it’s strategic preparation for Fellowship’s long-term vision centered on seasonal cycles. Each season will feature new heroes, dungeons, challenges, and rewards, similar to how games like Diablo and Path of Exile structure ongoing content.
Community director Hamish Bode emphasized the team aims for a six-month early access window but prioritizes making meaningful changes based on player feedback over hitting arbitrary deadlines. The 1.0 launch needs to provide a solid foundation for the first official season, with all systems polished and balanced. Rushing to meet schedules would undermine everything they’re building, so flexibility takes priority over strict timelines.
The pre-season reset gives Chief Rebel space to rebalance systems, adjust progression curves, and incorporate lessons learned from early access. Players get a fresh start with everyone on equal footing, creating excitement around climbing leaderboards and mastering new content. This approach has proven successful in other live service games, maintaining engagement through regular resets that prevent stagnation.
What The Roadmap Promises
Beyond the immediate updates, Chief Rebel teased an ambitious roadmap that includes new heroes expanding class variety and playstyle options. Additional dungeon types will introduce fresh mechanics and boss encounters to keep content feeling diverse. Difficulty modifiers will create new challenges for players who master existing content. Social tools will improve party-finding and help players connect with compatible teammates for long-term groups.
The new player experience needs work according to feedback, with Chief Rebel planning improvements to tutorials and onboarding systems. This matters tremendously for live service games dependent on attracting new players months and years after launch. Making the first hours welcoming without dumbing down the core challenge represents a delicate balance that requires iteration based on data and feedback.
The studio intentionally paces announcements rather than promising everything at once, learning from other games that overpromised and underdelivered. What’s confirmed is that expanding character classes and dungeon variations form the core of Fellowship’s long-term identity. The question isn’t whether new content arrives, it’s how quickly Chief Rebel can develop and test additions while maintaining quality standards.
Can Fellowship Sustain Momentum
The primary challenge facing Fellowship is whether it can maintain early access engagement through to 1.0 and beyond into seasonal content. Many early access games start strong before bleeding players as development drags on. Chief Rebel’s aggressive update schedule and clear communication about timelines work in their favor, keeping the community invested in the game’s future rather than abandoning it for the next shiny thing.
The seasonal model provides built-in retention hooks if executed well. Regular resets with fresh content give lapsed players reasons to return, while leaderboards and exclusive rewards motivate hardcore players to grind each season. This approach has sustained Path of Exile, Diablo, and similar games for years. Fellowship’s more accessible format could capture audiences who appreciate those games but find them too complex or time-consuming.
Competition in the co-op dungeon space is heating up, with established games like Deep Rock Galactic and newer entries constantly releasing. Fellowship’s advantage lies in focusing specifically on the dungeon running experience that MMO players already love, removing barriers that prevent casual participation. If Chief Rebel delivers on promised content and maintains update cadence, Fellowship has real potential to carve out a sustainable niche.
FAQs
When did Fellowship launch into early access?
Fellowship launched on Steam early access October 16, 2025 with a 10% launch discount that ran through October 23. The game is priced at $24.99 and is expected to remain in early access for approximately six months, targeting a 1.0 release in 2026.
How many players are playing Fellowship?
Fellowship maintains approximately 8,000 to 9,000 concurrent players on Steam. The all-time peak hit 43,205 concurrent players shortly after launch. In the first month, players logged 7.2 million combined hours.
What is a MODA game?
MODA stands for multiplayer online dungeon adventure. Chief Rebel coined the term to describe Fellowship’s genre, which takes endgame dungeon content from MMORPGs and makes it the entire game without open worlds, questing, or lengthy progression systems.
Who developed Fellowship?
Chief Rebel, an independent studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, developed Fellowship. The team consists of industry veterans who previously worked on World of Warcraft, Diablo, Helldivers, Battlefield, The Division, and Just Cause. Publisher Arc Games handles distribution.
How long do Fellowship dungeons take?
Quick Play dungeons take 10 to 15 minutes. Challenge League content with multiple bosses runs longer depending on difficulty and team performance. The time-friendly format targets players who want MMO dungeon experiences without massive time commitments.
When is the next major Fellowship update?
December 11, 2025 brings Fellowship’s biggest update since launch, including Eternal difficulty matchmaking, a Winter Holiday Event, role balance adjustments, and performance improvements. A pre-season reset is planned for Q1 2026.
Will Fellowship have seasons?
Yes. Chief Rebel plans to implement seasonal cycles starting with the 1.0 launch in 2026. Each season will feature new heroes, dungeons, challenges, and rewards, with periodic resets similar to Diablo and Path of Exile.
What roles are available in Fellowship?
Fellowship uses the holy trinity of tank, healer, and DPS roles. Players choose specific heroes that fit these roles rather than traditional class systems, with each hero featuring unique abilities and mechanics tailored to their role.
Conclusion
Fellowship’s first month proves there’s genuine appetite for focused co-op dungeon experiences that skip the bloat and get straight to the fun. Seven million hours played and nine million dungeons cleared demonstrates Chief Rebel successfully captured what makes MMO dungeons compelling while removing barriers that keep many players away. Whether the game sustains this momentum through early access and into seasonal content depends on the developer’s ability to deliver promised updates while maintaining quality and responsiveness to feedback. The pieces are in place for Fellowship to become a long-term success if Chief Rebel executes their vision consistently over the coming year.