25 YEARS // SURVEY RESULTS
“2025 Fan Survey”
25th ANNIVERSARY SURVEY
We posted a Fan Survey for Orion’s 25th Anniversary on August 25, 2025.
This helped collect fan feedback to further shape what we’d like to do going forward into the future. We’ve compiled the results with some of our own data charts and summaries which we’ve included below.
THE RESULTS
The majority (65%) of respondents have been playing ORION games for 10+ years, showcasing deep community roots and long-standing engagement.
Nearly all respondents (98%) have played ORION: Prelude (2014), cementing it as the franchise’s most recognizable and defining entry.
A commanding 85% of fans chose ORION: Prelude as their all-time favorite, showing its lasting impact as the franchise’s cornerstone.
Nearly half of players (45%) identify co-op gameplay as their favorite aspect, underscoring how central teamwork is to the ORION experience.
The results are nearly split with 55% preferring class-based structure, while 45% prefer create-a-class = showing no overwhelming consensus.
Nearly half of respondents (45%) want vehicle combat carried forward, confirming it as a core, defining feature of the ORION experience.
Players consistently acknowledge developer passion, community engagement, and strong IP vibes, reinforcing emotional loyalty over pure systems depth.
The most significant failure cited is lack of transparency and unclear roadmaps. More communication is critical for future projects.
Nearly half of respondents (45%) first discovered ORION directly through Steam, cementing it as the game’s most important discovery platform.
The strongest memories overwhelmingly center on friends, family, and playing together -- siblings, parents, spouses, LAN parties, and college friends. ORION is remembered as a social moment, not a solitary game.
A massive 80% of respondents want ORION to return as a co-op game, making it the clear priority for future development.
A majority (54%) want a revival of ORION: Prelude, showing strong nostalgia and demand for the franchise’s most iconic entry. 38% of respondents want a brand-new game, highlighting appetite for innovation alongside legacy revivals.
The dominant question is “What is the future of ORION?” -- new games, updates, revivals, or fixes. Players are explicitly asking for direction, not hype.
The ORION: Prelude “Best/Worst Game on Steam” trailer (64.6%) is the most remembered, confirming its strong impact and cultural relevance.
A majority (58.4%) prefer the Assault (Jetpack) class, showing players gravitate toward mobility and high-action gameplay.
The leading response (40.7%) highlights server tech (private/dedicated servers) as the most important community feature, showing players want control and stability.
Fans are almost evenly divided: 49.6% care about both lore and gameplay, while 48.1% focus only on gameplay, showing two strong audience segments.
PvPvE (asymmetrical / hybrid) is the most requested mode by a wide margin, signaling strong interest in dynamic player-vs-player tension layered on top of co-op PvE, not pure PvP.
A strong 77% prefer a traditional 2D main menu, showing most players value speed, clarity, and direct access over immersion.
A large majority (78.9%) prefer to play with friends, confirming that ORION is primarily seen as a social, co-op-driven experience.
Scope discipline ranks immediately after communication. Repeated phrases like “one project,” “fewer modes,” “polish one thing” reinforce that fans want restraint and follow-through, not reinvention.
At 52%, first-person is the dominant preference. This reinforces ORION’s identity as a shooter-first experience, not just an action sandbox with guns.
Join the ORION Discord Community Server and discuss!
https://discord.gg/cY5XHC3