LitRPG

It's almost custom made for indie publishing - low world building burden so people can pick up, read and not get lost in a book that is at any part of the series. Specifically suited to series and high volume/rapid production, lower emphasis on prose/literary theme and more on adventure, action and progression. Lower entry barrier for new authors as most of the readership is high volume consumers and usually more loyalty to the genre than the brand/specific author, so a new author can get popular quickly - but can also disappear quickly if they're not producing. Most of it appears on Royal Road, Kindle KDP etc. There are trad publishers and agents starting to look at this but most of the trad ones I know of were really already fairly established series or series authors.

It seems to be getting a lot of traction at the last few cons I have gone to. Aligns well with the gaming crowd for obvious reasons. 

I think this is partly about identity though. What kind of work appeals to you and you want to produce? For me, I find the phenomenon interesting but I'm not a LitRPG reader, just not what I most enjoy when reading SFF, and so its not my target product/readership. But if it appeals to you/someone I do think its a rapidly growing segment.

Winner KD Julicher has a few on Amazon (more published to Royal Road). 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/M.-Talon/author/B0DKY6X2BT

I, too, am on book 5. The vines!

Will it burn out? I think there will be slop, as there's always slop, and the Carls will rise to the top. The problem is, there will be lots of excellent ones that will be lumped in with the slop and never stand out. That's the hard part. Getting good stuff noticed while end cap authors soak up all the sunlight. (That's not a Dinniman dig, but a mainstream dig). 

Though I did see DCC at an airport recently!

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

↑

Sometimes we like to read things that are a little bit predictable, as long as it's entertainingly written and/or uplifting. ... You kind of know where the plot is going, but you're not 100% sure how you'll get there, and the characters will make or break the whole plot. 

And I do think this is part of it's appeal, and certainly an approach to making your fiction sell. I re-watch old star trek, not because I've forgotten how it ends, but because it feels comfortable, its familiar, its like comfort food. I enjoyed Babylon 9 because it was Star Trek in another suit. Same reason I enjoyed "The Orville" though it took a slightly more humorous angle. 

People enjoy familiarity. It may not be where the most cutting edge work is, but it has mass appeal. So depends on goals. No reason an author can't enjoy and write various lanes.