Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Action Roguelike?

PvP + Action Roguelike

Of 84 developers who shipped a PvP Action Roguelike in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 198 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240. 198 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 40% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 198 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 84
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $779 → $2.1k → $3.1k → $1.2k → $4.3k → $748 → $359 (still earning) → $446 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 84
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $7.4k (exactly $7,431)
Top 5% $107k (exactly $106,993)
Developers, 2 yr 84
Released games 223
Announced 198
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.00

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 40% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvP
effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Action Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, PvE
Price point
$5.00 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 3,902 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $750, 1 in 4 over $7.4k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 198 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + BaseballFair6 devs · median $7.6k · 9 announced
  2. + TransportationFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + BasketballFair25 devs · median $2.6k · 28 announced
  4. + Football (American)Fair17 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  5. + BikesFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  6. + GolfFair29 devs · median $1.4k · 34 announced
  7. + World War IFair12 devs · median $1.3k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair36 devs · median $1.2k · 48 announced
  9. + BilliardsFair18 devs · median $1.1k · 12 announced
  10. + TennisLong shot17 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  11. + TypingLong shot28 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  12. + SpellingLong shot14 devs · median $719 · 17 announced

All 247 pairs on the PvP page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M Blazing Beaks 2019 · $919k LET IT DIE: INFERNO 2025 · $580k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Cultivation Tales older $19.99 12,560 38% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) Ac Games
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 older $9.99 18,417 87% 553k $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) Hunter Studio
Blazing Beaks older $14.99 2,043 84% 61k $919k (exactly $918,737) Applava
LET IT DIE: INFERNO $24.99 774 52% 23k $580k (exactly $580,268) SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc.
Bravery and Greed older $19.99 640 78% 19k $384k (exactly $383,808) Rekka Games
Diabotical Rogue · EA older $19.99 442 70% 13k $265k (exactly $265,067) GD Studio Inc
HOTEL BARCELONA $29.99 269 71% 8.1k $242k (exactly $242,019) White Owls Inc.
Flash Doll $8.99 859 80% 26k $232k (exactly $231,672) Game Star
Just King older $4.99 1,362 89% 41k $204k (exactly $203,891) VISH
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
Last Man Sitting $9.99 357 77% 11k $107k (exactly $106,993) DoubleMoose Games
Circle Empires 2 $12.99 266 72% 8.0k $104k (exactly $103,660) Luminous
Pro Jank Footy $14.99 215 80% 6.5k $97k (exactly $96,686) Powerbomb Games, Tinker Town
Frontier Legends · EA $29.99 57 40% 1.7k $51k (exactly $51,283) Neojac Entertainment Inc.
4Wheel Challenge $3.99 409 57% 12k $49k (exactly $48,957) LJ3D STUDIOS
Morgenstern · EA $12.99 88 72% 2.6k $34k (exactly $34,294) Doublesmith GmbH

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.