Games › PvP › PvP + Action RPG
Should I ship a PvP Action RPG?
PvP + Action RPG
Of 111 developers who shipped a paid PvP Action RPG 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.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 413 more are announced, ×6.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×1427 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 413 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $26,607) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 111 |
| Released games | 445 |
| Announced | 413 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 up 165% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 43%, excluded from money figures.
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 RPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Action RPG; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 85,263 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 413 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B 
DARK SOULS™ III 2016 · $500M 
Dying Light 2015 · $280M 
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin 2015 · $100M 
The Elder Scrolls® Online 2017 · $81M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ELDEN RING | older | $59.99 | 831,470 93% | 25M | $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | DARK SOULS™ III | older | $59.99 | 278,034 94% | 8.3M | $500M (exactly $500,377,790) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | Dying Light | older | $24.99 | 373,413 95% | 11M | $280M (exactly $279,947,726) | Techland |
| | DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin | older | $39.99 | 83,722 84% | 2.5M | $100M (exactly $100,441,283) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | The Elder Scrolls® Online | older | $19.99 | 134,421 82% | 4.0M | $81M (exactly $80,612,274) | ZeniMax Online Studios |
 | Street Fighter™ 6 | older | $39.99 | 49,952 81% | 1.5M | $60M (exactly $59,927,414) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | DARK SOULS™ II | older | $39.99 | 33,329 87% | 1.0M | $40M (exactly $39,984,801) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | Black Desert | older | $9.99 | 63,052 75% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,896,684) | Pearl Abyss |
 | Mistfall Hunter | $24.99 | 16,045 53% | 481k | $12M (exactly $12,028,936) | Bellring Games | |
 | Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE | $39.99 | 7,662 70% | 230k | $9.2M (exactly $9,192,101) | Netmarble Neo | |
 | ATLYSS | · EA | $9.99 | 19,244 96% | 577k | $5.8M (exactly $5,767,427) | Kiseff |
 | The Quinfall | $9.99 | 12,073 50% | 362k | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) | Vawraek Technology Inc. | |
 | Everwind | · EA | $24.99 | 3,454 81% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) | Enjoy Studio S.A. |
 | SpiritVale | · EA | $14.99 | 4,755 48% | 143k | $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324) | Baikun Interactive |
 | Mage Arena | · EA | $2.99 | 17,800 91% | 534k | $1.6M (exactly $1,596,660) | jrsjams |
 | FREEDOM WARS Remastered | $39.99 | 1,211 69% | 36k | $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837) | Dimps Corporation | |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition | $19.99 | 1,858 83% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Aspyr Media |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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