Should I ship an Assassin PvP game?
PvP + Assassins
Only 10 developers shipped an Assassin PvP game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Stealth Syndicate, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×8.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $270 against a market of $1.5k. 33 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $597 (exactly $597) |
| Top 5% | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 140% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP
- Price point
- $3.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 8 games average 66% positive over 29 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Counter-Strike | older | $9.99 | 169,780 96% | 5.1M | $51M (exactly $50,883,066) | Valve |
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts | older | $29.99 | 10,966 73% | 329k | $9.9M (exactly $9,866,110) | CI Games |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | West Hunt | older | $9.99 | 1,522 84% | 46k | $456k (exactly $456,143) | NewGen |
| | Eville | older | $14.99 | 433 68% | 13k | $195k (exactly $194,720) | VestGames |
| | Lycans | older | $4.99 | 309 91% | 9.3k | $46k (exactly $46,257) | Onu Games |
| | SPECTRE | · EA older | $9.99 | 76 55% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Symbiosis Games |
| | Eruption 爆发 | · EA older | $4.99 | 26 84% | 780 | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) | DBH |
| | Band of Brigands | older | $11.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $3.2k (exactly $3,237) | ProtoGames |
| | Stealth Syndicate | $3.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $958 (exactly $958) | Vincent Lopes-Vicente | |
| | ShadowStrikeVR | · EA | $9.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Charming Game Studio |
| | Kill Wilbo | $1.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $597 (exactly $597) | Void Chamber | |
| | SUSPECTO | · EA | $5.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | YORQ Studios |
| | Assassins Arena | $2.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | Nightshade Interactive | |
| | CARNEVALE: Blades in the Crowd | $6.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | Racc PG | |
| | King Assassination | $2.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $90 (exactly $90) | Softera Gaming | |
| | Murder&Spies | $1.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | navlikesbunnies | |
| | Who Killed | · EA | $2.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Red Ray Games |
| | Broken Pact | · EA | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Samuka Gomes |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.