Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Automation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Automation game?

PvP + Automation

Of 23 developers who shipped a PvP Automation game 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.. 54 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×4.2 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×1571 the market median. Revenue is up 7425% on the market; 54 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 7425% on the market, 54 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Automation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $235k → $1.4k → $14k → $88k (still earning) → $65k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Automation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $1.4k (exactly $1,436)
Median $6.3k (exactly $6,287)
Top 25% $88k (exactly $88,141)
Top 5% $2.4M (exactly $2,353,615)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 66
Announced 54
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 7425% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 30%, 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
Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Automation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvE, Auto Battler, Base Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 22,653 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $6.3k, 1 in 4 over $88k, 1 in 20 over $2.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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

Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M Soulmask 2026 · $17M Mindustry 2019 · $7.4M SpaceCraft 2026 · EA · $2.4M KartKraft™ 2018 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
Soulmask $29.99 18,445 76% 553k $17M (exactly $16,594,966) CampFire Studio
Mindustry older $9.99 24,608 95% 738k $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) AnukenDev
SpaceCraft · EA $29.99 2,616 64% 78k $2.4M (exactly $2,353,615) Shiro Games
KartKraft™ older $24.99 2,987 73% 90k $2.2M (exactly $2,239,354) Motorsport Games
Screeps: World older $19.99 1,934 86% 58k $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) Screeps, LLC
Driftland: The Magic Revival older $19.99 1,439 73% 43k $863k (exactly $862,968) Star Drifters
The Colonists older $24.99 1,052 85% 32k $789k (exactly $788,684) Codebyfire
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Wreckreation $39.99 360 63% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) Three Fields Entertainment
Batomon Showdown $14.99 327 87% 9.8k $147k (exactly $147,052) berrymint
Grail $9.99 345 89% 10k $103k (exactly $103,396) Sokpop Collective
D.O.T. Defence $14.99 196 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $88,141) Rattleaxe Games
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG $14.99 144 84% 4.3k $65k (exactly $64,757) Wizard
Screeps: Arena $19.99 105 82% 3.2k $63k (exactly $62,968) Screeps, LLC
Evolve Lab · EA $14.99 69 94% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) SiRen Games
Echoes of the Architects $9.99 46 80% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) GFX47

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