Do I ship it?

Games › Battle Royale › Battle Royale + PvP

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Battle Royale?

Battle Royale + PvP

Of 113 developers who shipped a paid PvP Battle Royale 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. 338 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 10 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 10 / 10 build. 66 developers shipped in the last year and 338 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 338 announced, ×5.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Battle Royale + PvP
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 113
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $748 → $2.2k → $719 → $479 → $1.1k → $239 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Battle Royale + PvP: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 113
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $4.2k (exactly $4,196)
Top 5% $328k (exactly $328,172)
Developers, 2 yr 113
Released games 547
Announced 338
Effort 10 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 down 55% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 41%, 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.

Battle Royale
effort 10 / 10 · low · 100-player servers and constant live ops
PvP
effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
10 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Battle Royale, PvP; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 62% positive over 332,322 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $450, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $320k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 86 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 338 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Immersive SimFair13 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  2. + MysteryLong shot12 devs · median $359 · 9 announced
  3. + LootPoor odds9 devs · median $4.3k · 23 announced
  4. + SportsPoor odds18 devs · median $3.8k · 26 announced
  5. + Hero ShooterPoor odds9 devs · median $3.6k · 29 announced
  6. + PuzzlePoor odds14 devs · median $3.2k · 21 announced
  7. + Psychological HorrorPoor odds12 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  8. + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds14 devs · median $3.2k · 30 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds34 devs · median $1.3k · 89 announced
  10. + SandboxPoor odds7 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  11. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds17 devs · median $898 · 28 announced
  12. + RoguelitePoor odds14 devs · median $748 · 20 announced

All 91 pairs on the Battle Royale page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M Battlefield™ V 2020 · $355M Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2023 · $78M Mistfall Hunter 2026 · $12M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Battlefield™ 6 $69.99 295,442 63% 8.9M $620M (exactly $620,339,567) Battlefield Studios
Battlefield™ V older $49.99 236,709 70% 7.1M $355M (exactly $354,992,487) DICE
Hunt: Showdown 1896 older $29.99 213,023 74% 6.4M $192M (exactly $191,656,793) Crytek
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® older $59.99 43,229 79% 1.3M $78M (exactly $77,799,231) Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studio… (Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Raven Software)
Mistfall Hunter $24.99 16,045 53% 481k $12M (exactly $12,028,936) Bellring Games
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
Wildgate $29.99 5,032 77% 151k $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) Moonshot Games
Blazing Sails older $14.99 8,361 87% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive
Friends vs Friends older $9.99 10,860 83% 326k $3.3M (exactly $3,254,742) Brainwash Gang
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Last Remains · EA $19.99 914 51% 27k $548k (exactly $548,126) Earn Alliance
Final Sentence $9.99 1,095 84% 33k $328k (exactly $328,172) Button Mash
Backpack Jianghu $13.99 565 80% 17k $237k (exactly $237,130) 背包工作室
SUPER BOMBERMAN COLLECTION $19.99 294 87% 8.8k $176k (exactly $176,312) RED ART GAMES
Last Man Sitting $9.99 357 77% 11k $107k (exactly $106,993) DoubleMoose Games
Polygon Bit Battle Royale $9.99 93 60% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,872) Army Troop Studios

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