Do I ship it?

GamesPvPPvP + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Beat 'em up?

PvP + Beat 'em up

Of 81 developers who shipped a PvP Beat 'em up 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.. 169 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 169 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper, while revenue is down 40% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 169 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $2.4k → $2.2k → $3.6k → $1.3k → $599 → $359 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $3.8k (exactly $3,835)
Top 5% $35k (exactly $35,030)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 291
Announced 169
Effort 8 / 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 40% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 27%, 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
Beat 'em up
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, Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Combat
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, 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 66% positive over 2,799 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $3.8k, 1 in 20 over $35k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 169 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Injustice™ 2 older $49.99 17,445 86% 523k $26M (exactly $26,162,266) NetherRealm Studios, QLOC
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 older $39.99 17,281 91% 518k $21M (exactly $20,732,016) Koei Tecmo
Road Redemption older $19.99 10,842 83% 325k $6.5M (exactly $6,501,947) Redemption Road, Pixel Dash Studios
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl older $49.99 4,311 75% 129k $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 3 Full Burst HD older $19.99 10,749 89% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,446,175) CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd.
One Piece Burning Blood older $49.99 3,751 81% 113k $5.6M (exactly $5,625,375) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
DNF Duel older $49.99 3,693 64% 111k $5.5M (exactly $5,538,392) NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING… (NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING Co., Ltd.)
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 older $9.99 18,417 87% 553k $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) Hunter Studio
Granblue Fantasy: Versus older $19.99 7,631 83% 229k $4.6M (exactly $4,576,311) Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works
Rubber Bandits older $9.99 5,628 84% 169k $1.7M (exactly $1,686,712) Flashbulb
Beyond Sandbox · EA $19.99 1,223 39% 37k $733k (exactly $733,433) Atlas XR
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate $24.99 205 84% 6.2k $154k (exactly $153,688) Rocket Panda Games Japan
Falling with Ice Phoenix! $9.99 300 92% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,910) F Project
Knock'Em Out $7.99 239 85% 7.2k $57k (exactly $57,288) BBear Studio
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Terrifier: The ARTcade Game $19.99 56 58% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Relevo
Mayhemers · EA $6.99 154 84% 4.6k $32k (exactly $32,294) Anigtas
MoonMiners · EA $4.99 200 93% 6.0k $30k (exactly $29,940) MIROWIN
Bean There, Won That $7.99 117 76% 3.5k $28k (exactly $28,045) RemRem Studios
Gnaughty Gnomes $7.99 71 100% 2.1k $17k (exactly $17,019) SandCastles Studio

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