Games › PvP › PvP + Beat 'em up
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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
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
| 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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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