Should I ship a PvP Building game?
PvP + Building
Of 116 developers who shipped a PvP Building 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.. 327 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×1024 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 327 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,100) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $31,303) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 116 |
| Released games | 457 |
| Announced | 327 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 28%, 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, Building; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Sandbox, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 110,209 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 68 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 327 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 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
Rust 2018 · $1.4B 
Garry's Mod 2006 · $328M 
ARK: Survival Ascended 2023 · EA · $144M 
V Rising 2024 · $116M 
Dune: Awakening 2025 · $100M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rust | older | $39.99 | 1,167,920 87% | 35M | $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) | Facepunch Studios |
| | Garry's Mod | older | $9.99 | 1,093,131 96% | 33M | $328M (exactly $327,611,361) | Facepunch Studios |
| | ARK: Survival Ascended | · EA older | $44.99 | 106,761 60% | 3.2M | $144M (exactly $144,095,322) | Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, In… (Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games) |
| | V Rising | older | $34.99 | 110,505 89% | 3.3M | $116M (exactly $115,997,098) | Stunlock Studios |
| | Dune: Awakening | $49.99 | 66,844 71% | 2.0M | $100M (exactly $100,245,947) | Funcom | |
 | Conan Exiles Enhanced | older | $39.99 | 79,741 78% | 2.4M | $96M (exactly $95,665,278) | Funcom, Inflexion Games |
 | Space Engineers | older | $19.99 | 100,533 89% | 3.0M | $60M (exactly $60,289,640) | Keen Software House |
 | Northgard: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 54,478 85% | 1.6M | $57M (exactly $57,185,557) | Shiro Games |
 | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
 | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
 | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | Longvinter | $19.99 | 6,951 68% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) | Uuvana Studios | |
 | The Quinfall | $9.99 | 12,073 50% | 362k | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) | Vawraek Technology Inc. | |
 | Everwind | · EA | $24.99 | 3,454 81% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) | Enjoy Studio S.A. |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | The Scouring | · EA | $24.99 | 1,136 88% | 34k | $852k (exactly $851,659) | Orc Group |
 | Renown | · EA | $24.99 | 1,128 53% | 34k | $846k (exactly $845,662) | RDBK Studios |
 | Brickadia | · EA | $19.99 | 1,269 81% | 38k | $761k (exactly $761,019) | Brickadia, LLC |
 | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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