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Should I ship a PvP City Builder?
PvP + City Builder
Of 30 developers who shipped a PvP City Builder 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.. 73 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210. 73 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper, while revenue is up 820% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $208 (exactly $208) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,790) |
| Top 5% | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 120 |
| Announced | 73 |
| 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 820% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 34%, 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
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, City Builder; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Economy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 57% positive over 57,245 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 73 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M 
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition 2021 · $87M 
Northgard: Definitive Edition 2018 · $57M 
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020 · $39M 
Cossacks 3 2016 · $7.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 72,275 85% | 2.2M | $87M (exactly $86,708,318) | World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forg… (World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios) |
| | Northgard: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 54,478 85% | 1.6M | $57M (exactly $57,185,557) | Shiro Games |
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Cossacks 3 | older | $19.99 | 12,406 82% | 372k | $7.4M (exactly $7,439,878) | GSC Game World |
 | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | Mad Games Tycoon 2 | older | $24.99 | 7,355 93% | 221k | $5.5M (exactly $5,514,044) | Eggcode |
 | Kingdoms Reborn | · EA older | $19.99 | 8,862 90% | 266k | $5.3M (exactly $5,314,541) | Earthshine |
 | Age of Wonders: Planetfall | older | $29.99 | 4,758 80% | 143k | $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) | Triumph Studios |
 | Offworld Trading Company | older | $29.99 | 3,598 77% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,237,121) | Mohawk Games |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
 | SkyShard: City Battler | · EA | $14.99 | 106 97% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | ItsBen321 |
 | Lords of Solgrund | $19.99 | 57 77% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $34,183) | Sillylas | |
 | TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age | · EA | $17.99 | 33 81% | 990 | $18k (exactly $17,810) | Wield Interactive |
 | Explorers of Esmar | · EA | $15.99 | 35 85% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,790) | Tipri Games |
 | Wild Country | $24.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Lost Native | |
 | Periphery Online | $4.99 | 50 72% | 1.5k | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) | Aleksandr Nagaev |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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