Games › PvP › PvP + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy PvP game?
PvP + Dark Fantasy
Of 70 developers who shipped a paid Dark-Fantasy PvP 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.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 300 more are announced, ×6.4 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 $120. 300 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.4 per shipper, while revenue is up 290% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,689) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,596,660) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 253 |
| Announced | 300 |
| 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 290% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 42%, 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
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Combat
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $21.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $21.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 44,901 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 7 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 300 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different setting or mood, 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
ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B 
DARK SOULS™ III 2016 · $500M 
Total War: WARHAMMER III 2022 · $189M 
V Rising 2024 · $116M 
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin 2015 · $100M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ELDEN RING | older | $59.99 | 831,470 93% | 25M | $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | DARK SOULS™ III | older | $59.99 | 278,034 94% | 8.3M | $500M (exactly $500,377,790) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER III | older | $59.99 | 104,822 71% | 3.1M | $189M (exactly $188,648,153) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive |
| | V Rising | older | $34.99 | 110,505 89% | 3.3M | $116M (exactly $115,997,098) | Stunlock Studios |
| | DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin | older | $39.99 | 83,722 84% | 2.5M | $100M (exactly $100,441,283) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | DARK SOULS™ II | older | $39.99 | 33,329 87% | 1.0M | $40M (exactly $39,984,801) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | Mistfall Hunter | $24.99 | 16,045 53% | 481k | $12M (exactly $12,028,936) | Bellring Games | |
 | BLEACH Rebirth of Souls | $59.99 | 4,831 68% | 145k | $8.7M (exactly $8,694,351) | TAMSOFT CORPORATION | |
 | Armello | older | $24.99 | 11,013 82% | 330k | $8.3M (exactly $8,256,446) | League of Geeks |
 | Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 7,077 78% | 212k | $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) | Cyanide Studios |
 | Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection | $49.99 | 1,214 63% | 36k | $1.8M (exactly $1,820,636) | Digital Eclipse | |
 | Mage Arena | · EA | $2.99 | 17,800 91% | 534k | $1.6M (exactly $1,596,660) | jrsjams |
 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition | $19.99 | 1,858 83% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Aspyr Media | |
 | JUMP KING QUEST | $14.99 | 1,202 88% | 36k | $541k (exactly $540,539) | Nexile | |
 | Wretch: Divine Ascent | $14.99 | 975 75% | 29k | $438k (exactly $438,458) | Ogopogo | |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
 | Talisman: Digital 5th Edition | $29.99 | 227 70% | 6.8k | $204k (exactly $204,232) | Nomad Games | |
 | Two Strikes | $14.99 | 256 89% | 7.7k | $115k (exactly $115,123) | Retro Reactor |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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