Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian PvP game?

PvP + Dystopian

Of 31 developers who shipped a Dystopian 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.. 99 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×1248 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 99 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 99 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $23k → $3.2k → $13k → $27k → $1.9k → $5.4k (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,948)
Top 25% $328k (exactly $328,172)
Top 5% $1.9M (exactly $1,869,888)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 94
Announced 99
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 90% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 37%, 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
Dystopian
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Online Co-Op
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 28,565 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $320k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different setting or mood, 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

Le Mans Ultimate 2025 · $18M Ghosts of Tabor 2023 · EA · $6.9M Screamer 2026 · $1.9M ANEURISM IV 2025 · $1.7M Forefront 2026 · $1.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Le Mans Ultimate $39.99 15,068 79% 452k $18M (exactly $18,077,080) Studio 397
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
Screamer $59.99 1,039 80% 31k $1.9M (exactly $1,869,888) Milestone S.r.l.
ANEURISM IV $9.99 5,686 75% 171k $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) Vellocet
Forefront $27.99 1,913 84% 57k $1.6M (exactly $1,606,346) Triangle Factory
FREEDOM WARS Remastered $39.99 1,211 69% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837) Dimps Corporation
Pacer older $39.99 576 72% 17k $691k (exactly $691,027) R8 Games Ltd
Out of Action · EA $19.99 916 77% 27k $549k (exactly $549,325) Doku Games LTD
Super Blood Hockey older $14.99 902 91% 27k $406k (exactly $405,629) Loren Lemcke
Q-UP $9.99 1,126 93% 34k $337k (exactly $337,462) Everybody House Games
Final Sentence $9.99 1,095 84% 33k $328k (exactly $328,172) Button Mash
XF Extreme Formula $11.99 366 90% 11k $132k (exactly $131,650) Feperd Games
Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age $19.99 145 91% 4.4k $87k (exactly $86,956) Maximum Entertainment

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