Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led PvP game?

PvP + Female Protagonist

Of 63 developers who shipped a Female-Led 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.. 129 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 $4.8k, ×3.2 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $3.9M, ×2645 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 129 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 129 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 63
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.7k → $7.2k → $959 → $6.7k → $6.3k → $2.4k → $4.2k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 63
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $4.8k (exactly $4,799)
Top 25% $41k (exactly $40,780)
Top 5% $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609)
Developers, 2 yr 63
Released games 264
Announced 129
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $10.99

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 25% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, PvE, Co-op
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 59% positive over 136,690 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $4.8k, 1 in 4 over $40k, 1 in 20 over $3.9M.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 7 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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

Battlefield™ V 2020 · $355M Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition 2017 · $244M EA SPORTS FC™ 26 2025 · $209M Street Fighter™ 6 2023 · $60M STAR WARS™: Squadrons 2020 · $30M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Battlefield™ V older $49.99 236,709 70% 7.1M $355M (exactly $354,992,487) DICE
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition older $44.99 180,782 95% 5.4M $244M (exactly $244,001,465) Larian Studios
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Street Fighter™ 6 older $39.99 49,952 81% 1.5M $60M (exactly $59,927,414) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
STAR WARS™: Squadrons older $39.99 25,086 66% 753k $30M (exactly $30,095,674) MOTIVE
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV $29.99 8,399 83% 252k $7.6M (exactly $7,556,580) SNK CORPORATION
Granblue Fantasy: Versus older $19.99 7,631 83% 229k $4.6M (exactly $4,576,311) Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising older $24.99 5,944 83% 178k $4.5M (exactly $4,456,217) Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada $39.99 3,303 40% 99k $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) Game Studio Inc.
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves $19.99 3,135 82% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,880,059) SNK CORPORATION
Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2 $69.99 631 67% 19k $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911) FURYU Corporation, LANCARSE Ltd.
ICBM: Escalation $29.99 1,248 86% 37k $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) SoftWarWare
DEAD OR ALIVE 6 Last Round $39.99 550 31% 17k $660k (exactly $659,835) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Valkyrie of Phantasm $29.99 556 86% 17k $500k (exactly $500,233) AREAZERO
BEYBLADE X XONE $49.99 162 79% 4.9k $243k (exactly $242,951) 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン

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