Should I ship a Swordplay FPS?
FPS + Swordplay
Of 22 developers who shipped a Swordplay FPS 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.. 48 more are announced, ×6.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×1.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×360 the market median. Revenue is up 3060% on the market; 48 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
| Top 25% | $54k (exactly $54,414) |
| Top 5% | $539k (exactly $538,531) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 3060% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS, Swordplay; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Dungeon Crawler
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,233 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FPS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + FaithFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RunnerLong shot
- + Action RTSLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + DogsLong shot
Comparable games
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
MORDHAU 2019 · $82M 
Chivalry 2 2022 · $56M 
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare 2012 · $33M 
Bright Memory: Infinite 2021 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | MORDHAU | older | $29.99 | 91,678 80% | 2.8M | $82M (exactly $82,482,697) | Triternion |
| | Chivalry 2 | older | $39.99 | 46,707 79% | 1.4M | $56M (exactly $56,034,388) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | Chivalry: Medieval Warfare | older | $24.99 | 44,486 83% | 1.3M | $33M (exactly $33,351,154) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | Bright Memory: Infinite | older | $19.99 | 36,229 91% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,726,531) | FYQD-Studio |
 | Shadow Warrior 2 | older | $29.99 | 24,120 87% | 724k | $22M (exactly $21,700,764) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Shadow Warrior | older | $29.99 | 15,960 92% | 479k | $14M (exactly $14,359,212) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy™ | older | $9.99 | 11,290 96% | 339k | $3.4M (exactly $3,383,613) | Raven Software |
 | Hellsplit: Arena | older | $24.99 | 3,735 83% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,800,130) | Deep Type Games |
 | Labyrinth Of The Demon King | $19.99 | 2,116 92% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,268,965) | J. R. Hudepohl | |
 | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
 | The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot | $9.99 | 999 98% | 30k | $299k (exactly $299,400) | Stéphane Le Roy | |
 | DAVY x JONES | · EA | $17.99 | 389 82% | 12k | $210k (exactly $209,943) | PARASIGHT |
 | Darkblade Ascent | $10.99 | 551 80% | 17k | $182k (exactly $181,665) | PST Games | |
 | Hell of an Office | $14.99 | 121 89% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | 43 Studios | |
 | High Fructose | · EA | $9.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | Chazak Games |
 | Blue Wyrm | $3.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $7.9k (exactly $7,900) | VERBAroots | |
 | Skarab | $2.99 | 50 88% | 1.5k | $4.5k (exactly $4,485) | DOSMan Games | |
 | Unpatterned Cut | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Vnow Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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