Should I ship a Hacking PvP game?
PvP + Hacking
Only 6 developers shipped a Hacking PvP game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Cheaters Cheetah, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.8k against a market of $1.5k. 23 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) |
| Top 25% | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 5% | $421k (exactly $421,378) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 31 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 8 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 39%, 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
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 5,452 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 23 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
| | Grey Hack | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,801 90% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) | Loading Home |
| | Cheaters Cheetah | $9.99 | 1,406 59% | 42k | $421k (exactly $421,378) | Acmore Games | |
| | 4th Generation Warfare | older | $29.99 | 129 59% | 3.9k | $116k (exactly $116,061) | Eversim |
| | World Wide Hack | · EA older | $16.99 | 69 60% | 2.1k | $35k (exactly $35,169) | Lotus Innovations |
| | ThreatGEN: Red vs. Blue | older | $14.99 | 78 89% | 2.3k | $35k (exactly $35,077) | ThreatGEN |
| | cursor0x0 | older | $9.99 | 9 55% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | error0x0 |
| | TYPE | $4.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) | Parcyval | |
| | VaporBall | · EA older | $19.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | NVl |
| | Hassle 1977 | older | $12.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) | Limkernel Gamedev Gang |
| | Turnout | $5.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) | eevoe | |
| | Botomy | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Brokkli Labs LLC | |
| | Web Wars | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Phantom Jelly Studio | |
| | ROBOT RIOT | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | TATAMI TEAM |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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