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Should I ship a PvP Hidden Object?
PvP + Hidden Object
Of 58 developers who shipped a PvP Hidden Object 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.. 101 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 101 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is down 30% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $419 (exactly $419) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 5% | $125k (exactly $124,871) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 133 |
| Announced | 101 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op, Party Game
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 4,833 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 101 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Witch It | older | $19.99 | 14,540 89% | 436k | $8.7M (exactly $8,719,638) | Barrel Roll Games |
| | Neighbors: Suburban Warfare | · EA | $9.99 | 1,906 66% | 57k | $571k (exactly $571,228) | Invisible Walls |
| | Granny: Escape Together | $9.99 | 1,661 79% | 50k | $498k (exactly $497,802) | CreepyToad | |
| | West Hunt | older | $9.99 | 1,522 84% | 46k | $456k (exactly $456,143) | NewGen |
| | Peekaboo | older | $2.99 | 2,780 79% | 83k | $249k (exactly $249,366) | Redaster Studio |
| | Panoptic | older | $16.99 | 281 96% | 8.4k | $143k (exactly $143,226) | Team Panoptes |
| | Afterinfection | $8.99 | 463 56% | 14k | $125k (exactly $124,871) | RePatrick21 | |
| | Dead District: Survival | older | $9.99 | 415 48% | 12k | $124k (exactly $124,376) | BadBit Games |
| | Goonya Monster | older | $19.99 | 185 76% | 5.6k | $111k (exactly $110,944) | MUTAN |
| | PropHunter | · EA older | $3.99 | 917 79% | 28k | $110k (exactly $109,765) | Alone Fox Games |
| | Moo Who? | $6.99 | 174 66% | 5.2k | $36k (exactly $36,488) | SAT Productions | |
| | SCRIBBLE HUNT | $3.99 | 302 81% | 9.1k | $36k (exactly $36,149) | SCRIBBLE BUNNY | |
| | Spider Roulette | $4.99 | 143 91% | 4.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | Kud | |
| | Lateral Thinking Together | · EA | $5.99 | 85 43% | 2.6k | $15k (exactly $15,274) | PushForward |
| | Mimicry! | $9.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Wayward Skies Studio | |
| | Hide and Moo! | $5.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | Black Sea Studios | |
| | Money And Lady | 财貌双全 | $9.99 | 20 35% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Happy DLC Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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