Games › PvP › PvP + Historical
Should I ship a Historical PvP game?
PvP + Historical
Of 89 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 182 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $3.6M, ×2411 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 182 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $31,303) |
| Top 5% | $3.6M (exactly $3,612,296) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 89 |
| Released games | 384 |
| Announced | 182 |
| 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 45% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 34%, 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
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Tactical
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 82,510 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
Battlefield™ V 2020 · $355M 
Battlefield™ 1 2020 · $241M 
Hell Let Loose 2021 · $149M 
Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M 
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition 2021 · $87M | 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 |
| | Battlefield™ 1 | older | $39.99 | 200,661 86% | 6.0M | $241M (exactly $240,733,002) | DICE |
| | Hell Let Loose | older | $49.99 | 99,628 83% | 3.0M | $149M (exactly $149,412,112) | Expression Games |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 72,275 85% | 2.2M | $87M (exactly $86,708,318) | World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forg… (World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios) |
 | 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 |
 | Verdun | older | $59.99 | 28,967 87% | 869k | $52M (exactly $52,131,910) | BlackMill Games |
 | Company of Heroes 3 | older | $59.99 | 24,516 59% | 735k | $44M (exactly $44,121,445) | Relic Entertainment |
 | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
 | Hell Let Loose: Vietnam | $39.99 | 10,702 61% | 321k | $13M (exactly $12,839,189) | Expression Games | |
 | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | Over The Top: WWI | $19.14 | 6,683 84% | 200k | $3.8M (exactly $3,837,379) | Flying Squirrel Entertainment | |
 | Gallipoli | $29.99 | 4,015 78% | 120k | $3.6M (exactly $3,612,296) | BlackMill Games | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Aces of Thunder | $29.99 | 1,159 57% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) | Gaijin Entertainment | |
 | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games | |
 | Age of History 2: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 2,600 83% | 78k | $779k (exactly $779,220) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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