Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Investigation game?

PvP + Investigation

Of 44 developers who shipped a PvP Investigation 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.. 82 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 82 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 82 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $1.4k → $899 → $4.2k → $300 (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $5.2k (exactly $5,240)
Top 5% $138k (exactly $137,562)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 94
Announced 82
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 200% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Investigation
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, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Social Deduction, Online Co-Op, Survival
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 24,169 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different second tag, 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

LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M Project Winter 2019 · $4.1M Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M Feign 2025 · $789k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
LOCKDOWN Protocol $9.99 16,605 86% 498k $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) Mirage Creative Lab
Project Winter older $9.99 13,662 84% 410k $4.1M (exactly $4,094,501) Other Ocean Interactive
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition older $16.99 3,096 88% 93k $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Feign $4.99 5,270 91% 158k $789k (exactly $788,919) Teneke Kafalar
PAGUI打鬼 older $19.99 1,189 82% 36k $713k (exactly $713,043) padendon
Fear Therapy · EA older $4.99 3,630 68% 109k $543k (exactly $543,411) Black Flag Studios
Clue/Cluedo older $14.99 489 89% 15k $220k (exactly $219,903) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Eville older $14.99 433 68% 13k $195k (exactly $194,720) VestGames
SEVERANCE · EA $9.99 459 70% 14k $138k (exactly $137,562) Sykes Games
BACKROOMS: APPREHENSION $2.99 1,371 83% 41k $123k (exactly $122,979) DMNT Interactive
Dustland · EA $22.99 100 69% 3.0k $69k (exactly $68,970) RedPad Games
Deadly Trick · EA $8.99 141 95% 4.2k $38k (exactly $38,028) Finalblow Co.
3DMurderMystery TheAshenYou $18.99 38 73% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,649) ぐだぐだぶとん
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
PENTALOOP -ペンタループ- $3.99 55 72% 1.7k $6.6k (exactly $6,584) イバラユーギ×ひろゆ～プロジェクト

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